AYANT CAUSE. In. French Law. This term, which is used in Louisiana, sig B. The second letter of the alphabet.
It is used to denote the second page of a folio, and also as an abbreviation. See A; ABBREVIATIONS.
A bond of indemnifica tion given to a surety.
In Scotch Law. A declaration of trust; a defeasance ; a bond given by one who is apparently absolute owner, so as to reduce his right to that of a trustee or holder of a bond and disposition in security. Paterson, Comp.
That water in a stream which, in consequence of some obstruction below, is detained or checked in its course, or re-flows.
The term is usually employed to designate the water which is turned back, by a dam erected in the stream below, upon the wheel of a mill above, so as to retard its revolution.
2. Every riparian proprietor is entitled to the benefit of the water in its natural state. Another such proprietor has no right to alter the level of the water, either where it enters or where it leaves his property. If he claims either to throw the water back above, or to diminish the quantity which is to descend below, he must, in order to maintain his claim, either prove an actual grant or license from the proprietors affected by his opera, tions, or an uninterrupted enjoyment for twenty years. If he cannot maintain his claim in either of these ways, he is liable to an action on the case for damages in favor of the injured party, or to a suit in equity for an injunction to restrain his unlawful use of the water. 1 Sim. & S. Ch. 203 ; 1 Barnew.
& Ad. 874 ; 9 Coke, 59 ; 1 & Ald. 258 ; 1 Wils. 178 ; 6 East, 203 ; 5 Gray, Mass. 460; 2 id. 137 ; 7 Pick. Mass. 198 ; 11. Mete. Mass. 517 ; 25 Penn. St. 519 ; 20 id. 85 ; 1 Rawle, Penn. 218 ; 7 Watts & S. Penn. 9 ; 4 Day, Conn. 244: 24 Conn. 15 ; 7 Cow. N. Y. 26(i ; 2 Johns. Ch. N. Y. 162 ; 5 N. H. 232 ; 9 id. 502 ; 2 Gilm. Va. 285 ; 4 Ill. 432 ; 3 Green, N. J. 116 ; 3 Vt. 308 ; 4 Eng. L. & Eq. 265 ; 4 Mas. C. C. 400.
3. An action on the case to recover dam ages for flowing land is local, and must, therefore, be brought in the county where the land lies. 25 N.H. 525 ; 23 Wend. N.Y. 484 ; 2 East, 497.
In Massachusetts and some other of the states, acts have been passed giving to the owners of mills the right to flow the adjoin ing lands, if necessary to the working of their mills, subject only to such damages as shall be ascertained by the particular process prescribed, which process is substituted for all other judicial remedies. Angell, Wat. Cour. c. xii.; 12 Pick. Mass. 467; 23 id. 216 ; 11 Mass. 364 ; .4 Cush. Mass. 245 ; 4 Gray, Mass. 581 ; 5 Ired. No. C. 333 ; 11 Ala. 472; 39 Me. 246 ; 41 id. 291 ; 42 id. 150 ; 3 Wisc. 603. These statutes, however, confer no authority to flow back upon existing mills. 22 Pick. Mass. 312; 23 id. 216. See DAMAGES; INUNDATION; WATERCOURSE.