Deodand

6 Any personal chattel which was the immediate cause of the death of a rational creature.^ The chattel, whether an animal or inanimate object, was forfeited to the king, to be applied to religious uses. Designed, originally, as an expiation for the souls of such persons as were snatched away by sudden death. If any animal killed a person, or if a cart ran over him, it was to be forfeited,— in part, also, as punishment for the supposed negligence in the owner. If the thing was in motion, as, a cart with its loading, all that moved was forfeited; if not in motion, then only the part which was the immediate cause of the death. It mattered not whether the owner was concerned in the killing or not. The right to deodands, in time, was granted to the lords of manors as a franchise.^ Abolished by 9 and 10 Vict. (1846) c.

63.