BREAKING BULK, a nautical term for the taking out of a portion of the cargo of a ship, or the beginning to unload; and used in a legal sense for taking anything out of a package or parcel, or in any way destroying its entirety. In England it was important in connection with the subject of bailment, involv ing the curious distinction that where a bailee received pos session of goods in a box or package, and then sold them as a whole he was guilty only of a breach of trust, but if he "broke bulk" or caused a separation of the goods, and sold a part or all, he was guilty of felony. This distinction was abolished by the Larceny act (1861), which enacted that whoever, being a bailee of any chattel, money or valuable security, should fraudulently take or convert the same to his own use, or the use of any person other than the owner, although he should not "break bulk" or otherwise determine the bailment, should be guilty of larceny (§ 3).