law, as in the case of an administrator or public officer. A mutual account is one containing reciprocal demands or charges against the parties; as the account between two merchants, or between a niercliant and a customer, each of whom has sold goods to the other. Before an account is rendered or adjusted, it is spoken of as "open" or "current." A stated account is one which has been accepted as correct by the party against whom it states a balance. The debtor's'assent to the correctness of the account as stated need not be express; it may be implied from his retention of an account rendered with- out an objection to it within a reasonable time. The acceptance of an account stated, or. to use the ordinary legal phrase, the stating of an account, is said to be in the nature of a new promise: and the creditor suing upon such an account need not set forth the subject matter of the original debt. Originally an account stated was confined to transactions between merchants: but in England and in most of our jurisdictions its scope has been extended to accounts between all creditors and debtors. In some States, however, stating an account between others than merchants does not create a new cause of action, but is available to the creditor only as an admission by the debtor. Even after an account has been stated it may be corrected for fraud or mutual mistake.
The action of account at common law has fallen into disuse, partly because it was difficult, dilatory and expensive, but chiefly because a court of equity possessed more extended authority and better machinery in cases involving an account. Equity will entertain an action for an accounting where a fiduciary relation exists between the parties, such as that of principal and agent (q.v.), trustee, and cestui que trust, guardian (q.v.) and ward; or where there is a mutual account between plaintiff and defendant; or where there are circumstances of complication, as in partnership (q.v.) accounts. So an accounting may be had as incidental to the exercise of other equity jurisdiction, as in mortgage foreclosures.
ACCOUNT'ANT. In the United States a
term applied widely to any one who keeps
accounts, i.e., a bookkeeper, though there is a
tendency to restrict it to those whose accounts
present" a certain difficulty and complexity. In
England the term designates an officer employed
by railway companies, banks, etc., from time to
time to inspect and verify their books and
accounts, and to make out periodical statements
and balance sheets. It is recognized as a special
branch of business. Generally speaking, the
work of an accountant may be classified under
two divisions: (1) All those matters that
involve the investigation of the books of a firm
or company, with the making up of balance
sheets, statements of all kinds, and reports: and
(2) the management of estates, whether of
bankrupts or others. While the last named
function is not known in the United States, the
practice of a periodical report by accountants
not permanently connected with the business is
growing among the larger financial institutions.
With this practice there have arisen professional
accountants whose function it is to act as im-
partial witnesses to the accuracy of the accounts
of corporations and similar enterprises, and to
make expert investigations in controversies at
law involving accounts.
ACCRA. See Akkra.
ACCRE'TION (Lat. accretio, an increase,
from ad, to + crescere, to grow). In law, the
gradual extension of the boundaries of land at
the expense of the sea, or of a neighboring owner,
by the imperceptible action of natural forces,
as by the recession of the ocean, the deposit of
silt and earth by a stream, the drying up of a
pond, etc. The word is sometimes, though im-
properly, used to include the various kinds of
accession (q.v.) and as the equivalent of that
term; but it is in its legal sense properly applic-
able only to that form of accession in which
land is added to other land by the process above
described. Where the land so gained is washed
up by the sea, or deposited by a running stream,
or left bare by the gradual drying up or retire-
ment of the water boundary, it is known as
alluvion (q.v.). As above indicated, the process
must, in order to result in an accretion, be so
slow as to be imperceptible in its progress. If
sudden, no change of ownership results, the
land so exposed remaining the property of the
sovereign or of the neighboring proprietor af-
fected thereby. Thus a boundary stream may.
by changing its course gradually, little by little
transfer the ownership of the land on one side
to the opposite proprietor, whereas a sudden
change of course would not affect the boundaries
of the two parcels of land in the slightest degree.
Consult: Gould, Treatise on the Law of Waters (Chicago, 1900): Angell, Treatise on the Law of Watercourses (Boston, 1877).
AC'CRINGTON. A manufacturing town in
Lancashire, England. It has recently increased
much in size and importance, and lies in a deep
valley, surrounded by hills, about 20 miles north
of Manchester and 5 miles east of Blackburn,
on the banks of the Hindburn (Map: England,
D 3). Among its notable buildings are Christ
Church, a fine Gothic edifice, erected in 1838,
and the town hall, a handsome building in the
Italian style. The town was incorporated in
1878. The gas and water supply are owned
jointly by the town of Accrington and several
other neighboring towns. The town owns public
baths, markets, slaughter-houses, and cemeteries,
and maintains a technical school. It also owns
its street railways, which are leased to private
companies. The inhabitants are mostly employed
in cotton factories, dye-works, chemical works,
weaving, and calico-printing. Accrington is con-
sidered the centre of the cotton-printing industry.
There are coal mines in the neighborhood, in
which many of the people find employment.
Accrington is advantageously situated in regard
to communications, being a station on the Lan-
cashire and Yorkshire Railway. Its growth of
population has been very rapid. From less than
9000 in 1841 it rose to 38,000 in 1891, and in
1901, to 43,100.
AC'CUBA'TION (Lat. ad, to + cubare, to lie
down). The reclining posture of Greeks and
Romans at table. Among the Greeks a low table
was placed beside each couch, on which usually
two persons reclined, resting on the left arm,
which was supported by cushions. Among the
Romans three couches were placed, so as to form
three sides of a square, and three persons
reclined on each couch. The middle couch was
the most honorable. Respectable women did not
adopt this position until the time of the Roman
Empire.
