This Indenture made the day of between A. B. of of the one part and C. D. of of the other part, witnesseth that in consideration of the sum of £ now paid to A. B. by C. D, the receipt of which the said A. B. hereby acknowledges, he the said A. B. doth hereby assign unto C. D. his executors, administrators and assigns all and singular the several chattels and things specifically described in the schedule hereto annexed by way of security for the payment of the sum of £ and interest thereon at the rate of % per annum. And the said A. B. doth further agree and declare that he will duly pay to the said C. D. the principal sum aforesaid together with the interest then due, by equal payments of £ on the day of And the said A. B. doth also agree with the said C. D. that he will (here insert terms as to insurance, payment of rent, &c., which the parties may agree to for the maintenance or defeasance of the security). Provided always that the chattels hereby assigned shall not be liable to seizure or to be taken possession of by the said C. D. for any cause other than those specified in § 7 of the Bills of Sale Act (1878) Amendment Act 1882.
In witness, &c.
Signed and sealed by the said A. B. in the presence of me E. F. (add witness’s name, address and description).
Non-compliance with the requirement of the statute as to form renders a bill of sale void even as between the parties. The bill of sale must have annexed to it an inventory of the chattels comprised in it, and is void, except as against the grantor, in respect of any personal chattels not specifically described. It must be duly attested by one or more credible witnesses (not necessarily by a solicitor, as in the case of absolute bills). Every witness must sign his name and add his address and description. It must be duly registered within seven clear days after the execution thereof, or if it is executed in any place out of England then within seven clear days after the time at which it would in the ordinary course of post arrive in England if posted immediately after the execution. It must truly set forth the consideration. The grantor must be the true owner of the goods described in the schedule; as to any personal chattels of which he is not the true owner, the bill is void, except as against the grantor. Every bill of sale made or given in consideration of any sum under £30 is void. By § 7 of the act personal chattels shall only be liable to be seized or taken possession of in the following cases:—(1) If the grantor make default in payment of the debt or in the performance of any covenant or agreement contained in the bill and necessary for maintaining the security; (2) if the grantor becomes a bankrupt or suffers the goods to be distrained for rent, rates or taxes; (3) if the grantor fraudulently removes the goods from the premises; (4) if the grantor does not, without reasonable excuse, upon demand in writing by the grantee, produce to him his last receipts for rent, rates or taxes; (5) if execution is levied against the goods of the grantor under any judgment. By § 13 personal chattels seized or taken possession of under a bill must not be removed or sold until after the expiration of five clear days from the date of seizure, and, if the goods have been wrongly seized, the grantor may within the five days apply to the High Court or a judge in chambers for an order to restrain the grantee from removing or selling the goods. The Bills of Sale Acts 1878 and 1882 do not apply to Scotland or Ireland. According to Scots law no security or charge can be created over moveable property without delivery of possession. The Irish statutes corresponding to the English acts are the Bills of Sale (Ireland) Act 1879 and the Amendment Act 1883.
The stamp duties payable on an absolute bill of sale are 2s. 6d. on every £25 secured up to £300; over £300, 5s. on every £50. On bills of sale by way of security, 1s. 3d. for every £50 up to £300 secured; over £300, 2s. 6d. for every £100. The fees payable on filing a bill of sale are, 5s. where the consideration (including further advances) does not exceed £100; above £100 and not exceeding £200, 10s.; above £200, £1.
The various trade protection papers always publish the registration of a bill of sale, and the usual effect is, therefore, to destroy the credit of any person giving one.
(T. A. I.)
BILLROTH, ALBERT CHRISTIAN THEODOR (1829-1894), Viennese surgeon, was born on the 26th of April 1829 at Bergen, on the island of Rügen, his family being of Swedish origin. He studied at the universities of Greifswald, Göttingen and Berlin, and after taking his doctor’s degree at the last in 1852, started on an educational tour, in the course of which he visited the medical schools of Vienna, Prague, Paris, Edinburgh and London. On his return to Berlin he acted as assistant to B.R.K. Langenbeck from 1853 to 1860, and then accepted the professorship of surgery at Zürich. In 1867 he was invited to fill the same position at Vienna, and in that city the remainder of his professional life was spent. In 1887 he received the distinction, rarely bestowed on members of his profession, of a seat in the Austrian Herrnhaus. He died at Abbazia, on the Adriatic, where he had a beautiful villa, on the 6th of February 1894. Billroth was one of the most distinguished surgeons of his day. His boldness as an operator was only equalled by his skill and resourcefulness; no accident or emergency could disturb his coolness and presence of mind, and his ability to invent or carry out any new procedure that might be demanded in the particular case with which he was dealing, gained for him the appellation of “surgeon of great initiatives.” At the same time he was full of consideration for the comfort and well-being of his patient, and never forgot that he had before him a human being to be relieved, not a mere “case” for the display of technical dexterity. He was especially interested in military surgery, and during the Franco-German War volunteered to serve in the hospitals of Mannheim and Weissenburg. His efforts did much to improve the arrangements for the transport and treatment of the wounded in war, and in a famous speech on the War Budget in 1891, he eloquently urged the necessity for an improved ambulance system, pointing out that the use of smokeless powder and the greater precision of the arms of modern warfare must tend to increase the number of men wounded, and that therefore more efficient means must be provided for removing them from the battlefield. Possessing a clear and graceful style, he was the author of numerous papers and books on medical subjects; his Allgemeine chirurgische Pathologie und Therapie (1863) ran through many editions, and was translated into many languages. He was of an exceedingly artistic disposition, and in particular was devoted to music. A good performer on the pianoforte and violin, he was an intimate friend and admirer of Brahms, many of whose compositions were privately performed at his house before they were published. His work on the physiology of music (Wer ist musikalisch?) was published after his death.