LINCOLN'S INN. See INNS OF COURT.
In Descents. The series of persons who have descended from a common an cestor, placed one under the other, in the or der of their birth. It connects successively all the relations by blood to each other. See CONSANGUINITY; DEGREE.
The line is either direct or collateral. The direct line is composed of all the persons who are descended from each other. If, in the direct line, any one person is assumed as the propositus, in order to count from him upwards and downwards, the line will be divided into two parts, the ascending and descending lines. The ascending line is that which, counting from the propositus, ascends to his ancestors, to his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. The descending line is that which, counting from the same per son, descends to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. The preceding ta ble is an example.
The collateral line, considered by itself and in relation to the common ancestor, is a direct line ; it becomes collateral when placed alongside of another line below the common ancestor, in whom both lines unite. For example : These two lines are independent of each other ; they have no connection except by their union in the person of the common ancestor. This reunion is what forms the relation among the persons composing the two lines.
A line is also paternal or maternal. In the examination of a person's ascending line, the line ascends first to his father, next to his paternal grandfather, his paternal great grandfather, etc., so on from father to fa ther; this is called the paternal line. An other line will be found to ascend from the same person to his mother, his maternal grandmother, and so from mother to mother ; this is the maternal line. These lines, how ever, do not take in all the ascendants; there are many others who must be imagin ed. The number of ascendants is double at each degree, as is shown by the following diagram : See 2 Bla. Corn. 200, b.; Pothier, Des Suc
cessions, C. 1, art. 3, § 2; ASCENDANTS ; CON SANGUINITY.
In Real Property Law. The division be tween two tracts or parcels of land. Limit; border ; boundary.
When a line is mentioned in a deed as ending at a particular monument (q. v.), it is to be extended in the direction called for, without regard to distance, till it reaches the boundary ; Den v. Green, 9 N. C. 219. See Whitehead v. Ragan, 106 Mo. 231, 17 S. W. 307. And a marked line is to be adhered to although it depart from the course; New som v. Pryor, 7 Wheat. (U. S.) 7, 5 L. Ed. 382; Thornberry v. Churchill, 4 T. B. Monr. (Ky.) 29, 16 Am. Dec. 125. A crooked line is just as much a line as a straight one ; Den v. Cubberly, 12 N. J. L. 308. Ordinarily, if a boundary runs to or by the line of an object, the exterior limit of the object is in tended; Hamlin v. Mfg. Co., 141 Mass. 56, 6 N. E. 531.
Where a number of persons settle simul taneously or at short intervals in the same neighborhood, and their tracts, If extended in certain directions, would overlap each other, the settlers sometimes by agreement determine upon dividing lines, which are called conaentible lines. These lines, when fairly agreed upon, have been sanctioned by the courts; and such agreements are conclu sive upon all persons claiming under the par ties to them, with notice, but not upon bona fide purchasers for a valuable consid eration, without notice, actual or construc tive; Dixon's Ex'rs v. Crist, 17 S. & R. (Pa.) 57. See PARALLEL LINES.
Lines fixed by compact between nations are binding on their citizens and subjects : 1 Ves. Sen. 450; 1 Atk. 2; 1 P. Wms. 723; Perkins v. Gay, 3 S. & R. (Pa.) 331, 8 Am. Dec. 653. See BOUNDARY.
Measures. A line is' a lineal measure, con taining the one-twelfth part of an inch.