EVOLUTION AND DEGENERATION OF INSTITUTIONS 111 



3. By degrees by means of cantonments, pur- 



chases, prescriptive claims, &c. these cor- 

 porations absorbed the best part of the 

 land, and became almost independent of 

 the Lord of the Manor; as a rule, the latter 

 gave up half of the common territory to 

 them, and freed the surplus from all rights 

 of usage. In the corporations of masuirs, 

 however, there were still a few remaining 

 vestiges of some of the institutions of the 

 old manorial group from which they had 

 gradually developed. The Lord of the 

 Manor, for instance, himself being an in- 

 habitant and a masuir, had a right to a 

 share in the property of the community, 

 and further, in his seigniorial capacity, 

 certain privileges accrued to him such as 

 " la haute fleur des bois," i.e. tithes and 

 pannage (crops of acorns). 



4. The Ee volution put an end to all feudal 



rights, and removed the last remaining 



traces of the origin of the masuirs. 



Throughout this long series of transformations, it 



is evident that degeneration has followed in the 



track of progress. Besides the disappearance of 



the manorial group and its attendant institutions, 



the rights of the masuirs may be said to have 



become more restricted as they became more defined 



and secure. In the early days, all the inhabitants 



enjoyed joint rights over a vast common territory, 



