ACCESSION, in law, a method of acquiring property adopted from Roman law, by which, in things that have a close connection with or dependence on one another, the property in the principal draws after it the property in the accessory, ac cording to the principle, accessio cedet principali. Accession may take place either in a natural way, such as the growth of fruit or the birth of animals, or in an artificial way. The various methods may be classified as ( ) land to land by accretion or alluvion (q.v.), (2) movables to land (see FIXTURES) ; (3) mov ables to movables; (4) movables added to by the art or industry of man; this may be by specification, as when wine is made out of grapes, or by confusion, or commixture, which is the mixing together of liquids or solids, respectively. In the case of industrial accession ownership is determined according as the natural or manufactured substance is of the more importance, and, in gen eral, compensation is payable to the person who has been dis possessed of his property.
In a historical or constitutional sense, the term "accession" is applied to the coming to the throne of a dynasty or line of sovereigns or of a single sovereign. "Accession" sometimes like wise signifies consent or acquiescence. Thus, in the bankruptcy law of Scotland, where there is a settlement by a trust-deed, it is accepted on the part of each creditor by a "deed of accession."