BWEWICEA, or BEREWICA. l‘.noicl English law. A term used in Doniimday for a Village or haniiet belonging to some town or manor.
BERGHJMIAYSTER. Au omcer having charge of a mine. A baiiifl or chief officer among the Derbyshire miners, who, in addition to his other duties, executes the office or coroner among them. Blount; Cowell.
{{anchor+|.|BERGHMOTH, or BERG]-IIEOTE. The ancient name of the court now called "barmote," (q. 4:.)
{{anchor+|.|BERNET. In Saxon law. Burning; the crime of house burning. now called "arson." Cowell; Blount.
{{anchor+|.|BI-JREA. In old law. heath. Cowell.
A plain; open
{{anchor+|.|BERRY, or BURY. A villa or seat of habitation of a nobleman: a dwelling or mansion house: a sanctuary.
{{anchor+|.|BERTILLON SYSTEM. A method of snthropoinetry. used chieiiy for the identification of criminals and other persons, consisting of the taking and recording of a system of numerous, minute, and uniform measurements of various parts of the human body, absolutely and in relation to each other, the facial. cranial, and other angies, and of any eccentriclties or abnormalities no- Llfed in the individual.
{{anchor+|.|BERTON. A large farm; the barn-yard of a large farm.
{{anchor+|.|BI-:5. Lat. In the Roman law. A di- vision of the us, or pound. consisting of eight micia, or duodecimnl parts, and amounting to two-tbirds of the as. 2 Bl. Comm. 462. note ‘In.
Two-thirds of an inheritance. 14. 5.
Eight per cent. interat. 2 Bl. Comm. uhi supra.
Inst. 2,
{{anchor+|.|BESAILE, BESAYLI-'1. The great-grand- father, prmwus. 1 Bl. Comm. 186.
{{anchor+|.|BESAYEL, Besnlel, Besnyle. In Old Ennlich law. A writ which lay where a great- grnmirather died seised of lands and tenemeals in fee-simple, and on the day of his did}: a stranger abated, or entered and kept out the heir. Reg. Orig. 226; Fitzh. N-it Brev. 221 D; 3 Bl. Comm. 186.
{{anchor+|.|BEST EVIDENCE. Primary evidence, as distingiiiahed from secondary; original. as distinguished from substitutionnry; the nest and highest evidence of which the nature of the case is susceptible. A written inslilxmv-at is itself always regarded as the pi~iui:iry or best possible evidence of its ex-
Bl.Law Dict.(2d Ed.)—9
129
{{anchor+|.|BETTERMENT
isteuce and contents; a copy, or the recollection of a witness, would be secondary evi- dence. Stnte v. McDonald, 65 Me. 467: Elliott v. Van Buren, 33 Mich. 53, 20 Am. Rep. 668: Scott v. State, 3 Tex. App. 10-1; Gray v. Pentiand. 2 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 34: U. S. Sugar Refinery v. Allis 00., 56 Fed. 786, 6 C. C. A. 121; Manhattan Malting Co. v. Swetelnnd, 14 Mont. 260, 36 Pac. 84.
{{anchor+|.|BESTIAIJTY. Bestiality is the carnal knowledge and connection against the order of nature by man or woman in any manner with a beast. Code Ga. 1882, § 4354.
‘We _ta.l;e it that there is a difference in sign.1fl_cation betweeu the terms "bestiality," and the "crime against nature." Bestiality is a connection between a human being and a brute of the opposite sex. Sodomy is a connection between two human beings of the same sex,-—the male.- named from the prevalence of the sin in Sodom. Both may be embraced by the term "crime against nature," as felony embraces murder, larceny. etc., though we think that term is more generally used in reference to sodomy. Bugyonl seems to include both sodomy and bestiality. Ausman v. Veal, 10 Ind. 350. 71 Am. Dec. 331.
Bl-Tl‘. An agreement between two or more persons that a sum of money or other valu- able thiag, to which all jointly contribute, shall become the sole property of one or some of them on the happening in the future of an event at present uncertain, or according as a question disputed between them is settled in one way or the other. Harris v. White. 81 N. Y. 532: Rich v. State, 38 Tex. Cr. 1?. 199. 42 S. W. 291, 38 L. R. A. 719: Jacobus v. Hazlett. 78 Ill. App. 241; Shaw v. Clark, 49 Mich. 384. 13 N. W 786, 43 Am. Rep. 474; Alvord v. Smith, 63 Ind. 62.
Bet and wager are synnnyinous terms, and are applied both to the contract of betting or wagering and to the thing or sum bet or wagered. For example, one beta or wagers, or lays a bet or wager of so much. upon a certain result. But these terms cannot properly be applied to the act to be done, or event to happen, upon which the bet or wager is laid. Bets or wagers may be laid upon acts to he done, events to happen, or facts existing or to exist. The bets or wagers may be illegal, and the acts, events, or [acts upon which they are laid may not be. Beta or wagers may he laid upon games, and things that are not games. Everything upon which a bet or wager may be laid is not a game. Woolleoclt v. McQueen. 11 Ind. 16; Shumste v. Oom., 15 Grat. 660: Harris v. White. 81 N. Y. 539.
{{anchor+|.|BETROTI-ENLENT. M'IJtuI1l promise of marriage: the pllghting of troth; a mutual promise or contract between a man and wo- man competent to make it, to marry at a future time.
{{anchor+|.|BETTER EQUITY.
{{anchor+|.|BETTERMENT. An improvement put upon an estate which enhances its value more than mere repairs. The term is also applied to denote the additional value wbich an estate acquires in consequence of some public improvement, as laying out or widen-
See EQUITY.
lug a street, etc. French v. New York, 16'"
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