1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alluvion

ALLUVION (Lat. alluvio, washing against), a word taken from Roman law, in which it was one of the examples of accessio, that is, acquisition of property without any act being done by the acquirer. It signifies the gradual accretion of land or formation of an island by imperceptible degrees. If the accretion or formation be by a torrent or flood, the property in the severed portion or new island continues with the original owner until the trees, if any, swept away with it take root in the ground. Alluvion never attached at all in the case of agri limitati, that is, lands belonging to the state and leased or sold in plots. Dig. xli. 1, 7, is the main authority. English law is in general agreement (except as to agri limitati) with Roman, as appears from the judgment in Foster v. Wright, 1878, 4 C.P.D. 438. The Scottish law, as laid down by the House of Lords in Earl of Zetland v. Glover Incorporation, 1872, L.R. 2 H.L., Sc., 70, is in accordance with the English. (See Water Rights.)