Alluvion

Alluvion takes place where land is gained from the sea by the washing up of sand and earth so as to make it terra firma. By the law of England, if the addition to the soil thus made be by small and imperceptible degrees, it goes to the owner of the land immediately behind; but if the alluvion be a sudden and considerable acquisition from the shore, the ground acquired shall belong to the crown. In the Scottish law, again, if the alluvion is made insensibly, it is said to 'accrese' to, or becomes the property of the owner of the ground to which the addition is made; but if it be caused by a violent flood, or by any convulsion of nature, the ground so added to the soil does not belong to the owner of the latter, but remains the property of the person of whose land it originally formed part. The Scottish law does not recognise such right in the crown on this subject as is allowed by the law of England. In Scotland, the shore is held under the burden of the crown's right as trustee for the public uses, of which navigation and fishing are the chief. In the United States, alluvion signifies the increase of the earth on a shore or the bank of a river by the force of the water, gradually and imperceptibly made. The proprietor of the bank is the gainer, as in England. Where an open space by the water's edge is public, the public is entitled to the alluvion.