ABSTRACT
It is easy to see that in the several ages of society, the laws and regulations with regard to property must be very different. In Tartary, where the support of the inhabitants consists in herds and flocks, theft is punished with immediate death; in North America, again, where the age of hunters subsists, theft is not much regarded. Having explained the foundation on which occupation gives the property to the occupant, the next thing to be considered is at what time property is conceived to begin by occupation. When a society becomes numerous they would find a difficulty in supporting themselves by herds and flocks. The restriction on navigation and the appropriation of rivers by the community or state through whose territories it passes go on the foundation of accession, by which the smaller things cede to the larger to which they adhere.
