BEREWICHA, or BEREWICA. In old English law. A term used in Domesday for a village or hamlet belonging to some town or manor.
BERGHMAYSTER. An officer having charge of a mine. A bailiff or chief officer among the Derbyshire miners, who, in addition to his other duties, executes the office of coroner among them. Blount; Cowell.
BERGHMOTH, or BERGHMOTE. The ancient name of the court now called "barmote," (q. v.)
BERNET. In Saxon law. Burning; the crime of house burning, now called "arson." Cowell; Blount.
BERRA. In old law. A plain; open heath. Cowell.
BERRY, or BURY. A villa or seat of habitation of a nobleman; a dwelling or mansion house; a sanctuary.
BERTILLON SYSTEM. A method of anthropometry, used chiefly 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 angles, and of any eccentricities or abnormalities noticed in the individual.
BERTON. A large farm; the barn-yard of a large farm.
BES. Lat. In the Roman law. A division of the as, or pound, consisting of eight unciæ, or duodecimal parts, and amounting to two-thirds of the as. 2 Bl. Comm. 462, note m.
Two-thirds of an inheritance. Inst. 2, 14, 5.
Eight per cent. interst. 2 Bl. Comm. ubi supra.
BESAILE, BESAYLE. The great-grandfather, proavus. 1 Bl. Comm. 186.
BESAYEL, Besaiel, Besayle. In old English law. A writ which lay where a great-grandfather died seised of lands and tenements in fee-simple, and on the day of his death a stranger abated, or entered and kept out the heir. Reg. Orig. 226; Fitzh. Nat. Brev. 221 D; 3 Bl. Comm. 186.
BEST EVIDENCE. Primary evidence, as distinguished from secondary; original, as distinguished from substitutionary; the best and highest evidence of which the nature of the case is susceptible. A written instrument is itself always regarded as the primary or best possible evidence of its existence and contents; a copy, or the recollection of a witness, would be secondary evidence. State v. McDonald, 65 Me. 467; Elliott v. Van Buren, 33 Mich. 53, 20 Am. Rep. 668; Scott v. State, 3 Tex. App. 104; Gray v. Pentland, 2 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 34; U. S. Sugar Refinery v. Allis Co., 56 Fed. 786, 6 C. C. A. 121; Manhattan Malting Co. v. Sweteland, 14 Mont. 269, 36 Pac. 84.
BESTIALITY. 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 take it that there is a difference in signification between 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. Buggery seems to include both sodomy and bestiality. Ausman v. Veal, 10 Ind. 350, 71 Am. Dec. 331.
BET. An agreement between two or more persons that a sum of money or other valuable thing, 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. R. 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 synonymous terms, and are applied both to the contract of betting or wagering and to the thing or sum bet or wagered. For example, one bets 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 be done, events to happen, or facts existing or to exist. The bets or wagers may be illegal, and the acts, events, or facts upon which they are laid may not be. Bets or wagers may be laid upon games, and things that are not games. Everything upon which a bet or wager may be laid is not a game. Woodcock v. McQueen, 11 Ind. 16; Shumate v. Com., 15 Grat. 660; Harris v. White, 81 N. Y. 539.
BETROTHMENT. Mutual promise of marriage; the plighting of troth; a mutual promise or contract between a man and woman competent to make it, to marry at a future time.
BETTER EQUITY. See Equity.
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 which an estate acquires in consequence of some public improvement, as laying out or widening a street, etc. French v. New York, 16
