Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/419

Rh WAS WAS 393 sand heaps, lining them with agglutinated grains of sand ; others live in cavities of trees lined with the same material, whilst others build their nests of niud. Like some of the species of Eumencs, they store up paralysed Lepidopterous and Chrysomeleous larva; as food for their carnivorous grubs. Family III. Masaridx. The members of the third family, the Masaridee, are sharply distinguished by the possession of only two submarginal cells in the fore wing. Their antennae are fre quently clavate, particularly so in the genus Celonites ; they are twelve-jointed, but as the terminal joints are almost fused they appear to be composed of only eight joints. The wings are not so completely folded as in the other two families, and the ab domen is but slight ly contractile. The maxillae are short FIG. o. Masaritvespiformis. and their palps very small, with but three or four joints. The number of genera comprised in this family is small ; none occur in Britain, but in southern Europe some species are found. They make their nest in cavities in the earth, generally in a bank, and construct an irregular gallery leading down to it. During hot fine summers wasps cause a good deal of loss to market gardeners and fruit growers. During this time of year they live almost exclusively upon the sweet juices of ripe fruit, occasionally carrying off small particles of the flesh. At the same time they have not entirely lost their carnivorous tastes, for they frequently attack the meat in butcher s shops, but render compensation by killing and carrying off to feed their grubs considerable numbers of blow-flies. Wasps also perform an important service in keeping down the numbers of caterpillars. The larvae are almost exclusively carnivorous, living upon insects captured by their parents and reduced by them to a pulp before being given to the young. During the spring the first broods that appear live largely upon honey ; and this forms the staple food of the genus Polistes throughout their whole life. In attempting to rid a district of wasps, unless the nest can be taken, there is little good in killing stray members of the community. On the other hand, the killing of wasps in early spring probably means that the formation of a nest and the production of a society whose members are counted by thousands is in each case prevented. The number of wasps is kept down by numerous enemies. The most effective of these live in the nests and devour the larvae ; among them are two species of beetle, Rhipiphorus paradoxus and Lebia linearis. Two species of Ichneumon, a species of Antkomyia, and the larva of a Volucella also infest the nests of wasps and prey upon the grubs. The last-named is also found in beehives. In the tropics some species are attacked by fungi, the hyphae of which protrude between the segments of the abdomen, and give the wasp a very extraordinary appearance. (A. E. s.) WASTE ( Vastum) is used in law in several senses, of which four are the most important. (1) Waste of a manor is that part of a manor subject to rights of common, as distinguished from the lord s demesne (see COMMONS, MANOR). (2) Year, day, and waste was a part of the royal prerogative, acknowledged by the statute De Prserogativa Regis. The king had the profits of freehold lands of those attainted of felony and petit treason and of fugitives for a year and a day with a right of committing waste in sense (3) thereon. After the expiration of a year and a day the lands returned to the lord of the fee. Attainder for felony being now abolished, the right has ceased to exist (see FELONY, TREASON). (3) The most usual signification of the word is &quot; any unauthorized act of a tenant for a freehold estate, not of inheritance or for any lesser interest, which tends to the destruction of the tenement, or otherwise to the injury of the inheritance&quot; (Pollock, Law of Torts, p. 285). Waste is either voluntary or permissive. Voluntary waste is by act of commission, as by pulling down a house, cutting down trees, opening new quarries or mines (though not con tinuing the working of existing ones), or doing anything which may destroy evidence, such as conversion of arable into meadow land. Permissive waste is by act of omission, such as allowing buildings to fall out of repair. A f ermor, by the Statute of Marlbridge, 52 Hen. III. c. 23, may not commit waste without licence in writing from the rever- sioner. The same statute mentions a form of waste which has long become extinct, viz., exile (exilium), or the im poverishment of villeins or tenants at will on an estate. In case a tenant for life or for any smaller interest holds (as is often the case by the terms of a will or settlement) without impeachment of waste, his rights are considerably greater, and he may use the profits salva rerum substantia (to use the language of Roman law). For instance, he may cut timber in a husband-like manner and open mines, but he may not commit what is called equitable waste, that is, pull down or deface the mansion or destroy ornamental timber. Acts of equitable waste were, before 1875, not cognizable in courts of common law, but it is now provided by the Judicature Act, 1873, 25 (3), that in the absence of special provision to that effect an estate for life without impeachment of waste shall not confer upon the tenant for life any legal right to commit equitable waste. Eemoval of fixtures, which would be prima facie waste, is recognized by the law to a limited extent (see FIXTURES). A copy holder may not commit waste unless allowed by the cus tom of the manor (see COPYHOLD). Various remedies for waste have been given to the reversioner at different periods of law. At common law only single damages seem to have been recoverable. This was altered by the legislature, and for some centuries waste was a criminal or quasi-criminal offence. Magna Charta enacted that a guardian committing waste of the lands in his custody should make amends and lose his office. The Statute of Marlbridge made a fermor committing waste liable to grievous amerciament as well as to damages, and followed Magna Charta in forbidding waste by a guardian. The Statute of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I. c. 5, enacted that a writ of waste might be granted against a tenant for life or years or in courtesy ordower, and on being attainted of waste the tenant was to forfeit the land wasted and to pay thrice the amount of the waste. In addition to the writ of waste the writ of estrepement (said to be a corruption of exstirpamentum) lay to prevent injury to an estate to which the title was disputed. Numerous other acts dealt with remedies for waste. .The writ of waste was superseded at common law by the mixed action of waste, itself abolished by 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 27, and the action of trespass on the case (see TORT, TRESPASS). The Court of Chancery also established a jurisdiction by suit or injunc tion, especially to restrain equitable waste. At present proceedings may be taken either by action for damages, or by application for an injunction, or by both combined, and either in the Queen s Bench or Chancery Division. By the Judicature Act, 1873, 25 (8), the old jurisdiction to grant injunctions to prevent threatened waste is considerably enlarged. The rules of the Supreme Court, 1883, Ord. xvi. r. 37, enable a representative action to be brought for the prevention of waste. In order to obtain damages or an injunction, substantial injury or danger of it must be proved. In England only the High Court (unless by agree ment of the parties) has jurisdiction in questions of waste, XXIV. 50