A Dictionary of Law

A decree in equity which fully and finaily disposes of the whole litigation, determining all questions raised by the case, andl leaving nothing that requires further judicial actio

This term designates the trial of an equity case upon the merits, as distinguished from the hearing of any preliminary questions arising in the cause, which are termed “interlocuto

A final or conclusive agreement. In the process of “levying a fine,” this was a final agreement entered by the litigating partics upon the record, by permission of court, settling

In practice. A judgment which puts an end to an action at law by declaring that the plaintiff either bas or has not entitled himself to recover the remedy he sues for. 3 Bi. Comm.

In parliamentary law. The final passage of a bill is the vote on its passage in either house of the legislature, atter it has received the prescribed number of readings on as many

The final judgment in anaction. Also the final verdict in an action, as distinguished from the judgment entered upon it, 6 Allen, 243.

One which puts an end toacase. Distinguished frem interlucutory.

The public wealth of a state or government, considered either statically (as the property or money which a stato now owns) or dynamically, (as its income, revenue, or public resour

A person employed in the economical management and application of public money; one skilled in the management of financial affairs.

To discover; to determine; to ascertain and declare. To announce a conclusion, as the result of judicial investigation, upon a disputed fact or state of facts; as a jury are said t

One who discovers and takes possession of another’s personal property, which was then lost. A searcher employed to discover goods imported or exported without paying custom. Jacob.

A decision upon a question of fact reached as the result of a judicial examination or investigation by a court, jury, referee, coroner, etc.

vo. Toimposea pecuniary punishment or mulct. To sentence a person convicted of an offense to pay a penalty in money.

The English statutes 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 74, for abolishing fines and recoveries, I Steph. Comni. 514, et seq. FINE ANULLANDO LEVATO DE TENEMENTO QUOD FUIT DE AN-

An obsolete writ which lay fora person who, upon conviction by jury, had his lands and goods taken, and his body impvisoned, to be remitted his imprisonment, and have his lands and

A [fine anciently payable upon the alienation of a feudal estate and substitution of a new tenant. It was payable Lo the lord by all tenants holding by knight’s service or tenants

A fine anciently payable to the lord by the widow of a tenant, without which she could not be endowed of her husband’s lands. Abolished under Henry I., and by Afegna Charta. 2 Bl.

To make or paya fine. Bract. 106.

In old English law. To fine, or pay a fine. Cowell. To and or finish a matter.

An ending; death, as the end of life. Blount; Cowell.

In the civil law. Action for regulating boundaries. The name of an action which lay between those who had lands bordering on euch other, to settle disputed boundaries. Mackeld. Rom

Those that pnrify gold and Silver, and part them by fire and water from coarser metals; and therefore, In the statute of 4 Hen. VII. c. 2, they are also called “parters.” Termes de

Sax. In old English law. A summoning forth to a military expedition, (indictio ad profectionem militarem.) Spelmun.

Sax. A preparation to go inte the army. Leg, Hen, I.

Sax. In old English law. Exemption from military seryice. Spelman,

In old English law. A fine for refusing military service, (muleta detrectantis militiam.) Spelman. A fine imposed for murder committed in thearmy; an acquittance of suchfine. Fleta

The effect of combustion. The juridical meaning of the word does nut differ

LETTERS OF. {In old Scoteh law. Letters issued from the privy council in Scotland, aidressed to the sheriff of the county, authorizing him te call for the assistance of the county

This word comprises all sorts of guns, fowling-pieces, blunderbusses, pistols, ete.

A beacon or high tower by the seaside, wherein are continua] lights, either to direct sailors in the night, or to give warning of the approach olf an enemy. Cowell.

An allowance of wood or estovers to maintain competent firing for the tenant. A sufficient allowance of wood to burn in a house. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 99.

A contract of insurance by whieh the underwriter, in consideration of the premium, undertakes to iudemnify the insured against all losses in lis houses, buildings, furniture, ships

In Saxon and old English law. Theordeal by fire or red-hot iron, which was performed either by taking up in the hand a piece of red-hot iron, of one, two, or three pounds weight, o

A contract of insurance, by which, in consideration of a single or pe- Tiodical payment of premium, (as the cuse may be,) the company engages to pay to the assured such loss as may

To say of any article that itis “fire-proof” conveys no other idea than that the material out of witich it is formed is incombustible. ‘To say of a building that it is fire-proof e

A measure containing nine gallons; also a weight of fifty-six pounis avoirdupois, used in weighing butter and cheese. ‘

A Scotch measure of capacity, containing two gallons and a pint. Spelman.

A partnership; the group of per sons constituting a partnership. The name or title under which the members of a partnership transact business.

In old English law. The con. tract of lease or letting; also the rent (or farm) reserved upon a lease of lands, which was frequently payable in provisions, but sometimes in money,

In old English law. A farm or lease of afes; a fee-farm.

An Asiatic word denoting a deeree or grant of privileges, or passport to a traveler,

Inoildrecords. A place in monusteries, and elsewhere, where the poor were received and supplied with food, Spelman. Hence the word “infirmary.”

Lat. A fermor. A lessee of aterm. Firmarti comprehend all such as hold by lease for life or lives or for year, by deed or without deed. 2 Inst. 144, 145; 1 Washb. Real Prop. 107.

In old records. A farm. Firmior et potentior est operatio legis quam dispositio hominis. The operation of the law is firmer and more powerful [or efficacious] than the disposition

In old Engiish law. An

A case is said tw be “of the first impression” when it pregenta an entirely novel question of law for the decision ef the court, and cannot be governed by any existing precedent.

In the law of descent, this term signifies the ancestor who first acquired (in any other manner than by inheritance) the estate which still remains in his family or descendants. h

Belonging to the fise, or public treasury. Relating to accounts or the management of revenue.

In Roman law. The treasury of the prince or emperor, as distinguished from “erariwin,” which was the treasury of the state. Spelman. The treasury or property of the state, as disti

An animal which inhabits the water, breathes by means of gills, swims by the aid of fins, and is oviparous.

A public officer of the United States, created by act of congress of February 9, 1871, whose duiies principally concern the preservation and increase throughout the country of fish

A series of statutes passed in England for the reculation of fishing, especially to prevent the destruction of fish, spawn, etc., and the employment of improper modes of taking fis

A dam or wearinariver for taking fish. Cowell.

A term descriptive of a ill in equity which seeks a discovery upon gencral, loose, and vague allegations, Story, Eq. Pl. § 325; 82 Fed. Rep. 263.

These were the whale and the sturgeon, which, when thrown ashore or caught near the coastof England, became the property of the king by virtue of his pre- G rogative and in recompe

In Scotch law. The fisews or fise. The revenue of the crown. Generally used of the personal estate of a rebel which has been forfeited to the crown. Bell.

or FESTUCA. In old English law. The rod or wand, by the delivery of which the property in land was formerly transferred in making afeoffment. Called, also, “baculum,” “virga,” and

In thecivil law. A pipe for eonveying water. Dig. 5, 2, 18.

A Norman word, meaning “son.” It is used in law and genealogy; as Fiizherbert, the son of Herbert; Fitzjames, the son of James; Fitzroy, the son of the king. It was originally appl

Anactof parliament, passed in 1665, against non-conformists, whereby ministers of that body were prohibited from coming within five miles of any corporate town, or place where they

To liquidate or render certain. To fasten a Nability upon one. To transform a possible or contingent liability into a present and definite liability.

In practice. Rendering absolute the liability of special bail.

A place covered with standing water.

A national standard on which are certain emblems; an ensign; a banner. It is carried by soldiers, ships, etc., and com. monly displayed at forts and many other suitable places.

DUTY OF THE. This was an ancient ceremony in acknowledgment of British sovereignty over the British seas, by which a foreign vessel struck her Hag and lowered her top-sail on meeti

Whipped; scourged. An entry on old Scotch records. 1 Pitc. Crim. Tewpt. 1 p- fis

By the act entitled “An act to establish the flag of the United States,” (Rev. St. §§ 1791, 1792,) it is provided “that, from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of tha

Burning; raging; in actval perpetration. #lagrons bellum, a war actually going on.

In the very _ actof committing the crime. 4 Bl. Comm. 307.

A check drawn upon a banker by a person who has no funds at the banker’s, and knows that such is the case.

A place covered with water too shallow for navigation with vessels ordinarily used for commercial purposes. 34 Conn. 370; 7 Cush, 195.

In Roman law. ‘The title of a book containing the forms of actions, published by Cneius Flavius, A. U. ©. 449, Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 39. Calvin.

A feathered or fleet arrow. Cowell.

A discharge or freedom from amercements where one, having been an outlawed fugitive, cometh to the place of our Jord of his own accord. Termes de la Ley. The liberty to hold court

To leave one’s home, residence, or known place of abode, or to conceal one’s self therein, with intent, in either case, to avoid detection or punishment for some publi¢ offense. 3

A place where the tide flows; a creek, or inlet of water; a company of ships or navy; a prison in London, (so ealled from a river or ditch formerly in its vicinity,) now abolished

In Saxon and old English law. A fugitive: boncdman or villein. Spelman, The privilege of having the goods and fines of fugitives.

FLEMENES FRINTHE—FLYMENA FRYNTHE. The reception or relief of a fugitive or outlaw. Jacob.

The possession of the G goods of fugitives. Fleta, lib. 1, ¢c. 147.

In Saxon law. Land; a house; home.

In Saxon law. A fine on account of brawls and quarrels. Spelman,

In criminal law. The act of K one under accusation, who evades the law by voluntarily withdrawing himself. It is presumptive evidence of guilt.

In American land law, espe- L cially in the western states. A certificate authorizing the entry, by the holder, of a certain quantity of land. 20 How. 501, 504.

Used for floating. <A M

(or circulating capital.) The capital which is consumed at each operation of production and reappeurs transformed into new pruducts. Ateach sale of these products the capital is re

By this term is meant that mass of lawful and valid claims against the corporation for the payment of which there is no money in the corporate treasury specifically designed, nor a

Flood-mark, high-water mark. The mark which the sea, at flowing water and highest tide, makes on the shore. Blount.

A section ofa building between horizontal planes. 145 Mass. 1, 12 N. E. Rep. 401. A term used metaphorically, in parliamentary practice, to denote the exclusive right to address th

A copy of the Pandects discovered accidentally about the year 11387, at Amalphi, a town in Italy, near Salerno. From Amalphi, the copy found its way to Pisa, and, Pisa having submi

A coin originally made at Florence, now of the value of about two English shillings.

1. Such things as by accident swim on the top of great rivers or the sea. Cowell. 2. A commission paid to water bailiffs. Cun. Dict.

FLOTSAN. <A name for the goods which foat upon the sea when cast overboard for the safety of the ship, or when aship is sunk. Distinguished from “jet sam” and “ligan.” Bract. lib,

In old English law. High-water mark; flood-mark, 1 And. 88,89.

This term has acquired a definite and specific meaning in law. It commonly imports raising and setting back water on another’s land, by a dam placed across a stream or water-course

Flood; flood-tide. Bract. fol.. 255.

In Roman law. A servitude which consists in the right to conduct. the rain-water, collected from the roof and carried off by the gutters, onto the house or ground of one’s neighbor

Wild fowl: water-fowl, 11 East, 571, note.

In old English law. Flow. Per fiuzum et refluaum maris, by the flow and reflow of the sea. Dual. pl. 10.

On a criminal trial in former times, it was usual after a verdict of not wuilty to inquire also, “Did he fly for it ?” Tiiis practice was abolished by the 7 &8 Geo. TV. c. 28,§ 5.

In railroading, a flying switch is made by uncoupling the cars from the engine while in motion, and throwing the cars onto the side track, by turning the switch, after the engine h