A public officer whose function ia to attest and certify, by his hand and official seal, certain classes of documents, in order to give them credit and authenticity ln foreign jurisdictions; to take acknowledgments of deeds and other oonvey-ancee, and certify the same; and to perform certain official acts, chiefly ln commercial matters, such as the protesting of notes and bills, the noting of foreign drafts, and marine protests ln cases of loss or damage. See Kirk-sey v. Bates, 7 Port (Ala.) 531, 31 Am. Dec. 722; First Nat. Bank v. German Bank, 107 Iowa, 543, 78 N. W. 195, 44 L. R. A. 133, 70 Am. St. Rep. 216; In re Huron, 58 Kan. 152, 48 Pac. 574, 36 L. R. A. 822, 62 Am. SL Rep. 614; Bettman v. warwick, 108 Fed. 46, 47 C. C. A. 185