Search Result for "bill of exchange":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. a document ordering the payment of money; drawn by one person or bank on another;
[syn: draft, bill of exchange, order of payment]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Raise \Raise\ (r[=a]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raised (r[=a]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raising.] [OE. reisen, Icel. reisa, causative of r[imac]sa to rise. See Rise, and cf. Rear to raise.] [1913 Webster] 1. To cause to rise; to bring from a lower to a higher place; to lift upward; to elevate; to heave; as, to raise a stone or weight. Hence, figuratively: [1913 Webster] (a) To bring to a higher condition or situation; to elevate in rank, dignity, and the like; to increase the value or estimation of; to promote; to exalt; to advance; to enhance; as, to raise from a low estate; to raise to office; to raise the price, and the like. [1913 Webster] This gentleman came to be raised to great titles. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster] The plate pieces of eight were raised three pence in the piece. --Sir W. Temple. [1913 Webster] (b) To increase the strength, vigor, or vehemence of; to excite; to intensify; to invigorate; to heighten; as, to raise the pulse; to raise the voice; to raise the spirits or the courage; to raise the heat of a furnace. [1913 Webster] (c) To elevate in degree according to some scale; as, to raise the pitch of the voice; to raise the temperature of a room. [1913 Webster] 2. To cause to rise up, or assume an erect position or posture; to set up; to make upright; as, to raise a mast or flagstaff. Hence: [1913 Webster] (a) To cause to spring up from a recumbent position, from a state of quiet, or the like; to awaken; to arouse. [1913 Webster] They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. --Job xiv. 12. [1913 Webster] (b) To rouse to action; to stir up; to incite to tumult, struggle, or war; to excite. [1913 Webster] He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind. --Ps. cvii. 25. [1913 Webster] Aeneas . . . employs his pains, In parts remote, to raise the Tuscan swains. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] (c) To bring up from the lower world; to call up, as a spirit from the world of spirits; to recall from death; to give life to. [1913 Webster] Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ? --Acts xxvi. 8. [1913 Webster] 3. To cause to arise, grow up, or come into being or to appear; to give rise to; to originate, produce, cause, effect, or the like. Hence, specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) To form by the accumulation of materials or constituent parts; to build up; to erect; as, to raise a lofty structure, a wall, a heap of stones. [1913 Webster] I will raise forts against thee. --Isa. xxix. 3. [1913 Webster] (b) To bring together; to collect; to levy; to get together or obtain for use or service; as, to raise money, troops, and the like. "To raise up a rent." --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] (c) To cause to grow; to procure to be produced, bred, or propagated; to grow; as, to raise corn, barley, hops, etc.; toraise cattle. "He raised sheep." "He raised wheat where none grew before." --Johnson's Dict. [1913 Webster] Note: In some parts of the United States, notably in the Southern States, raise is also commonly applied to the rearing or bringing up of children. [1913 Webster] I was raised, as they say in Virginia, among the mountains of the North. --Paulding. [1913 Webster] (d) To bring into being; to produce; to cause to arise, come forth, or appear; -- often with up. [1913 Webster] I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee. --Deut. xviii. 18. [1913 Webster] God vouchsafes to raise another world From him [Noah], and all his anger to forget. --Milton. [1913 Webster] (e) To give rise to; to set agoing; to occasion; to start; to originate; as, to raise a smile or a blush. [1913 Webster] Thou shalt not raise a false report. --Ex. xxiii. 1. [1913 Webster] (f) To give vent or utterance to; to utter; to strike up. [1913 Webster] Soon as the prince appears, they raise a cry. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] (g) To bring to notice; to submit for consideration; as, to raise a point of order; to raise an objection. [1913 Webster] 4. To cause to rise, as by the effect of leaven; to make light and spongy, as bread. [1913 Webster] Miss Liddy can dance a jig, and raise paste. --Spectator. [1913 Webster] 5. (Naut.) (a) To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher by drawing nearer to it; as, to raise Sandy Hook light. (b) To let go; as in the command, Raise tacks and sheets, i. e., Let go tacks and sheets. [1913 Webster] 6. (Law) To create or constitute; as, to raise a use, that is, to create it. --Burrill. [1913 Webster] To raise a blockade (Mil.), to remove or break up a blockade, either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them. To raise a check, note, bill of exchange, etc., to increase fraudulently its nominal value by changing the writing, figures, or printing in which the sum payable is specified. To raise a siege, to relinquish an attempt to take a place by besieging it, or to cause the attempt to be relinquished. To raise steam, to produce steam of a required pressure. To raise the wind, to procure ready money by some temporary expedient. [Colloq.] To raise Cain, or To raise the devil, to cause a great disturbance; to make great trouble. [Slang] [1913 Webster] Syn: To lift; exalt; elevate; erect; originate; cause; produce; grow; heighten; aggravate; excite. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bill \Bill\, n. [OE. bill, bille, fr. LL. billa (or OF. bille), for L. bulla anything rounded, LL., seal, stamp, letter, edict, roll; cf. F. bille a ball, prob. fr. Ger.; cf. MHG. bickel, D. bikkel, dice. Cf. Bull papal edict, Billet a paper.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Law) A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law. [1913 Webster] 2. A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document. [Eng.] [1913 Webster] Note: In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note. [1913 Webster] 3. A form or draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law. [1913 Webster] 4. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill. [1913 Webster] She put up the bill in her parlor window. --Dickens. [1913 Webster] 5. An account of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; a statement of a creditor's claim, in gross or by items; as, a grocer's bill. [1913 Webster] 6. Any paper, containing a statement of particulars; as, a bill of charges or expenditures; a weekly bill of mortality; a bill of fare, etc. [1913 Webster] Bill of adventure. See under Adventure. Bill of costs, a statement of the items which form the total amount of the costs of a party to a suit or action. Bill of credit. (a) Within the constitution of the United States, a paper issued by a State, on the mere faith and credit of the State, and designed to circulate as money. No State shall "emit bills of credit." --U. S. Const. --Peters. --Wharton. --Bouvier (b) Among merchants, a letter sent by an agent or other person to a merchant, desiring him to give credit to the bearer for goods or money. Bill of divorce, in the Jewish law, a writing given by the husband to the wife, by which the marriage relation was dissolved. --Jer. iii. 8. Bill of entry, a written account of goods entered at the customhouse, whether imported or intended for exportation. Bill of exceptions. See under Exception. Bill of exchange (Com.), a written order or request from one person or house to another, desiring the latter to pay to some person designated a certain sum of money therein generally is, and, to be negotiable, must be, made payable to order or to bearer. So also the order generally expresses a specified time of payment, and that it is drawn for value. The person who draws the bill is called the drawer, the person on whom it is drawn is, before acceptance, called the drawee, -- after acceptance, the acceptor; the person to whom the money is directed to be paid is called the payee. The person making the order may himself be the payee. The bill itself is frequently called a draft. See Exchange. --Chitty. Bill of fare, a written or printed enumeration of the dishes served at a public table, or of the dishes (with prices annexed) which may be ordered at a restaurant, etc. Bill of health, a certificate from the proper authorities as to the state of health of a ship's company at the time of her leaving port. Bill of indictment, a written accusation lawfully presented to a grand jury. If the jury consider the evidence sufficient to support the accusation, they indorse it "A true bill," otherwise they write upon it "Not a true bill," or "Not found," or "Ignoramus", or "Ignored." Bill of lading, a written account of goods shipped by any person, signed by the agent of the owner of the vessel, or by its master, acknowledging the receipt of the goods, and promising to deliver them safe at the place directed, dangers of the sea excepted. It is usual for the master to sign two, three, or four copies of the bill; one of which he keeps in possession, one is kept by the shipper, and one is sent to the consignee of the goods. Bill of mortality, an official statement of the number of deaths in a place or district within a given time; also, a district required to be covered by such statement; as, a place within the bills of mortality of London. Bill of pains and penalties, a special act of a legislature which inflicts a punishment less than death upon persons supposed to be guilty of treason or felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. --Bouvier. --Wharton. Bill of parcels, an account given by the seller to the buyer of the several articles purchased, with the price of each. Bill of particulars (Law), a detailed statement of the items of a plaintiff's demand in an action, or of the defendant's set-off. Bill of rights, a summary of rights and privileges claimed by a people. Such was the declaration presented by the Lords and Commons of England to the Prince and Princess of Orange in 1688, and enacted in Parliament after they became king and queen. In America, a bill or declaration of rights is prefixed to most of the constitutions of the several States. Bill of sale, a formal instrument for the conveyance or transfer of goods and chattels. Bill of sight, a form of entry at the customhouse, by which goods, respecting which the importer is not possessed of full information, may be provisionally landed for examination. Bill of store, a license granted at the customhouse to merchants, to carry such stores and provisions as are necessary for a voyage, custom free. --Wharton. Bills payable (pl.), the outstanding unpaid notes or acceptances made and issued by an individual or firm. Bills receivable (pl.), the unpaid promissory notes or acceptances held by an individual or firm. --McElrath. A true bill, a bill of indictment sanctioned by a grand jury. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

exchange \ex*change"\ ([e^]ks*ch[=a]nj"), n. [OE. eschange, eschaunge, OF. eschange, fr. eschangier, F. ['e]changer, to exchange; pref. ex- out + F. changer. See Change, and cf. Excamb.] 1. The act of giving or taking one thing in return for another which is regarded as an equivalent; as, an exchange of cattle for grain. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of substituting one thing in the place of another; as, an exchange of grief for joy, or of a scepter for a sword, and the like; also, the act of giving and receiving reciprocally; as, an exchange of civilities or views. [1913 Webster] 3. The thing given or received in return; esp., a publication exchanged for another. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 4. (Com.) The process of setting accounts or debts between parties residing at a distance from each other, without the intervention of money, by exchanging orders or drafts, called bills of exchange. These may be drawn in one country and payable in another, in which case they are called foreign bills; or they may be drawn and made payable in the same country, in which case they are called inland bills. The term bill of exchange is often abbreviated into exchange; as, to buy or sell exchange. [1913 Webster] Note: A in London is creditor to B in New York, and C in London owes D in New York a like sum. A in London draws a bill of exchange on B in New York; C in London purchases the bill, by which A receives his debt due from B in New York. C transmits the bill to D in New York, who receives the amount from B. [1913 Webster] 5. (Law) A mutual grant of equal interests, the one in consideration of the other. Estates exchanged must be equal in quantity, as fee simple for fee simple. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster] 6. The place where the merchants, brokers, and bankers of a city meet at certain hours, to transact business; also, the institution which sets regulations and maintains the physical facilities of such a place; as, the New York Stock Exchange; a commodity exchange. In this sense the word was at one time often contracted to 'change [1913 Webster +PJC] Arbitration of exchange. See under Arbitration. Bill of exchange. See under Bill. Exchange broker. See under Broker. Par of exchange, the established value of the coin or standard of value of one country when expressed in the coin or standard of another, as the value of the pound sterling in the currency of France or the United States. The par of exchange rarely varies, and serves as a measure for the rise and fall of exchange that is affected by the demand and supply. Exchange is at par when, for example, a bill in New York, for the payment of one hundred pounds sterling in London, can be purchased for the sum. Exchange is in favor of a place when it can be purchased there at or above par. Telephone exchange, a central office in which the wires of any two telephones or telephone stations may be connected to permit conversation. Syn: Barter; dealing; trade; traffic; interchange. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

bill of exchange n 1: a document ordering the payment of money; drawn by one person or bank on another [syn: draft, bill of exchange, order of payment]
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BILL OF EXCHANGE, contracts. A bill of exchange is defined to be an open letter of request from, and order by, one person on another, to pay a sum of money therein mentioned to a third person, on demand, or at a future time therein specified. 2 Bl. Com. 466; Bayl. on Bills, 1; Chit. Bills, 1; 1 H. Bl. 586; 1 B. & P. 291, 654; Selw. N. P. 285. Leigh's N. P. 335; Byles on Bills, 1; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 895. 2. The subject will be considered with reference, 1 . to the parties to a bill; 2. the form; 3. their different kinds 4. the indorsement and transfer; 5. the acceptance 6. the protest. 3. - 1. The parties to a bill of exchange are the drawer, (q. v.) or he who makes the order; the drawee, (q. v.) or the person to whom it is addressed; the acceptor, (q. v.) or he who accepts -the bill; the payee, (q. v.) or the party to whom, or in whose favor the bill is made. The indorser, (q. v.) is he who writes his name on the back of a bill; the indorsee, (q. v.) is one to whom a bill is transferred by indorsement; and the holder, (q. v.) is in general any one of the parties who is in possession of the bill, and entitled to receive the money therein mentioned. 4. Some of the parties are sometimes fictitious persons. When a bill is made payable to a fictitious person, and indorsed in the name of the fictitious payee, it is in effect a bill to bearer, and a bona fide holder, ignorant of that fact, may recover on it, against all prior parties, who were privy to the transaction. 2 H. Bl. 178, 288; 3 T. R. 174, 182, 481; 1 Camp. 130; 19 Ves. 311. In a case where the drawer and payee were fictitious persons, the acceptor was held liable to a bona fide holder. 10 B. & C. 468; S. C. 11 E. C. L. R. 116. Vide, as to parties to a bill, Chit. Bills, 15 to 76, (ed. of 1836.) 5. - 2. The form of the bill. 1. The general requisites of a bill of exchange, are, 1st. that it be in writing. R. T. Hardw. 2; 2 Stra. 955; 1 Pardess. 344-5. 6.- 2d. That it be for the payment of money, and not for the payment of merchandise. 5 T. R. 485; 3 Wils. 213; 2 Bla. Rep. 782; 1 Burr. 325; 1 Dowl. & Ry. N. P. C. 33; 1 Bibb's R. 502; 3 Marsh. (Kty.) R. 184; 6 Cowen, 108; 1 Caines, R. 381; 4 Mass. 245; 10 S. & R. 64; 14 Pet. R. 293; 1, M'Cord, 115; 2 Nott & M'Cord, 519; 9 Watts, R. 102. But see 9 John. R. 120; and 19 John. R. 144, where it was held that a note payable in bank bills was a good negotiable note. 7. - 3d. That the money be payable at all events, not depending on any contingency, either with regard to the fund out of which payment is to be made, or the parties by or to whom payment is to be made. 8 Mod. 363; 4 Vin. Ab. 240, pl. 16; 1 Burr. 323; 4 Dougl. 9; 4 Ves. 372; Russ. & Ry. C. C. 193; 4 Wend. R. 576; 2 Barn. & Ald. 417. 8. - 2. The particular requisites of a bill of exchange. It is proper here to remark that no particular form or set of words is necessary to be adopted. An order " to deliver money," or a promise that " A B shall receive money," or a promise " to be accountable" or " responsible" for it, have been severally held to be sufficient for a bill or note. 2 Ld. Raym. 1396; 8 Mod, 364. 9. The several parts of a bill of exchange are, 1st. that it be properly dated as to place 10.- 2d. That it be properly dated as to the time of making. As the time a bill, becomes due is generally regulated by the time when it was made, the date of the instrument ought to be clearly expressed. Beawes, pl. 3 1 B . & C. 398; 2 Pardess. n. 333. 11. - 3d. The superscription of the sum for which the bill is payable is not indispensable, but if it be not mentioned in the bill, the superscription will aid. the omission. 2 East, P. C. 951. 12. - 4th. The time of payment ought to be expressed in the bill; if no time be mentioned, it is considered as payable on demand. 7 T. R. 427; 2 Barn. & C. 157. 13. - 5th. Although it is proper for the drawer to name the place of payment, either in the body or subscription of the bill, it is not essential; and it is the common practice for the drawer merely to write the address of the drawee, without pointing out any, place of payment; in such case the bill is considered payable, and to be presented at the residence of the drawee, where the bill was made, or to him personally any where. 2 Pardess. n. 337 10 B. & C. 4; Moody & M. 381; 4 Car. & Paine, 35. It is at the option of the drawer whether or not to prescribe a particular place of payment, and make the payment there part of the contract. Beawes, pl. 8. The drawee, unless restricted by the drawer, may also fix a place of payment by his acceptance. Chit. Bills, 172. 14. - 6th. There must be an order or request to pay and that must be a matter of right, and not of favor. Mood. & M. 171. But it seems that civility in the terms of request cannot alter the legal effect of the instrument. "il vous plair a de payer," is, in France, the proper language of a bill. Pailliet, Manuel de Droit Francais, 841. The word pay is not indispensable, for the word deliver is equally operative. Ld. Raym. 1397. 15. - 7th. Foreign bills of exchange consist, generally, of several parts; a party who has engaged to deliver a foreign bill, is bound to deliver as many parts as may be requested. 2 Pardess. n. 342. The several parts of a bill of exchange are called a set; each part should contain a condition that it shall be paid, provided the others remain unpaid. Id. The whole set make but one bill. 16. - 8th. The bill ought to specify to whom it is to be paid. 2 Pardess. n. 338; 1 H. Bl. 608; Russ. & Ry. C. C. 195. When the name of the payee is in blank, and the bill has been negotiated by indorsement, the holder may fill the blank with his own name. 2 M. & S. 90; 4 Camp. 97. It may, however, be drawn payable to bearer, and then it is assignable by delivery. 3 Burr. 1526. 17. - 9th. To make a bill negotiable, it must be made payable to order, or bearer, or there must be other operative and equivalent words of transfer. Beawes, pl. 3; Selw. N. P. 303, n. 16; Salk. 133. if, however, it is not intended to make the bill negotiable, these words need not be inserted, and the instrument will, nevertheless, be valid as a bill of exchange. 6 T. R. 123; 6 Taunt. 328; Russ. & Ry. C. C. 300; 3 Caines' R. 137; 9 John. It. 217. In France, a bill must be made payable to order. Code de Com. art. 110; 2 Pardess. n. 339. 18. - 10th. The sum for which the bill is drawn, must be clearly expressed in the body of it, in writing at length. The sum must be fixed and certain, and not contingent. 2 Stark. R. 375. And it may be in the money of any country. Payment of part of the bill, the residue being unpaid, cannot be indorsed. The, contract is indivisible, and the acceptor would thereby be compelled to make two payments instead of one. But when part of a bill has been paid the residue may be assigned, since then it becomes a contract for the residue only. 12 Mod. 213; 1 Salk. 65; Ld. Ray. 360. 19. - 11th. It is usual to insert the words, value received, but it is. implied that every bill and indorsement has been made for value received, as much as if it had been expressed in totidem verbis. 3 M. & S. 352; Bayl. 40, n. 83. 20. - 12th. It is usual, when the drawer of the bill is debtor to the drawee, to insert in the bill these words: " and put it to my account but when the drawee, or the person to whom it is directed, is debtor to the drawer, then he inserts these words : "and put it to your account;" and, sometimes, where a third person is debtor to the drawee, it may be expressed thus: "and put it to the account of A B;" Marius, 27;. C, om. Dig. Merchant, F 5; R. T. Hardw. 1, 2, 3; but it is altogether unnecessary to insert any of these words. 1 B. & C. 398; S. C. 8 E. C. L. R. 108. 21. - 13th. When the drawer is desirous to inform the drawee that he has drawn a bill, he inserts in it the words, "as per advice;" but when he wishes the bill paid without any advice from him, he writes, "without further advice." In the former case the drawee is not authorized to pay the bill till he has received the advice; in the latter he may pay before he has received advice. 22. - 14th. The drawee must either subscribe the bill, or, it seems, his name may be simply inserted in the body of the instrument. Beawes, pl. 3; Ld. Raym. 1376 1 Stra. 609. 23. - 15th. The bill being a letter of request from the maker to a third person, should be addressed to that person by the Christian name and surname, or by the full style of their firm. 2 Pardess. n. 335 Beawes, pl. 3; Chit. Bills, 186, 7. 24. - 16th. The place of payment should be stated in the bill. 25. - 17th. As a matter of precaution, the drawer of a foreign bin may, in order to prevent expenses, require the holder to apply to a third person, named in the bill for that purpose, when the drawee refuses to accept the bill. This requisition is usually in these words, placed in a corner, under the drawee's address: " Au besoin chez Messrs. - at -," in other words, ((In case of need apply to Messrs. at -. " 26. - 18th. The drawer may also add a request or direction, that in case the bill should not be honored by the drawee, it shall be returned without protest or without expense, by subscribing the words, " retour sans protet," or " sans frais;" in. this case the omission of the holder to protest, having been induced by the drawer, he, and perhaps the indorsers, cannot resist the payment on that account, and thus the expense is avoided. Chit. Bills, 188. 27. - 19th. The drawer may also limit the amount of damages, by making a memorandum on the bill, that they shall be a definite sum; as, for example: "In case of non-acceptance or non-payment, re-exchange and expenses not to, exceed dollars." Id. 28. - 3. Bills of, exchange are either foreign or inland. Foreign, when drawn by a person out of, on another in, the United States, or vice versa; or by a person in a foreign country, on another person in another foreign country; or by a person in one state, on another in another of the United States. , 2 Pet. R. 589 .; 10 Pet. R. 572; 12 Pick. 483 15 Wend. 527; 3 Marsh. (Kty.) R. 488 1. Rep. Const.; Ct. 100 4 Leigh's R. 37 4 Wash. C. C. Rep. 148; 1 Whart. Dig. tit. Bills of Exchange, pl. 78. But see 5 John. R. 384, where it is said by Van Ness, Justice, that a bill drawn in the United States, upon any place within the United States, is an inland bill. 29. An inland bill is one drawn by a person in a state, on another in the same state. The principal difference between foreign and inland bills is, that the former must be protested, and the latter need not. 6 Mod. 29; 2 B. & A. 656; Chit Bills, (ed. of 1836,) p. 14. The English rule requiring protest and notice of non-acceptance of foreign bills, has been adopted and followed as the true rule of mercantile law, in the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut) New York, Maryland, and South Carolina. 3 Mass. Rep. 557; 1 Day's R. 11; 3 John. Rep. 202; 4 John. R. 144; 1 Bay's Rep. 468; 1 Harr. & John. 187. But the supreme court of the United States, in Brown v. Berry, 3 Dall. R. 365, and in Clark v. Russell, cited in 6 Serg. & Rawle, 358, held, that in an action on a foreign bill of exchange, after a protest for non- payment, protest for non-acceptance, or notice of non-acceptance need not be shown, inasmuch as they were not required by the custom of merchants in this country; and those decisions have been followed in Pennsylvania. 6 Serg. & Rawle, 356. It becomes a little difficult, therefore, to know what is the true rule of the law-merchant in the United States, on this point, after such contrary decisions." 3 Kent's Com. 95. As to what will be considered a foreign or an inland bill, when part of the bill is made in one place and part in another, see 1 M. & S. 87; Gow. R. 56; S. c. 5 E. C. L. R. 460; 8 Taunt., 679; 4 E. C. L. R. 245; 5 Taunt. 529; 1 E. C. L. R. 179. 30. - 4. The indorsement. Vide articles Indorsement; Indorser; Indorsee. 31. - 5. The acceptance. Vide article, Acceptance. 32. - 6. The protest. Vide article, Protest. Vide, generally, Chitty on Bills; Bayley on Bills; Byles on Bills; Marius on Bills; Kyd on Bills; Cunningham on Bills; Pothier, h. t.; Pardess. Index, Lettre de Change; 4 Vin. Ab. 238; Bac. Ab. Merchant and Merchandise, M.; Com. Digest, Merchant; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; 1 Sup: to Ves. Jr. 86, 514; Smith on Mer. Law, Book 3, c. 1; Bouv. Inst. Index,.h. t.