AVULSION

AVULSION. Where, by the immediate and manifest power of a river or stream, the soil is taken suddenly from one man's estate and carried to another. In such case the property belongs to the first owner. An acquiescence on his part, however, will in time entitle the owner of the land to which it is attached to claim it as his own. Bract. 221; Harg. Tracts, De jure maris, &c. Toull. Dr. Civ. Fr. tom. 3, p. 106; 2. Bl. Com. 262; Schultes on Aq. Rights, 115 to 138. Avulsion differs from alluvion (q. v.) in this, that in the latter case the change of the soil is gradual and imperceptible.