quish that part of the soil or of the public way, upon which they formerly stood.

ART. 859.-The corporations of cities, towns and other places, may construct on the public places, in the beds of rivers and on their banks, all buildings and other works which may be necessary for public utility, for the mooring of vessels and the discharge of their cargoes, within the extent of the respective limits.

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ART. 860.-If any one commence on his own land a building or other new work, which may be of detriment to his neighbour or any other individual, the latter may, in the presence of witnesses, forbid him to continue the work.

ART. 861.-If the person, thus forbidden to continue his works, will not suspend them, the person making the opposition, may apply to the judge in order to have them destroyed at the expense of the person making them, alleging the injury and detriment the works may cause to him.

on

ART. 862.-The plaintiff, who sues in opposition, may obtain from the judge a mandate commanding the defendant to suspend his works until further order, if he affirm under oath, at the foot of his petition, that he has forbidden the defendant to continue his works, and that the construction may cause him injury or damage, and if he give good and sufficient security to the defendant, in such sum as shall be fixed by the judge, to answer for the damage caused to the defendant, in case the opposition should not be well founded.

ART. 863.-Though the judge may have command ed the defendant to suspend his works, he may, in the course of the suit, authorize him to continue them, if he think their continuance will not cause an irreparable injury to the plaintiff, but the defendant will be bound to give good and sufficient security, in such sum as shall be fixed by the judge, to pay any damages, which may be

caused to the plaintiff by their being continued, and that he will place every thing in its former situation, if he should be finally condemned to destroy his works.

ART. 864.-If, on the trial of the case, it be determined that the new works can cause injury or detriment to the person who complains of them, and who has made opposition to their erection, the judge shall order them to be destroyed at the expense of him who has caused them to be constructed, how far soever they may be advanced, even if they should be finished, under the authority given and the security furnished according to the terms of the preceding article, unless the works can be so changed as to cause no detriment to the complainant.

ART. 865.-If, after the commencement of a suit for the destruction of new works, the defendant should sell the land upon which these works stand, the judgment which orders the destruction of them, shall be executed against the purchaser, though he may have been ignorant of the prohibition made to his vendor to discontinue them, saving always his recourse for indemnity against his vendor.

BOOK III.

Of the Different Modes of acquiring the Property of Things.

Preliminary Title.

General Dispositions.

ART. 866. The property of things or goods is acquired by inheritance either legal or testamentary, by the effect of obligations, and by the operation of law.

TITLE I.

Of Successions.

CHAPTER I.

Of the different Sorts of Successions and Heirs.

ART. 867.-Succession is the transmission of the rights and obligations of the deceased to the heirs.

ART. 868.-Succession signifies also the estate, rights and charges which a person leaves after his death, whether the property exceeds the charges or the charges exceed the property, or whether he has only left charges without any property.

ART. 869.-The succession not only includes the rights and obligations of the deceased, as they exist at the

time of his death, but all that has accrued thereto since the opening of the succession, as also the new charges to which it becomes subject.

ART. 870.-Finally, succession signifies also that right by which the heir can take possession of the estate of the deceased, such as it may be.

ART. 871.-There are three sorts of successions, to wit:

Testamentary successions;
Legal successions;

And, irregular successions.

ART. 872.-Testamentary succession is that which results from the institution of heir, contained in a testament executed in the form prescribed by law. This sort of succession is treated of under the title of donations inter vivos, and mortis causa.

ART. 873.-Legal succession is that which the law has established in favour of the nearest relation of the deceased.

ART. 874.-Irregular succession is that which is established by law in favour of certain persons, or of the State in default of heirs either legal or instituted by tes

tament.

These two last sorts of successions are the objects of the present title.

ART. 875.-There are three kinds of heirs which correspond with the three species of successions described in the preceding articles, to wit:

Testamentary or instituted heirs;
Legal heirs or heirs of the blood;
And irregular heirs.

ART. 876.-He who is the nearest relation to the deceased, capable of inheriting, is presumed to be heir, and is called the presumptive heir.

This quality is given to him before the decease of the person from whom he is to inherit, as well as after the

opening of the succession, until he has accepted or renounced it..

ART. 877.-Heirs are divided into two classes, according to the manner in which they accept successions left to them, to wit: unconditional and beneficiary heirs.

ART. 878.-Unconditional heirs are those who inherit without any reservation, or without making an inventory, whether their acceptance be express or tacit.

ART. 879.-Beneficiary heirs are those who have accepted the succession under the benefit of an inventory regularly made.

ART. 880.-The person who has become the universal successor of the deceased, who is possessed of all his property and rights, and who is subject to the charges for which the estate is responsible, is called the heir, no matter whether he be such by law, by the institution of a testament or otherwise.

ART, 881.-The law does not take into consideration the origin nor the nature of the property in order to regulate the succession.

CHAPTER II.

Of Legal Successions.

SECTION I.

General Rules.

ART. 882.-If there is no testament or institution of heir, or if the institution is null or without effect, the succession is then open in favour of the legitimate heirs, by the mere operation of the law.

ART. 883.-There are three classes of legal heirs, to wit:

The children and other lawful descendants;

The fathers and mothers and other lawful ascendants; And the collateral kindred.