REAL PROPEETY. 740 REAPERS. ments are subject to be "held" in estates, rather than owned outright, and that there may as well be a fee simple, a fee tail, or a life estate in a re- mainder, a trust or an easement, as in the visible land with which all of these terms are concerned. The difference between the two classes of here- ditaments lies rather in the inocesses by which they may be acquired and transferred. ISoth de- scend to the same heir upon the same event, and Ijoth arc alike subject to the free power of aliena- tion, but the nature of the one renders it incapa- ble of seisin or possession, and therefore alien- ation by the ancient process of livery of seizin to "lie in livery," i.e. to be susceptible of deliv- ery, wherefore it "lies in grant," and is trans- ferred only by deed. Our modern instrument of conveyance is merely the ancient deed of grant, originally appropriated to the incorporeal here- ditament, but now employed for the alienation of corporeal property as well. See Alienation ; Deed; Gr. t; Hereditament. The history of the law of real property is one of the most' interesting chapters in the long rec- ord of social and political progress from the Nor- man conquest of England to the present time. The rise and decay of the system of feudal ten- ure, the transformation of the law of land by the court of chancery in the institution of uses and trusts and in its assumption of jurisdiction over mortgages, the changes which that law under- went in its migration to America, are only the more obvious and dramatic developments of a long and steady process of amelioration. The base rights of inheritance and alienation gained in the thirteenth century have been followed by a constantly enlarging conception of the rights of offspring to the inheritance and by a growing freedom of alienation. Conveyancing, once the most intricate and technical of professional tasks, requiring the services of a specially trained class of lawyers, has been robbed of its terrors, a.nd promises, in the near future, to become as simple a matter as the sale of a horse. Entails and other restrictions upon the free control of the land by the generation in possession have been well nigh done away with, and the para- mount rights of the State have been narrowed to the rare exercise of the right of escheat upon the failure of heirs. Consult the authorities cited under the title Property, and, in addition, Kent, Commentaries on Atnerican Lnw^ Digby, Intro- duction to the History of the Law of Real Prop- erty (.5th ed., Oxford, 1897) : Jenks, Modern Land Law (Oxford, 1899) ; Tiffany, The Law of Real Property (St. Paul, 1903). REALSCHXJLE, rfi-iil'shoo'le. A German school of secondary instruction differing from the Gynmasium inasmuch as it offers no instruction in the classical languages and lays stress on science. The Realschule is an outgrowth of the realistic tendencies of the seventeenth and eigh- teenth centuries. The institutions that Francke established at Halle toward the close of the seventeenth century laid unusual stress on the study of nature. At the same time notable efforts were being made to introduce more science into the classical schools generally. In 1747 Hecker established at Berlin an oconomisch- mathematische Realschule, which may be re- garded as the prototype of the Realschule of to- day. It gave instruction in the German, French, and Latin languages, writing, arith- metic, drawing, history', geography, and the ele- ments of geometry, mechanics, and architecture, and also in religion and ethics. Some optional study of various occupations and trades was also provided. The Realschule of to-day has a six years' course, and its graduates go directly into busi- ness life. Those who wish to take the university courses in science and mathematics attend the Oherrealschule. which has a nine years' course. The programme in this school is like that in the Realgymnasium, with the exception of the omis- sion of Latin and the substitution therefor of more work in mathematics, natural history, chemistr.y, mineralogy, French, and Englisli. Graduates of these two types of schools are regarded as on the same plane educationally, but both are looked upon as somewhat inferior to the graduates of the Gymnasium. Consult : Russell, German High Sehools (New York, 1899) ; Bolton, Secondary tSchool System of Germany (ib., 1900). See National Education; Gym- N.si. and Realgymnasia. REAPERS, REAPING (from reap, AS. rlpan, to reap; connected with OHG. rifi, Ger. reif, ■ AS. ripe. Eng. ripe). The first implement used for reaping was the reaping hook or sickle, dat- ing from the Stone and Bronze ages (Fig. 1, a, b. Fig. 1. VABIODS forms of sickles and scythes. c, d). Records of this implement are found in Egj'ptian history B.C. 1400 to loOO. The earliest form of the sickle had a slightlj- curved blade with straight handle ; later the blade was toothed or serrated, and its form approached that of the modern sickle. As a rule the edge was made plain and sharp like a knife. The ancient .Jews used a sickle of the Egyptian form. In China and Japan to-day are found sickles of much tlie same form as those which have been used there from time immemorial. The Greeks Vind Romans used smooth-bladed sickles or a sickle with toothed blade attached to a curved .stick. The latter also used a small hooked knife re- sembling a pruning hook. The scythe followed the sickle and was apparently introduced by the Romans, by whom it was employed mainly for cutting grass. Pliny, in his writings, distinguishes between the sickle and the scythe, and Crescenzio described both in 1548. At first the scythe was intermediate in construction between the sickle and the modern scythe, as in the Hainault .scythe (Fig. 1, f). In time the blade became lighter, and the handle underwent numerous changes in form and material until the modern crooked wooden pattern was evolved. The next step was the fas- tening of fingers (one to four) to the scythe par- allel with the blade, thus evolving the so-called cradle scythe (Fig. 2, a). The fingers were
