QUIKK, GAMMON AND SNAP. 624 QUITO. sand a Yrar, who discover the flaw in the title by which Tittlebat Titmouse gets the property. They are finally^ convicted of eonspiracj' and im- prisoned. QUIKOGA, keio'ga, Jost (c.1687-1784) . A Spanisli .Icsuit explorer and mathematician. He was born in Lufjo (or Fabas). near Coruua, stud- ied matliematics and navigation in a naval col- lege, and went to South America as a .Jesuit mis- sionary. Philip V. sent him with Alvarez to explore the Patagonian coast (1745-40) and set- tle the boundary between the Spanish and Portu- guese ])Ossessions. His later years were spent io Rome, and, after the suppression of the Order, in Bologna. Quiroga was an able mathematician and left many papers on meclianics, navigation, and travels. A Descripcion del rio I'aruijuay was publislied in Buenos Ayres in 183G; and his nephew Emmanuel Mendez edited his Tratado del arte de navegar por eireulo paralelo a la equitwc- cial (1784) and De Rations Inveniendi Longitu- dinem in Uari. QUIROGA, Juan Faclndo (1790-1835). An Argentine politician and soldier, born in San Juan (La Rioja), and educated in Spain. Upon his return home he became the leader of a band of ruffians and b.v 1820 was practically independ- ent ruler of a large part of Northeastern Argen- tina. He appointed the Governor of La Kioja, and in 18:i7, having entered politics as a Federalist, made Dorrego President. But Dorrego was cap- tured and killed by Lavalle in 1828, and Quiroga himself was defeated by another antifederalist general, Paz, in 1830. Then the tide turned. Quiroga won several victories, and in 1834 be- came Governor of Buenos Ayres. But he quar- reled with Rosas, and was assassinated near C6rdoba, possibly at the instigation of his fellow Federalist leader. QUI TAM ACTION (Lat., who so well) . An action brought uniler the provisions of a statute permitting an informer against an offender to receive a portion of the penalty prescribed for the offense, and authorizing him to sue on behalf of himself and the Government to recover the same. In England these actions have been permitted since the earliest period of its legal history as an efficient means of enforcing the law as to minor offenses, such as a breach of duty of a public officer, where the penalt.v was a fine. Offenders liable for a statutory penalty early sought to £vade the law by procuring a friend to bring the action, luuler a collusive agreement not to enforce the judgment. , To remedy this the statute 4 Hen. VII., ch, 20, was enacted, providing that all such actions should be brought in the name of the King. This became the common law of the United States on our independence, and to-da.y, unless a statute expresslj' provides that the ac- tion shall be in the name of the informer, it must he in the name of the State, 'on relation of icx rel.) the informer. These actions are to be dis- tinguished from the so-called 'popular actions' where the informer is entitled to the whole pen- alty. See Penalty. QUITCH. See Couch Geass; Agropybon. QUIT-CLAIM. A deed of conveyance, deriv- ing its title and in large part its form from the ancient instrument of release^ whose operative words were "remise, release, and forever quit- claim." Though this language continues to char- acterize the quit-claim deed, it is in its opera- tion, in many of the L'nited States, much more than a deed of release, and is in fact the form of convej'ance usually adopted to make a grant of lands, answering the purpose of either a release or grant. It is, indeed, the simplest form of transfer of a freehold. So far as the conveyance of the title is concerned it has all of the effect of the more usual warranty deed, the principal advantage of the latter being that it adds to the mere conveyance the personal obligation of the grantor to warrant and defend the title trans- ferred. See Deed; Grant; Release; Warranty. QUIT'MAN, JoiiM Anthony (1709-1858), An Ameiican soldier, born at Rhinebeck, N. Y. He attended Hartwich Academy, Otsego County, N. Y., and in 1810 was appointed a tutor there. In 1818 he was appointed adjimct professor of English in Mount Airy College, Germantown, Pa. He determined to stud,y law and went to Chilli- cothe, Ohio, in 1819. He was admitted to the bar in 1821 and removed at once to Natchez, Miss. In 1823 he was appointed brigade inspec- tor of the State militia, and in 1827 was a mem- ber of the Legislature, where he drew up a new militia s,vstem. From 1828 to 1834 he was Chan- cellor of the State, but resigned and was elected to the State Senate, of which he was president and for a few montlis acted as Governor of the State. He led a company to the aid of Texas in 1836, but saw no active service. On his return in 1837 he was made brigadier-general of the State militia. At the outbreak of the Mexican War he was appointed brigadier-general of United States Volunteers, and was ordered to report to General Taj'lor at Camargo. At Monterc.v, under discretionary orders, he forced his way into the lieart of the city with 500 men, for which act he was later presented with a sword by Congress. He was brevetted major-general on September 23, 1840. He was transferred to the arm.y of Gen- eral Scott, led the assault at Vera Cruz, and com- manded the expedition against Alvarado. He was made major-general April 14, 1847, and was with General Worth in the capture of Puebla. He sei'ved with distinction at Chapultepee, carried the Belen Gate, and with the capture of the City of INIexico was made Governor by General Scott. He soon returned to the United States, was Presidential elector in 1848, and was elected Gov- ernor of Mississippi in 1849. While he was Governor, General Lopez wished him to head a filibustering expedition to capture Cuba. Though he declined, the negotiations became known, and he was indicted in the United States court. He resigned as Governor and was tried before the LTnited States District Court for East Louisiana, but the jury disagreed. He was again nominated for Governor, but after a heated canvass with- drew because the Democrats of his State had ac- cepted the Compromise of 1850. In 1854 he was again interested in an expedition against Cuba, and was arrested, but not tried. From 1855 to 1858 he was a member of Congress and served as chairman of the Military Committee. General Quitman was radical in his views of States' Rights and in 1851 openl.y advocated the estab- lishment of a Southern Confederacy. Consult Claiborne, Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman (2 vols., New York, 1800). QUITO, ke'to. The capital of Ecuador. It is situated 0° 14' south of the equator on a lofty
