Generally, this term denotes the person who actually commits a crime or delict, or by whose immediate agency it occurs. But, where a servant of a railroad company is killed through the negligence of a co employe, the company itself may be regarded as the “perpetrator” of the act, within the meaning of a statute giving an action against the perpetrator. Philo v. Illinois Cent R. Co., 33 Iowa, 47. Perpetua lex est nullam legem huma nam ao positivam perpetuam esse, et clausula quae abrogationem excludit ab initio non valet. It is a perpetual law that no human and positive law can be perpetual, and a clause [in a law] which precludes the power of abrogation is void ab initio. Bac. Max. p. 77, in reg. 19.