94 UNIVERSALITY OF DEGENERATIVE EVOLUTION 



instance, with the communes of Oedelem, Beernem 

 and Oostcamp we find, though in a degenerate con- 

 dition, the old collective property of the aenborgers 

 of Beverhoutsveld, with its administrative college of 

 Veldheeren. 1 



(b) In Sysseele, and in several other communes, 

 the assembly of Veldheeren has been abolished, and 

 the property which they administrated has become 

 the property of the commune by whom the rents 

 are collected. 



(c) At Gand, the grazing land of the Heernisse of 

 Saint-Bavon, which was declared collective property 

 by a decree of November 16, 1887, was afterwards 



1 Beverhoutsveld is a vast domain situated outside the gates of 

 Bruges, in the territory of the commune of Oedelem. According to 

 the terms of a decision of the 13th August 1859, it constitutes a 

 collective property belonging to three sections of the communes of 

 Oedelem, of Beernem, and of Oostcamp. The family representatives 

 of these three sections are alone privileged to rent these lands, 

 and the revenue accruing from them is divided among the three 

 sections. 



The old administrative authority, the college of Veldheeren, 

 which was in existence in the thirteenth century, still exists, 

 though in a new form. According to the terms of the decision 

 of 1859, the police are provided for from the taxes of Oedelem, as 

 the property is within that district ; ' ' but in other matters, and 

 in the administration of the rights and revenues accruing from 

 it, the property shall be under the control of a commissioner 

 appointed, so far as possible, by the interested parties i.e. the 

 aenborgers in conformity with the laws and regulations relating 

 to the matter." 



The Vrij-Geweid, also situated in the environs of Bruges, is 

 similarly administrated. (See Errera, des Masitirs, chaps, xix., 

 xx. and following.) 



