Filum

Lat.

In old practice. A file; l. e., a thread or wire on which papers were strung, that being the ancient method of filing. An imaginary thread or line passing through the middle of a stream or road, as in the following phrases:

— Filum aquae. A thread of water; a line of water; the middle line of a stream;of water, supposed to divide it into two equal parts, and constituting in many cases the boundary between the riparian proprietors on each side. Ingraham v. Wilkinson, 4 Pick. (Mass.) 273, 16 Am. Dec. 342.

— Filum forestæ. The border of the forest. 2 Bl. Comm. 419; 4 Inst. 303.
—'Fiium viæ. The thread or middle line of a road. An imaginary line drawn through the middle of a road, and constituting the boundary between the owners of the land on each side. 2 Smith, Lead. Cas. (Am. Eld.) 98, note.

I. A thread. Filum aqnse: strictly a thread or line of water, a water line or mark, the outer line or edge of a stream; the water's edge; in modern usage, the same as medium filum aquce or middle or central thread. Filum Ti»: the thread or middle line of a way.

In old law. A thread or wire used for passing through and connecting papers together; a file; a thread or line passing through a stream or road; a line or mark, as the edge or border of a thing. Filum forestse: the edge of the forest.

In old practice. A file; f.e,8 thread or wire on which papers were strung, that being the ancient method of filing. An imaginary thread or line passing through the middle of a stream or road, asin the phrases “filum ague,” “jiluim vie,” or

Lat. [L. Fr. >i;,^/tf, qq. v.] In old practice. A thread, string or wire used for passing through and connecting papers together; a file. Otherwise called Jilacium, {Fr. filace, qq. v.) Spelman, voc. Filacium, See File. A thread or line, passing through a stream or road. See Filum aqucs, Filum vice. The English word thread has in ordinary speech this sense of running through; as in the expressions " thread of a discourse or argument"; •* to thread one's way," Ac. A line or mark, as the edge or border of a thing. Filum forestcs; the edge of the forest. Manwood, 371. 1 Crabb^s Real Prop, 486. FILUM AQU^. L. Lat. [L. Fr. fil del ewe,"] A thread or line of water; a water line or mark; the outer line or edge of a stream; the water's edge. Altum filum; the high line. Rot. Pat. 4 Hen. VI. m. 11, par. 2. ffaut file de mer; the high line of the sea, high water mark. Rot. Pari, 11 Hen, IV. m. 61. Blount. A stream, or course of water. Cowell, Blount, A thread of water, as running through a stream; a middle thread; a central line.* 24 Pick. R. 344. — An imaginary line drawn through the middle of a stream, and supposed to divide it into two equal parts; constituting, in certain cases, the boundary between the riparian proprietors on each side, and between counties, townships, Ac* Schultes on Aquatic Rights^ 88. Blount. lii&m H tanium ex altera parte prcfdia poseideat, prope ripam, tenementwn suum erit usque ad filum aquae; also if he own the lands only upon one side [of the stream,] near [on] the bank, it will be his freehold as far as the thread of the water. Bract. fol. 208 b. Item refert utrum aqua, in qua id factum est quod nocet, propria sit ^us de quo queritur, vel communis, vet in parte propria, scilicet usque ad filum aquae » et partim aiiena. It is also a material consideration, whether the water in which the nuisance is made, be the property of the party complained of, or common, or in part his own, that is, as far as the thread of the stream, and partly another's. Id, fol. 235. The phrase^Zu^vi aquas is constantly used in modern law, indifferently with medium Jilum aquas (as part of the phrases, usque jilum aqua, ad Jilum. aquce, ad medium Jilum aqucB,) to signify the same thing. 17 Johns, R, 195. 20 Id, 90, 99. 6 Cowen*s B, b\^. /rf. 543— 550. 6 Wendel Vs R. 423. 13 Id. 355. 20 Id, 149. 24/(f.451. 26/(/. 404. 4^«7/'«(N.Y.) R, 369. 2 N, Hamp, R. 369. 3 Greenleaf's R, 474. 3 Kent's Com. 428—431, and notes. 2 Smith's Lead. Cas. 98, (Am. ed. note.) But that Jilum, in itself, properly imports an outer lioe, an edge, verge or border, and not a central line, is clear from repeated instances of its use in the old books. Thus, it is expressly applied to the sea, in the phrase altum Jilum, (L. Fr. haut Jile de mer,) to denote high water mark. See the first definition, supra. In the same sense it is applied to a forest. Thus, " if a dog fastens upon a deer before she gSLins Jilum forestce (the edge or verge of the forest,) and she drags the dog into the forest f and is there killed, the owner may pursue and take the deer out of the forest." Jfanwood's Forest La WfSll. See Filum, BractoQ, indeed, (who is followed by Lord Hale) uses Jilum to denote a central line, and it is probably through this author that this sense <^ the word has become so firmly established in modern law. See the quotations supra. In Britton both phrases, Jil del ewe, and Jil de my leu del eufe are used in the chapter De Disseisine, but are not apparently distinguished. Rritt. c. 42. Strictly, the central line of a stream should foe designated as medium filum aqucB, or, in English, the "middle thread;" which is the phrase employed by Lord Mansfield and other high authorities. 4 Burr. 2162. 3 Sumner's R, 170.