HERISSON

(Fr. a /ledgehog.) In Fortification, a beam armed with iron spikes, and used as a barrier to block up a pa age. HERITABLE RIGHTS, in Scottish Law, comprehend in general rights to land and things connected with land which pa to the heir; the distinction being in most practical respects merely identical with that of English law between realty and personalty. Heritable jurisdictions were grants of criminal jurisdiction bestowed on great families by the crown. They were abolished after the rebellion of 1745 by the act 20 G. 2. c.40. [s. 565]