ELECTROSCOPE. 785 ELEGIT. attract. piK-li other. The oiilinary pitli-ball sus- pended on a silk thread is the simplest form of the instrument. The most eonimon type of elec- troscope is that devised by Beunet in 1787, and ta.ECTROSCOPE. Icnown as the gold-leaf electroscope. It consists of two strips of gold leaf, or thin aluminium foil, suspended from the lower extremity of a conductor within a glass bottle or jar. The upper end of the conductor terminates in a ball, or a plate in case the instrument is to be used as a condensing electroscope. (See Coxdexser.) If a body charged with positive electricity is brought near to the knob of the electroscope, the negative electricity ill be attracted to the knob and the positive repelled to the leaves, which then diverge. If now the finger is touched to the knob, the positive electricity is drawn off and the leaves collapse, while the negative electricity is held bound. Removing the charged body, the leaves will then diverge again, charged w ith nega- tive electricity. In this case the instrument can be used to determine the nature of the charge of a body brought near it. as with a positive charge the leaves will collapse, and with a nega- tive charge spread farther apart. In the Bohnen- berger electroscope a strip of gold leaf is sus- pended between the poles of a dry pile (q.v.). If a charge is communicated to the gold leaf it will be deflected toward one or the other of the two p'll--. ELECTKOTAXIS (Xeo-Lat., from (Jk. ^Xe/c- Tpov, flrhtroit, amber + rdfij, taxis, arrange- ment, from rd(r<reii», tassein, to arrange). The sensitiveness of motile organisms to the direc- tion of an electric current passing through the medium in which they are living. As yet almost nothing is known about it in plants. It bears the same relation to elcctrotropism that chemo- taxis does to ehemotropism. See Electrot- ROI'ISM. ELECTROT'KOPISM (from Gk. liXcKTpou, flehtron. ambi-r — Tpoir-q, trnpr. a turning, from rpiirdv. trrpeiii. to turn). Sensitiveness of plant organs to the electric current: so called in analogy to other tropisms. (See Geotropism, etc.) It has been very little studied, and about all that has been demonstrated is that certain roots, when grown in a liquid medium through which an electric current is passing, bend toward the anode ("positive pole'), while others bend toward the cathode (negative pole"). It also appears that the direction of bending may some- times be reversed by an increase in the voltage ("strength") of the current. Many, perhaps all. of these instances of elcctrotropism are nothing more than manifestations of ehemotropism toward the products of chemical dissociation, which gather at the two electrodes. See Electro-Cul- ture OF Pl.xts. ELECTROTYPING. See Electro-Ciiemis- Ti^Y. I-MUMiiiAr. ; Elkctro-Platixu; PllOTO-EX- GR.WINd; riMNTIXG. ELECTRUM (Lat., Gk. ^«7pov, clektron, amber, prolialily on account of its color, ^XexTpos, elcktros, alloy of gold and silver). A term ap- plied to native alloys of gold and silver. Ac- cording to Pliny, the term electrum was applied to native gold containing at least 20 per cent, of silver. Electrum was used since the seventh, and possibly even since late in the eighth century n.c. Its earliest usage was limited to purposes of in- laying: but later it was very extensively used as a material for coins. ELEGIT, Estate by. An early form of cred- itors' security, created bj' the Statute of West- minster II. "(13 Edw. 'l., c. 18). It arises upon the levy of a writ of elegit — so called be- cause the statute gave a creditor the option after judgment to liave execution either by the writ of fieri facias (which was limited to personal property), or by the new writ, permitting him to seize not only the chattels of the delitor, but one-half of his lands as well. The creditor, upon levying the writ, was regarded as having a con- ditional estate in the lands so held, not unlike the modern mortgage, which estate, because it was held as security for a personal debt, was treated as personal property ("chattel real' was the tech- nical description) which would descend to the creditor's executor and not to his heir. The pay- ment of the debt for which the writ was levied divested the estate by elegit and revived the title of the debtor. This remedy by elegit proved so convenient that it was subsequently extended so as to permit the seizure of the whole of the debtor's lands, and in this form it has survived to the present time in England and some of the United States. Originally the creditor could only hold the lands — taking the rents and profits — until the debt was satisfied: but the power to sell and apply the proceeds to the debt is nov usually an incident of the estate by elegit. See Chattel: ExEcrTiox : and consult the authori- ties referred to under the latter title. ELEGIT (Eat., he has chosen). Writ of. A form of execution first aiithorized by the Statute of Westminster (1:5 Edw. I., c. 'l8). for the seizure and sale of lands owned by a judgment debtor. At common law. land was not liable for the debts of its owner, because its forced sale to a stranger would have resulted in the destruction of the feudal relation of lord and tenant. By the .Statute of Westminster, however, the judgment creditor was allowed to choose between a writ against the debtor's land and an execution against his person or chattels. The new writ was called an elegit, because it represented this choice or election on the part of the creditor. .t first it was limited to one-half of the debtor's lands, but by 1 and 2 Vict., c. 110, 5 11. it was extend- ed to all of his real estate. A levy of this writ and a sale under it of any quantitj- of land, how-
