86. The obscure hints of a division of lands occasionailv
scattered in the laws of the Burgundians (tit. liv. No. 1,
2, in tom. iv. p. 271, 272) and visigoths (1. x. tit. i. No.
8, 9, 16, in tom. iv. p. 428, 429, 430) are skilfully
explained by the President Montesquieu (The Spirit of Laws,
1. xxx. c. 7, 8, 9). I shall only add that, among the Goths,
the division seems to have been ascertained by the judgment
of the neighbourhood; that the barbarians frequently usurped
the remaining 'third'; and that the Romans might recover
their right, unless they were barred by a prescription of
fifty years.