Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Accession

For works with similar titles, see Accession.

​Accession is applied, in a historical or constitutional sense, to the coming to the throne of a dynasty or line of sovereigns, as the accession of the House of Hanover. The corresponding term, when a single sovereign is spoken of, is "succession." In law, accession is a method of acquiring property, by which, in things that have a close connection with or dependence on one another, the property of the principal draws after it the property of the accessory, according to the principle, accessio cedet principali or accessorium sequitur principale. Thus, the owner of a cow becomes likewise the owner of the calf, and a landowner becomes proprietor of what is added to his estate by alluvion. Accession produced by the art or industry of man has been called industrial accession, and may be by specification, as when wine is made out of grapes, or by confusion or commixture. Accession sometimes likewise signifies consent or acquiescence. Thus, in the bankrupt law of Scotland, when there is a settlement by a trust-deed, it is accepted on the part of each creditor by a deed of accession.

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