d'-e e' 
irlitn you are got. into some road, bordered 
by a hedge or ditch, you must stop as gently 
its possible, and without making any noise ; 
the horses will then sutler themselves to be 
taken without any opposition. It is called 
in French haraux, and count Saxe is the 
only author that mentions it. 
Decoy, among fowlers, a place made for 
catching wild-fowl. A decoy is generally 
made where there is a large pond surround- 
ed with wood, and beyond that a marshy 
and uncultivated country: if the piece of 
water is not thus surrounded, it will be at- 
tended with noises and other accidents which 
may he expected to frighten the wild-fowl 
prom a quiet haunt, where they mean to 
sleep, in the day-time, in security. If these 
noises or disturbances are wilful, it has been 
held that an action will lie against the dis- 
turber. As soon as the evening sets in, the 
decoy rises, and the wild-fowl feed during 
(the night. It the evening is still, the noise 
of their wings during their flight is heard at 
| a very great distance, and is a pleasing, 
though rather melancholy, sound. This 
rising of the decoy in the evening is, in So- 
mersetshire, called radding. 
The decoy-ducks are fed with hempseed, 
1 which is thrown over the screens in small 
i quantities, to bring them forwards into the 
pipes or canals, and to allure the wild-fowl to 
follow, as this seed is so light as to float, 
j There are several pipes, as they are called, 
which lead up a narrow ditch that closes at 
j last with a funnel-net. Over these pipes 
{ (which grow narrower from their lirst en- 
trance) is a continued arch of netting sus- 
pended on hoops. It is necessary to have a 
pipe or ditch for almost every wind that can 
blow, as upon this circumstance it depends 
1 which pipe the fowl will take to ; and the de- 
1 coy-man always keeps on the leeward side of 
1 the ducks, to prevent his scent reaching their 
sagacious nostrils. All along each pipe, at 
intervals, are placed screens made of reeds, 
which are so situated that it is impossible the 
wild-fowl should see the decoy-rnan before 
they have passed on towards the end of the 
pipe, where the purse-net is placed. r l he 
inducement to the wild-fowl to go up one of 
these pipes is, because the decoy-ducks train- 
ed to this lead the way, either after hearing 
the whistle of the decoy-man, or enticed by 
the hemp-seed; the latter will dive under 
| water, whilst the wild-fowl fly on and are 
taken in the purse. 
It often happens, however, that the wild- 
fowl are in such a state of sleepiness and 
i dozing, that they will not follow the decoy- 
j ducks. Use is then generally made of a dog 
J that is taught his lesson : he passes backwards 
I and forwards between the reed-screens (in 
which are little holes, both for the decoy- 
man to see, and the little dog to pass 
j through) ; this attracts the eye ot the wild- 
; fowl, who, not choosing to be interrupted, 
I advance towards the small and contemptible 
animal, that they may drive him away. The 
dog all the time, by the direction of the de- 
coy-man, plays among the screens of reeds, 
nearer and nearer the purse-net ; till at last 
perhaps the decov-man appears behind a 
screen, and the wild-fowl not daring to pass 
by him in return, nor being able to escape 
upwards on account of the net-covering, 
rush on into the purse-net. Sometimes the 
♦log w ill not. attract their attention if a red 
C:ED 
handkerchief, or something very singular, is 
not put about him. 
The general season for catching fowl in 
decoys is from the end of October till Febru- 
ary the taking of them earlier is pro- 
hibited by an act 10 Geo. IT. c. 32, which 
forbids it from June 1st to October 1st, under 
the penalty of live shillings for each bird de- 
stroyed within that space., 
T lie Lincolnshire decoys are commonly 
let at a certain annual rent, from five to 
twenty pounds a year ; and there is one in 
Somersetshire that'pays thirty pounds. The 
former contribute principally to supply the 
markets in London. Amazing numbers of 
ducks, wigeons, and teal, are taken . bv an 
account ot the number caught a few winters 
past, in one season, and in only ten decoys, 
in the neighbourhood of W amfleet, it ap- 
peared to amount to 31,200, in which are 
included several other species of ducks. It 
is also to be observed, that in the above par- 
ticular a couple of wigeon or teal are reckon- 
ed but as one, and consequently sell but at 
half-price of the ducks. 
It" was customary formerly to have in the 
fens an annual driving ot the young ducks 
before they took wing. Numbers ot people 
assembled, who beat a vast tract, and forced 
the birds into a net placed at the spot where 
the sport was to terminate. I bus a hundred 
and lifty dozens have been taken at once ; 
but this practice, being supposed detrimental, 
lias been abolished by act of parliament. 
DECRETE, in the law of Scotland, a fi- 
nal decree or judgment of the lords ot ses- 
sion, from which an appeal lies only to par- 
liament, where we find them but too often 
reversed, a circumstance surely not much, 
to the honour of the august bench whence the 
appeal lies. 
DECREMENT, in heraldry, signinferthe 
wane of the moon from the full to the 
new. ^ 
DECREPITATION. See Chemis- 
try. 
DECRETAL, in the canon-law, a letter 
of a pope determining some point or question 
in the ecclesiastical law. The decretals com- 
posed the second part ot the canon-law. 
■The first genuine one acknowledged by all 
the learned as such, is a letter of pope Siri- 
cius, written in the year 3S5, to Himerus 
bishop of Tarragona in Spain, concerning 
some disorders which had crept into the 
churches of Spain. Gratian published a col- 
lection of decretals, containing all the ordi- 
nances made by the popes till the year 1 150. 
Gregory IX. in 1227, following the example 
of Theodosius and Justinian, formed a con- 
stitution of his own; collecting into one body 
ail the decisions, and all the causes, which 
served to advance the papal power: which 
collection of decretals was called the Penta- 
teuch, because it contained five books. 
DECURIO, in Roman antiquity, a com- 
mander of ten men in the army, or the chief 
of a decury. 
DECUSSOEIUM a surgeon’s instrument, 
which, by pressing gently on the dura matter, 
causes an" evacuation of the pus collected be- 
tween the cranium and the before-mentioned 
membrane, through the perforation made by 
the trepan. 
DEDIMUS potestatem, inlaw, a com- 
mission granted to one or more persons, for 
the forwarding arid dispatching some act ap- 
D E E 
pertaining to a judge, or some court', as io 
take answers in chat-cry, depositions of w it- 
nesses in a cause depending in that com t, and 
levy a line in the common pleas, Ac. where 
persons live in the country, or cannot tiavci. 
DEED, is a written contract sealed and 
delivered. It must be written befoie (no 
sealing and delivery, otherwise it is no dc-ed . 
and alter it is once formally executed by the 
parties, nothing can be added or interlined , 
and therefore, if a deed is sealed and deli- 
vered with a blank left for the sum, w hich tint 
obligee fills up after sealing and cieij\ery, 
this will make the deed void. 
A deed must be made by parties capable of 
contracting, and upon a good consideration ; 
and the subject must be legally and formally 
set out. 
The formal parts of a deed are; 
The premises, containing the number, 
names, additions, and titles, oi the par- 
ties. 
The habendum, which determines the es- 
tate and interest intended to be granted by the 
deed. . . .* 
The reddendum, or reservation, whereby, 
the grantor reserves to himself something out 
of the thing granted. 
A condition, which is a clause of contin- 
gency, on the happening of which the estate 
granted may be defeated. 
The warranty, whereby the grantor, for* 
himself and heirs, warrants or secures to the 
grantee the estate so granted. 
The covenants, which are clauses of agree- 
ment contained in the deed, whereby the 
contracting parties stipulate for the truth: of 
certain facts, or bind themselves to the per- 
formance of some specific acts. 
The conclusion, which mentions the exe- 
cution and date of the deed, or the time of 
its being given or executed, either expressly, 
or with reference to some day and year be- 
fore mentioned. 
A deed may be either an indenture or a 
deed-poll. The former derives its- name 
from being indented or cut in an uneven man- 
ner, so as to tally with the counterparts, of 
which there ought to be as many as there 
are parties; the latter, or deed-poll, of which 
there is one part only, is so called from 
its being polled or shaved quite even. 
A deed is the most solemn act of law which 
a man can perform with respect to the dispo- 
sition of his property, and therefore no person? 
shall be permitted to aver or prove any thing 
against his own deed. 
All the parts of a deed indented, constitute 
in law but one entire deed; but every part 
has the same operative force as ail the parts 
i taken together ; and they ore deemed the 
mutual or reciprocal acts of either of the par- 
ties, who may be bound by, either part of the 
same, and the words of the indenture may 
be considered as the words of either party. 
If the name of baptism or surname of a 
party to a deed be mistaken, as John for Tho- 
mas, & c. this has been held to be dangerous. . 
2 Bulst. 70. 
But any mistake as spelling, &c, not de- 
viating from the subst;juce of the deed, will: 
not render it void. 
If a man gets another name in common-, 
esteem than his right name, any deed made: 
to him under such name will be valid. 
Every deed nr-ist be founded upon-goodc 
