Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

IMPROPEIATJS RECTOR

598

IMPUTED NEGLIGENCE

of the ship in the course of the voyage. L. R. 6 a P. 563. See, also, 53 Law J. P. D. 65. IMPROPRIATE RECTOR. In eccle siastical law. Commonly signifies a lay rec tor as opposed to a spiritual rector; just as lxnpropriate tithes are tithes in the hands of a lay owner, as opposed to appropriate tithes, which are tithes in the hands of a spiritual owner. Brown. IMPROPRIATION. In ecclesiastical law. The annexing an ecclesiastical bene fice to the use of a lay person, whether indi vidual or corporate, in the same way as ap propriation is the annexing of any such benefice to the proper and perpetual use of some spiritual corporation, whether sole or aggregate, to enjoy forever. Brown. I M P R O V E . In Scotch law. To dis prove; to invalidate or impeach; to prove false or forged. I Forb. Inst. pt. 4, p. 162. To improve a lease means to grant a lease of unusual duration to encourage a tenant, when the soil is exhausted, etc. Bell; Stair, Inst. p. 676, § 23. IMPROVED. Improved land is such as has been reclaimed, is used for the purpose of husbandry, and is cultivated as such, whether the appropriation is for tillage, meadow, or pasture. "Improve" is synony mous with "cultivate." 4 Cow. 190. IMPROVEMENT. A valuable addition made to property (usually real estate) or an amelioration in its condition, amounting to more, than mere repairs or replacement of waste, costing labor or capital, and intended to enhance its value and utility or to adapt it for new or further purposes. In American land law. An act by which a locator or settler expresses his intention to cultivate or clear certain land; an act ex pressive of the actual possession of land; as by erecting a cabin, planting a corn-field, deadening trees in a forest; or by merely marking trees, or even by piling up a brush heap. Burrill. An "improvement," under our land system, does not mean a general enhancement of the value of the tract from the occupant's operations. It has a more limited meaning, which has in view the pop ulation of our forests, and the increase of agricult ural products. All works which are directed to the creation of homes for families, or are substan tial steps towards bringing lands into cultivation, have in their results the special character of "im provements," and, under the land laws of the United States and of the several states, are en couraged. Sometimes their minimum extent is

defined as requisite to convey rights. In ether cases not. But the test which runs through all the cases is always this: Are they real, and made bona fide, in accordance with the policy of the law, or are they only colorable, and made for the purpose of fraud and speculation! 87 Ark. 137. In the law of patents. An addition to, or modification of, a previous Invention or discovery, intended or claimed to increase its utility or value. See 2 Kent, Comm. 366 372. IMPROVEMENTS. A term used in leases, of doubtful meaning. It would seem to apply principally to buildings, though generally it extends to the amelioration of every description of property, whether real or personal; but, when contained in any doc ument, its meaning is generally explained by other words. 1 Chit. Gen. Pr. 174. IMPROVIDENCE, as used in a statute excluding one found incompetent to execute the duties of an administrator by reason of improvidence, means that want of care and foresight in the management of property which would be likely to render the estate and effects of the intestate unsafe, and liable to be lost or diminished in value, in case the administration should be committed to the improvident person. 1 Barb. Ch. 45. IMPRUIARE. In old records. To im prove land. Imprutamentum, the improve ment so made of it. Cowell. IMPUBES. Lat. In the civil law. A minor under the age of puberty; a male un der fourteen years of age; a female under twelve. Calvin.; Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 138. Impunitas continuum affectum tribuit delinquendi. 4 Coke, 45. Impunity con firms the disposition to commit crime. Impunities semper ad deteriora invi tat. 5 Coke, 109. Impunity always invites to greater crimes. IMPUNITY. Exemption or protection from penalty or punishment. 36 Tex. 153. IMPUTATIO. In the civil law. Legal liability. IMPUTATION OP PAYMENT. In the civil law. The application of a payment made by a debtor to his creditor. IMPUTED NEGLIGENCE. Negli gence which is not directly attributable to the person himself, but which is the negli gence of a person who is in privity with him, and with whose fault he is chargeable.

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