Real Contracts

tn the civil law, are those which require the interposition of a thing (rei,) as the subject of them; for instance, the loan for goods to be specifically returned. By that law, contracts are divided into those which are formed by the mere consent of the parties, and therefore are called consensual, such as sale, hiring and mandate; and those in which it is necessary that there should be something more than mere consent, such as the loan of money, deposit or pledge, which from their nature, require the delivery of the thing; whence they are called real. Poth. Obl. p. 1,c. 1, s. 1, art. 2.