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house, the articles used for house-worship, and the family tombs, constitutes the special right of succession to the headship of a house.’

This important provision means that those things which are specified therein form the special objects of inheritance. They cannot be bequeathed away, nor can they be seized for debt. Four kinds of heirs to the house-headship are recognised by the new Civil Code: the ‘legal heir,’ the ‘appointed heir,’ the ‘chosen heir,’ and the ‘ascendant heir.’ The legal heir, who comes first in the order of succession, is the lineal descendant of a house-head, who is at the same time a member of his house. Among lineal descendants, nearest kinsmen are preferred to remote, males to females, and legitimate children to illegitimate, seniors in age being accorded priority when they are equal in other respects (Article 970, Civil Code). Modern writers on law usually give as a reason for the preference of nearer to remote kinsmen, that the order of succession is determined by the degree of affection which the deceased is presumed to have entertained towards his relatives, and also by the presumed intention of the person who dies intestate as to the disposition of his property. For the preference of males over females, feudal reasons are given. These reasons also form the principal basis of our present law. But here, again, the reasons for the existence of the rule and its origin are not the same. Originally, the nearest in blood to the ancestors worshipped, and their male descendants were preferred, because they were considered to be the fittest persons to offer sacrifices to the spirits of ancestors.

‘The legal heirs’ are heirs necessarius, and are not allowed to renounce the succession, whilst other kinds of heirs are at liberty to accept or renounce the inheritance, or to accept it with reservation, that they shall not be liable for the debts of their predecessors. It is the bounden duty of descendants who are legal heirs to accept the inheritance and continue the sacra of the house. The house-heads cannot bequeath away from them more than one-half of the property (Article 1,130, Civil Code), nor can they disinherit them unless there exists one of the grounds mentioned in Article 975 of the Civil Code. The causes especially mentioned are: (1) Ill-treatment, or gross insult to the house-head; (2) unfitness for house-headship on account of bodily or mental infirmities; (3) sentence to punishment for an offence of a nature disgraceful to the name of the house; and (4) interdiction as a spendthrift.

For these causes the house-head may bring an action against his legal presumptive heir, with a view of depriving him of the rights of succession. All of the grounds mentioned in the Code relate directly or indirectly to ancestor-worship, and the