cities and aldermen,
notaries public, or some of these officers, and commissioners of deeds
appointed for that special purpose may take acknowledgments. In New York
and a few other states, the acknowledgment may be dispensed with, and
the execution of the deed may be proved by the subscribing witnesses.
Deeds duly acknowledged, are, with the acknowledgments, copied by the
recorder, word for word, in books provided for that purpose.

Sec.5. As a person can not give a good title unless he has one himself, the
seller or grantor covenants and agrees that he is seized of the premises
in _fee-simple_, (meaning that he is the absolute owner,) and that he
will _warrant and defend_ the premises in the quiet and peaceable
possession of the purchaser and his heirs forever. Hence such deed is
called a _warranty deed_, [For definition of _fee_ and _fee-simple_, see
Chap. LIII, Sec.1.] A _quit-claim_ deed merely conveys the interest or
claim of the grantor. It contains no warranty of title against any other
claimant.

Sec.6. A _mortgage_ is a grant of land as security for the payment of
money, on condition that, if the money shall be paid according to
contract, the grant shall be void. When only a part of the purchase
money is paid on receiving a deed, the purchaser usually executes a
mortgage to the seller, pledging the land as security for the remainder
of the purchase money. And if the money shall not be paid as agreed, the
land may be sold; but if sold for more than the amount due, the overplus
is to be paid to the mortgager.

Sec.7 To effect a full conveyance of real estate, a wife must join with
her husband by signing the deed with him; or, in case of the husband's
death in her lifetime, she would be entitled, for life, to the use of
one-third of the estate. This interest of a widow in the estate of a
deceased husband, is called _dower_. It is necessary also for the wife
to acknowledge, before the officer taking the acknowledgment, and apart
from her husband, that she signed the deed freely, and without
compulsion of her husband. In some states, the acknowledgment of the
wife out of the presence of her husband is not required.

Chapter LII.

Incorporeal Hereditaments. Right of Way; Aquatic Rights, &c.

Sec.1. The term _incorporeal hereditaments_ may, to some readers, need
explanation. A _hereditament_ is a thing capable of being inherited.
Land, and all things attached to it by the course of nature or the hands