to assess

TO ASSESS. 1. To rate or to fix the proportion which every person has to pay
of any particular tax. 2. To assess damages is to ascertain what damages are
due to the plaintiff; in actions founded on writings, in many cases after
interlocutory judgment, the prothonotary is directed to assess the damages;
in cases sounding in tort the damages are frequently assessed on a writ of
inquiry by the sheriff and a jury.
     2. In actions for damages, the jury are required to fix the amount or
to assess the damages. In the exercise of this power or duty, the jury must
be guided by sound discretion, and, when the circumstances will warrant it,
may give high damages. Const. Rep. 500. The jury must, in the assessment of
damages be guided by their own judgment, nd not by a blind chance. They
cannot lawfully, therefore, in making up their verdict, each one put down a
sum, add the sums together, divide the aggregate by the number of jurors,
and adopt the quotient for their verdict. 1 Cowen, 238.