548                               Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 399

531. An oath or affirmation, if made willfully and falsely in
any of the following cases, shall be deemed perjury: First, in all
cases where false swearing would be perjury at common law; sec-
ondly, in all affidavits required by law to be taken; thirdly, all affida-
vits to accounts or claims made for the purpose of inducing any
court or officer to pass such accounts or claims; fourthly, all affidavits
required to be made to reports and returns made to: the general
assembly or any officer of the government; fifthly, all affidavits or
affirmations made pursuant to the Maryland Rules.

678. Any person presented or indicted may, instead of traversing
the same before a jury, traverse the same before the court [, who
shall thereupon try the law and the facts].

688. Whenever the misnomer of any defendant, or defendants
[is pleaded in abatement to] in any indictment is raised by motion
in any of the courts of this State having criminal jurisdiction, it
shall be lawful for the State's attorney prosecuting the same, or
other person prosecuting for the State, on application to the court,
to amend the said indictment by inserting in the place of the name
or names so erroneously set forth in the said indictment the true
name or names of such party or parties, as disclosed in the said
[plea of abatement] motion, and it shall be the duty of the clerk
of the court to endorse the amendment, and to enter the said case
upon the docket of the court, according to the true name or names
of the party or parties so indicted.

725. The courts may suspend sentence generally or for a definite
time, and may make such orders and impose such terms as to costs,
recognizance for appearance, or matters relating to the residence
or conduct of the convicts as may be deemed proper; and if the
convict is a minor, the courts may also make such orders as to his
detention in any care or custody as may be deemed proper.

[In all cases where sentence has been suspended by the Court,
the defendant shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals
in the same manner as if sentence or judgment had been entered
in said case.]

Sec. 18. And be it further enacted by the General Assembly of
Maryland, That Section 18 of Article 32A of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1951 Edition), title "Department of Law", sub-title "Blue
Sky Law", be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amend-
ment, to read as follows:

18. Any person, partnership or corporation affected or aggrieved
by the order of the Attorney General under Section 17 shall be en-
titled to a hearing de novo before the Circuit Court of the County
in which said person, partnership or corporation has performed
or is alleged to have performed the acts referred to in said order
of the Attorney General, or in the Superior Court of Baltimore City,
if said acts or alleged acts occurred in Baltimore City, or, at the
option of said person, partnership or corporation, said proceeding
for a hearing de novo may be filed in the Circuit Court for the
County in which said person, partnership or corporation resides or
has its principal office within the State of Maryland, or in the
Superior Court of Baltimore City, if such residence or office is in