PERSONAL. Belonging to the person.

2. This adjective is frequently employed in connection with substantives, things, goods, chattels, actions, right, duties, and the like as personal estate, put in opposition to real estate; personal actions, in contradistinction to real actions; personal rights are those which belong to the person; personal duties are those which are to be performed in person.

PERSONAL ACTIONS. Personal actions are those brought for the specific goods and chattels; or for damages or other redress for breach of contract or for injuries of every other description; the specific recovery of lands, tenements and hereditaments only excepted. Vide Actions, and 1 Com. Dig. 206, 450; 1 Vin. Ab. 197; 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 2641, et. seq.

PERSONAL LIBERTY. Vide Liberty.

PERSONAL PROPERTY. The right or interest which a man has in things personal; it consists of things temporary and movable, and includes all subjects of property not of a freehold nature, nor descendable to the heirs at law. Things of a movable nature, when a right can be had in them, are personal property, but some things movable are not the subject of property; as light and air. Under the term personal property, is also included some property which is in its nature immovable, distinguished by the name of chattels real, as an estate for years; and fixtures (q . v.) are sometimes classed among personal property. A crop growing in the ground is considered personal property. so far as not to be considered an interest in land, under the statute of frauds. 11 East, 362; 1 Shopl. 337; 5 B & C. 829; 10 Ad. & E. 753; 9 B. & C. 561; sed vide 9 B. & C. 561.

2. It is a general principle of American law, that stock held in corporations, is to be considered as personal property; Walk. Introd. 211; 4 Dane's Ab. 670; Sull. on Land Tit. 71; 1 Hill. Ab. 18; though it was held that such stock was real estate; 2 Conn. R. 567; but, this being found inconvenient, the law was changed by the legislature.

3. Property in personal chattels is either absolute or qualified; absolute, when the owner has a complete title and full dominion over it; qualified, when -he has a temporary or special interest, liable to be totally divested on the happening of some particular event. 2 Kent, Com. 281.

4. Considered in relation to its use, personal property is either in possession, that is, in the actual enjoyment of the owner, or, in action, that is, not in his possession, but in the possession of another, and recoverable by action.

5. Title to personal property is acquired. 1st. By original acquisition by occupancy; as, by capture in war; by finding a lost thing. 2d. By original acquisition; by accession. 3d. By original acquisition, by intellectual labor; as, copyrights and patents for inventions. 4th. IV transfer, which is by act of law. 1. By forfeiture. 2. By judgment. 3. By insolvency. 4. By intestacy. 5th. By transfer, by act of the party. 1 . Gifts. 2. Sale. Vide, generally, 16 Vin. Ab. 335; 8 Com. Dig. 474; Id. 562; 1 Supp. to Ves. Jr. 49, 121, 160, 198, 255, 368, 9, 399, 412, 478; 2 Ibid. 10, 40, 129, 290, 291, 341; 1 Vern. 3, 170, 412; 2 Salk. 449; 2 Ves. Jr. 59, 336, 176, 261, 271, 683; 7 Ves. 453. See Pew; Property; Real property.

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES. These words are construed to mean the executors or administrators of the person deceased. 6 Mad. R. 159; 2 Mad. R. 155; 5 Ves. 402; 1 Madd. Ch. 108.

PERSONAL SECURITY. The legal and uninterrupted enjoyment by a man of his life, his body, his health and his reputation. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 202.

PERSONALITY OF LAWS. Those laws which regulate the condition, state, or capacity of persons. The term is used in opposition to those laws which concern property, whether real or personal, and things. See Story, Confl. of L. 23; and Reality of laws.

PERSONAITY. An abstract of personal; as, the action is in the personalty, that is, it is brought against a person for a personal duty which he owes. It also signifies what belongs to the person; as, personal property.

TO PERSONATE, crim. law. The act of assuming the character of another without lawful authority, and, in such character, doing something to his prejudice, or to the prejudice of another, without his will or consent.

2. The bare fact of personating another for the purpose of fraud, is no more than a cheat or misdemeanor at common law, and punishable as such. 2 East, P. C. 1010; 2 Russ. on Cr. 479.

3. By the act of congress of the 30th April, 1790, s. 15, 1 Story's Laws U. S. 86, it is enacted, that " if any person shall acknowledge, or procure to be acknowledged in any court of the United States, any recognizance, bail or judgment, in the name or names of any other person or persons not privy or consenting to the same, every such person or persons, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not exceeding five thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding seven years, and whipped not exceeding thirty-nine stripes, Provided nevertheless. that this act shall not extend to the acknowledgment of any judgment or judgments by any attorney or attorneys, duly admitted, for any person or persons against whom any such judgment or judgments shall be bad or given." Vide, generally, 2 John. Cas. 293; 16 Vin. Ab. 336; Com. Dig. Action on the case for a deceit, A 3.

TO PERSUADE, PERSUADING. To persuade is to induce to act: persuading is inducing-others to act. lnst. 4, 6, 23; Dig. 11, 3, 1, 5.

2. In the act of the legislature which declared that " if any person or persons knowingly and willingly shall aid or assist any enemies at open war with this state, &c. by persuading others to enlist for that purpose, &c., he shall be adjudged guilty of high treason;" the word persuading, thus used; means to succeed: and there must be an actual enlistment, of the person persuaded in order to bring the, defendant within the intention of the clause. 1 Dall. R. 39; Carr. Crim. L 237; 4 Car. & Payne, 369 S. C. 1 9 E. C L. R. 425; 9 Car. & P. 79; and article Administering; vide 2 Lord Raym. 889. It may be fairly argued, however, that the attempt to persuade without success would be a misdemeanor. 1 Russ. on Cr. 44.

3. In England it has been decided, that to incite and procure a person to commit suicide, is not a crime for which the party could be tried. 9 C. & P. 79; 38 E. C. L. R. 42; M. C. C. 356. Vide Attempt; Solicitation.

PERSUASION. The act of influencing by expostulation or request. While the persuasion is confined within those limits which leave the mind free, it may be used to induce another to make his will, or even to make it in his own favor; but if such persuasion should so far operate on the mind of the testator, that he would be deprived of a perfectly free will, it would vitiate the instrument. 3 Serg. & Rawle, 269; 5 Serg. & Rawle, 207; 13 Serg. & Rawle, 323.

PERTINENT, evidence. Those facts which tend to prove the allegations of the party offering them, are called pertinent; those which have no such tendency are called impertinent, 8 Toull. n. 22. By pertinent is also meant that which belongs. Willes, 319.

PERTURBATION. This is a technical word which signifies disturbance, or infringement of a right. It is usually applied to the disturbance of pews, or seats in a church. In the ecclesiastical courts actions for these disturbances are technically called "suits for perturbation of seat." 1 Phillim. 323. Vide Pew.

PESAGE, mer. law. In England a toll bearing this name is charged for weighing avoirdupois goods other than wool. 2 Chit. Com. Law. 16.

PETIT, sometimes corrupted into petty. A French word signifying little, small. It is frequently used, as petit larceny, petit jury, petit treason.

PETIT, TREASON, English law. The killing of a master by his servant; a hushand by his wife; a superior by a secular or religious man. In the United States this is like any other murder. See High, Treason; Treason.

PETITION. An instrument of writing or printing containing a prayer from the person presenting it, called the petitioner, to the body or person to whom it is presented, for the redress of some wrong, or the grant of some favor, which the latter has the right to give.

2. By the constitution of the United States the right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances," is secured to the people. Amendm. Art. 1.

3. Petitions are frequently presented to the courts in order to bring some matters before them. It is a general rule, in such cases, that an affidavit should be made that the facts therein contained are true as far as known to the petitioner, and that those facts which he states as knowing from others be believes to be true.

PETITION OF RIGHT, Eng. law. When the crown is in possession, or any title is vested in it which is claimed by a subject, as no suit can be brought against the king, the subject is allowed to file in chancery a petition of right to the king.

2. This is in the, nature of an action against a subject, in which the petitioner sets out his right to tbat which is demanded by him, and prays the king to do him right and justice; and, upon a due and lawful trial of the right, to make him restitution. It is called a petition of right, because the king is bound of right to answer it, and let the matter therein contained be determined in a legal way, in like manner as causes between subject and subject. The petition is presented to the king, who subscribes it, with these words, soit droit fait al partie, and thereupon it is delivered to the chancellor to be executed according to law. Coke's Entr. 419, 422 b; Mitf. Eq. Pl. 30, 31; Coop. Eq. Pl. 22, 23.

PETITORY. That which demands or petitions that which has, the, quality of a prayer or petition; a right to demand.

2. A petitory suit or action is understood to be one in which the mere title to property is to be enforced by means of a demand or petition, as distin-guished from a possessory suit. 1 Kent, Com. 371.

3. In the Scotch law, petitory actions are so called, not because something is sought to be awarded by the judge, for in that sense all actions must be petitory, but because some demand is made upon the defender, in consequence either of the right of property or credit in the pursuer. Thus, actions for restitution of movables, actions of pounding, of forthcoming, and indeed all personal actions upon contracts, or quasi contracts, which the Romans called condictiones, are petitory. Ersk. Inst. b. 4, t. 1, n. 47.

PETTY AVERAGE. A contribution by the owners of the ship, freight and goods on board, for losses sustained by the ship and cargo, which consist of small charges. Vide Average.

PETTY BAG, Engl. law. An office in the court of chancery, appropriated for suits against attorneys and officers of the court; and for, process and proceedings, by extent on statutes, recognizances, ad quod damnum and the like. T. de la Ley.

PETTIFOGGER. One who pretends to be a lawyer, but possessing neither knowledge, law, nor conscience.

PEW. A seat in a church separated from all others, with a convenient space to stand therein.

2. It is an incorporeal interest in the real property. And, although a man has the exclusive right to it, yet, it seems, he cannot maintain trespass against a person entering it; 1 T. R. 430; but case is the proper remedy. 3 B. & Ald. 361; 8 B. & C. 294; S. C. 15 Eng. C. L. R. 221.

3. The right to pews is limited and usufructuary, and does not interfere with the right of the parish or congregation to pull down and rebuild the church. 4 Ohio R 541; 5 Cowen's R. 496; 17 Mass. R. 435; 1 Pick. R. 102; 3 Pick. R. 344; 6 S. & R. 508; 9 Wheat. R. 445; 9 Cranch, R. 52; 6 John. R. 41; 4 Johns. Ch. R. 596; 6 T. R. 396. Vide Pow. Mortgages, Index, h. t.; 2 Bl. Com. 429; 1 Chit. Pr. 208, 210; 1 Pow. Mort. 17 n.

4. In Connecticut and Maine, and in Massachusetts, (except in Boston), pews are considered real estate: in Boston they are personal chattels. In New Hampshire they are personal property. 1 Smith's St. 145. The precise nature of such property does not appear to be well settled in New York. 15 Wend. R. 218; 16 Wend. R. 28; 5 Cowen's R. 494. See Rev. St. Mass. 413; Conn. L. 432; 10 Mass. R. 323 17 Mass. 438; 7 Pick. R. 138; 4 N. H. Rep. 180; 4 Ohio R. 515; 4 Harr. & McHen. 279; Harr. Dig. Ecclesiastical Law. Vide Perturbation of seat; Best on Pres. 111; Crabb on R. P. §481 to 497.

PHAROS. A light-house or beacon. It is derived from Phams, a small island at the mouth of the Nile, on which was built a watch-tower.

PHYSICIAN. One lawfully engaged in the practice of medicine.

2. A physician in England cannot recover for fees, as his practice is altogether honorary. Peake C. N. P. 96, 123; 4 T. R. 317.

3. But in Pennsylvania, and perhaps in all the United States, he may recover for his services. 5 Serg. & Rawle, 416. The law implies, therefore, a contract on the part of a medical man, as well as those of other professions, to discharge their duty in a skillful and attentive manner; and the law will redress the party injured by their neglect or ignorance. 1 Saund. 312, R; 1 Ld. Raym. 213; 2 Wils. 359; 8 East, 348.

4. They are sometimes answerable criminally for mala praxis. (q. v.) 2 Russ. on Cr. 288; Ayl. Pand. 213; Com. Dig. h. t. Vin. Ab. h. t.

PHYSIOLOGY, med. jur. The science which treats of the functions of animals; it is the science of life.

2. The legal practitioner who expects to rise to eminence, must acquire some acquaintance with physiology. This subject is intimately connected with gestation, birth, life and death. Vide 2 Chit. Pr. 42, n.

PIGNORATION, civil law . This word is used by Justinian in the title of the 52d novel, and signifies not only a pledge of property, but an engagement of the person.

PICKPOCKET. A thief; one who in a crowd or. in other places, steals from the pockets or person of another without putting him in fear. This is generally punished as simple larceny.

PIGNORATIVE CONTRACT, civ. law. A contract by which the owner of an estate engages it to another for a sum of money, and grants to him and his successors the right to enjoy it, until he shall be reimbursed, voluntarily, that sum of money. Poth. h. t.

PIGNORIS CAPIO, ROM. civil law. The name given to one of the legis actiones of the Roman law. It consisted chiefly in the taking. of a pledge, and was in fact a mode of execution. It was confined to special cases determined by positive law or by custom, such as taxes, duties, rents, &c., and is comparable in some respects to distresses at common law. The proceeding took place in the presence of a praetor.

PIGNUS, civil law. This word signifies in English, pledge or pawn. (q. v.) It is derived, says Gaius, from pugnium, the fist, because what is delivered in pledge is delivered. in hand. Dig. 50, 16, 238, 2. This is one of several instances of the failure of the Roman jurists, when they attempted etymological explanation of words. The elements of pignus (pig) is contained in the word pa(n)g-o, and its cognate forms. Smith's Dict. Gr. and Rom. Antiq. h. v.

PILLAGE. The taking by violence of private property by a victorious army from the citizens or subjects of the enenly. This, in modern times, is seldom allowed, and then, only when authorized by the commander or chief officer, at the place where the pillage is committed. The property thus violently taken in general belongs to the common soldiers. See Dall. Dict. Propriete, art. 3, §5; Wolff, §1201; and Booty; Prize.

PILLORY, punishment. wooden machine in which the neck of the culprit is inserted.

2. This punishment has been superseded by the adoption of the penitentiary system in most of the states. Vide 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 797. The punishment of standing in the pillory, so far as the same was provided by the laws of the United States, was abolished by the act of congress of February 27, 1839, s. 5. See Baxr. on the Stat. 48, note.

PILOT, mer. law. This word has two meanings. It signifies, first, an officer serving on board of a ship during the course of a voyage, and having the charge of the helm and of the ship's route; and, secondly, an officer authorized by law, who is taken on board at a particular place, for the purpose of conducting a ship through a river, road or channel, or from or into port.

2. Pilots of the second description are established by legislative enactments at the principal seaports in this country, and have rights, and are bound to perform duties, agreeably to the provisions of the several laws establishing them.

3. Pilots have been established in all maritime countries. After due trial and experience of their qualifications, they are licensed to offer themselves as guides in difficult navigation; and they are usually, on the other hand, bound to obey the call of a ship-master to exercise their functions. Abbott on Ship. 180; 1 John R. 305; 4 Dall. 205; 2 New R. 82; 5 Rob. Adm. Rep. 308; 6 Rob. Adm. R. 316; Laws of Oler. art. 23; Molloy, B. 2, c. 9, s. 3 and 7; Wesk. Ins. 395; Act of Congress of 7th August, 1789, s. 4; Merl. Repert. h. t.; Pardessus, n. 637.

PILOTAGE, contracts. The compensation given to a pilot for conducting a vessel in or out of port. Poth. Des Avaries, n. 147.

2. Pilotage is a lien on the ship, when the contract has been made by the master or quasi master of the ship, or some other person lawfully authorized to make it; 1 Mason, R. 508; and the admiralty court has jurisdiction, when services have been performed at sea. Id.; 10 Wheat. 428; 6 Pet. 682; 10 Pet. 108; and see 1 Pet. Adm. Dec. 227.

PIN MONEY. Money allowed by a man to his wife to spend for her own personal comforts.

2. When pin money is given to, but not spent by the wife, on his death it belongs to his estate. 4 Vin. Ab. 133, tit'. Baron and Feme, E a. 8; 2 Eq. Cas. Ab. 156; 2 P. Wms. 341; 3 P. Wms. 353; 1 Ves. 267; 2 Ves. 190; 1 Madd. Ch. 489, 490.

3. In the French law the term Epingles, pins, is used to designate the present which is sometimes given by the purchaser of an immovable to the wife or daughters of the seller to induce them to consent to the sale. This present is not considered as a part of the consideration, but a purely voluntary gift. Diet. de Jur. mot Epingles.

4. In England it was once adjudged that a promise to a wife, by the purchaser, that if she would not hinder the bargain for the sale of the hushand's lands, he would give her ten pounds, was valid, and might be enforeed by an action of assumpsit, instituted by hushand and wife. Roll. Ab. 21, 22. 5. It has been conjectured that the term pin money, has been applied to signify the provision for a married woman, because anciently there was a tax laid for providing the English queen with pins. Barringt. on the Stat. 181.

PINT. A liquid measure containing half a quart or the eighth part of a gallon.