deed is very simple, many of the States having by statute prescribed a short form of deed. Deeds are of several kinds, having respect to the estate conveyed and the covenants and warranties recited, and are known as Warranty Deeds; Full Covenant Warranty; Quit Claim; Covenant Against Grantor; Executor's; Guardian's, etc. The usual form is the Warranty Deed, in which the grantor warrants the title to the land and agrees to defend the same against the claim thereto of any person lawfully claiming the same or any part thereof. A purchaser holding title under such a deed, in case he or she be ejected by some person having a better title thereto than the grantor, has a right of action against the grantor to recover the purchase price paid for such land, together with any damages suffered by reason of such purchase and ejectment. A purchaser holding title under a Full Covenant Warranty Deed has a right of action against the grantor at any time it is discovered the grantor had no title to convey, or it is discovered the title is defective. Under a Quit Claim Deed the grantor simply conveys any title he or she may have in the land described in the deed, and it does convey fully any such title or interest therein, but should it happen the grantor had no title the grantee has no right of action to compel the giving of good title, or for any damages, unless some purchase price be paid to and received by the grantee upon a representation, on his or her part, that he or she had certain title or interest, when such purchase price and any damages may be recovered. A deed Covenant against Grantor contains a covenant simply, on the part of the grantor, that he or she has not done or suffered anything to be done whereby the title has become affected or incumbered, and beyond that does not warrant any title. The covenants in a deed bind the heirs, executors and assigns of the grantor. The title to real estate is so important that the vendor and purchaser thereof cannot afford to employ but a competent lawyer, well informed in matters of title and real estate law, to prepare the deed of conveyance and attend to the passing of title. Probably no one subject has produced so much long, tedious and expensive litigation, as that arising out of defective titles to real estate, or faulty description of the property sought to be conveyed. A purchaser of land should never take title, or seek to take title, without having the title examined, and the deed or other instrument of conveyance passed upon by a lawyer known to be well informed on the subject of titles. A few dollars spent in this way will not only insure the satisfaction that one's title is good, but may mean the saving of many dollars in expensive litigation later, and possibly the loss of the property, altogether. My long experience as a specialist on the subject of real estate and titles has brought to my attention many losses occasioned through mere carelessness, or a desire to avoid the expenditure of a few dollars at the right time, and I cannot refrain at this time from giving the advice above noted. Title by Will or Devise. Another instrument through which title to real property may be obtained or disposed of, is that instrument known as a "Will." A will is an instrument required to be in writing on paper or parchment, signed by the testator at the end, and under seal (except in the case of a soldier in time of war or a sailor on sea). which disposes of real and personal property, or either, to take effect at and after the death of the testator. When a will operates upon real property it is sometimes called a devise. The more general and popular denomination of the instrument, when embracing both real and personal property, is that of last will and testament. Modestinus in the Roman law has given to such an instrument the most precise definition-Testamentum est voluntatis nostrae justa sententia de eo quod quis post mortem suam fieri velit. The subject of wills and testaments, who may make them, the manner of their execution, and property that may pass thereunder, will be treated in another chapter under the title of "Last Will and Testament." Title by Descent.-Another channel through which title passes and is obtained is that by descent. This title is obtained through operation of law, by the heirs at law of a person owning title to land, who dies intestate-that is, without leaving any last will and testament, or leaving a will fails to devise land thereby. The persons who so inherit do so pursuant to the law of the State wherein the land is situated, and they take such title as the deceased had therein at the time of his death, and subject to any limitations or liens thereon. The rule or law of descent varies somewhat in the different States and no attempt will be made in this chapter to treat of the various rules whereby title passes by descent. PERSONAL PROPERTY Personal property embraces all objects and rights which are capable of ownership, except freehold estates in land, and incorporeal hereditaments issuing thereout, or exercisable within the same. Certain kinds of personal property are quite closely allied to real property, however, and are subject to some of the rules governing the latter-such as Heirlooms, being personal chattels which descend to the heir along with the inheritance; Title deeds to real property and the keys to the buildings on real property, which go to the one entitled to the land; growing crops, upon the death of the person who planted them, pass to the executor or administrator, however, and not to the heir of the land. Personal property known as "fixtures," being temporary chattels annexed to the land, which he or his representative may afterwards sever and re move. Other kinds of personal property are, tame animals; animals ferae nature; ships; money; negotiable paper; insurance policies; patents; copyrights; trade-marks; seats in exchanges; debts and demands; shares of stock, and bonds and mortgages, and bonds issued by the government, State, city or other municipality, or by corporations; good will, names, furniture, jewelry, personal effects, etc. All this property, like real property, may belong to one owner or to several holding the relation of joint tenants or tenants in common; or as partners, or as members of corporations, joint stock companies or other societies. Title to personal property may be acquired and disposed of with much less formality than title to real estate. It may be acquired by occupancy or the taking of possession with intent to appropriate, of things which before belonged to nobody, or of things abandoned or lost by unknown owners; by gift from an owner accompanied with delivery of possession; by sale and delivery of possession; and upon death of the owner, either through will or pursuant to the law of distribution of personal property. The most common method of passing title to personal property, such as to goods, wares and merchandise, is by delivery of possession. Another method is by execution and delivery of a bill of sale, corresponding to a deed of real property, whereby the property sold and to be conveyed is described. Such bill of sale is executed in practically the same manner as a deed and is completed by delivery to the purchaser. By statute in most States, known as the Statute of Frauds, a sale of personal property above a fixed amount in value, is void unless a bill of sale is executed, or some memoranda of the sale is signed by the parties, or one of them, or the property or some part thereof is delivered. Personal property may be and is disposed of by will of the owner, known as his or her last will and testament. In the purchase of personal property, except such as is purchased in the usual course of trade and commerce, the purchaser should see to it that the vendor has good title thereto, and that no incumbrance, in the way of chattel mortgage or lien of a prior owner exists, for the purchaser gets no better title than the vendor has therein at the time of a sale thereof. Many articles of personal prop |