priate to be used in alleging the malicious motive of the defendant in committing the injury which forms the cause of action.
WRONGOUS. In Scotch law. Wrongful; unlawful; as wrongous imprisonment, Ersk. Prin. 4, 4, 25.
WURTH. In Saxon law. Worthy: competent; capable. Atheswurthe, worthy of oath; admissible or competent to be sworn. Spelman.
WYTE. In old English law. Acquittance or immunity from amercement.
X
X. In the written terminology of various arts and trades, where two or more dimensions of the same piece or article are to be stated, this letter is a well-known symbol equivalent to the word "by." Thus, the formula "3 x 5 in." will be understood, or may be explained by parol evidence, to mean "three by five inches," that is, measuring three inches in one direction and five in another. See Jaqua v. Witham & A. Co., 106 Ind. 547, 7 N. E. 314.
XENODOCHIUM. In the civil and old English law. An inn allowed by public license, for the entertainment of strangers, and other guests. Calvin.; Cowell.
A hospital; a place where sick and infirm persons are taken care of. Cowell.
XENODOCHY. Reception of strangers; hospitality. Enc. Lond.
XYLON. A punishment among the Greeks answering to our stocks. Wharton.
Y
YA ET NAY. In old records. Mere assertion and denial, without oath.
YACHT. A light sea-going vessel, used only for pleasure-trips, racing, etc. Webster. See 22 St, at Large, 566 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 2845); Rev. St. U. S. §§ 4215-4218 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 2847).
YARD. A measure of length, containing three feet, or thirty-six inches.
A piece of land inclosed for the use and accommodation of the inhabitants of a house.
YARDLAND, or virgata terra, is a quantity of land, said by some to be twenty acres, but by Coke to be of uncertain extent.
YEA AND NAY. Yes and no. According to a charter of Athelstan, the people of Ripon were to be believed in all actions or suits upon their yea and nay, without the necessity of taking any oath. Brown.
YEAR. The period in which the revolution of the earth round the sun, and the accompanying changes in the order of nature, are completed. Generally, when a statute speaks of a year, twelve calendar, and not lunar, months are intended. Cro. Jac. 106. The year is either astronomical, ecclesiastical, or regnal, beginning on the 1st of January, or 25th of March, or the day of the sovereign's accession. Wharton.
—Natural year. In old English law. That period of time in which the sun was supposed to revolve in its orbit, consisting of 365 days and one-fourth of a day, or six hours. Bract. fol. 359b. —Year and day. This period was fixed for many purposes in law. Thus, in the case of an estray, if the owner did not claim it within that time, it became the property of the lord. So the owners of wreck must claim it within a year and a day. Death must follow upon wounding within a year and a day if the wounding is to be indicted as murder. Also, a year and a day were given for prosecuting or avoiding certain legal acts; e. g., for bringing actions after entry, for making claim for avoiding a fine, etc. Brown.—Year books. Books of reports of cases in a regular series from the reign of the English King Edward I., inclusive, to the time of Henry VIII., which were taken by the prothonotaries or chief scribes of the courts, at the expense of the crown, and published annually: whence their name. "Year Books." Brown;—Year, day, and waste. In English law. An ancient prerogative of the king, whereby he was entitled to the profits, for a year and a day, of the lands of persons attained of petty treason or Felony, together with the right of wasting the tenements, afterwards restoring the property to the lord of the fee. Abrogated by St. 54 Geo. III. c. 145. Wharton.—Year to year, tenancy from. This estate arises either expressly, as when land is let from year to year; or by a general parol demise, without any determinate interest, but reserving the payment of an annual rent: or impiiediy, as when property is occupied generally under a rent payable yearly, half-yearly, or quarteriy; or when a tenant holds over, after the expiration of his term, without having entered into any new contract, and pays rent. (before which he is tenant on sufferance.) Wharton.—Year, estate for. See Estate for Years.
YEAS AND NAYS. The affirmative and negative votes on a bill or measure before a legislative assembly. "Calling the yeas and nays" is calling for the individual and oral vote of each member, usually upon a call of the roll.
YEME. In old records. Winter; a corruption of the Latin "hiems."
YEOMAN. In English law. A commoner; a freeholder under the rank of gentle-
