WRIT OF DEBT - A writ which lies
where the party claims the recovery of a debt, i.
e. a liquidated or certain sum of money alleged to
be due to him. This is debt in the debet, which is
the principal and only common form. There is another
species mentioned in the books, called the debt in
the detinet, which lies for the specific recovery
of goods, under a contract to deliver them.
WRIT OF DETINUE - A writ which lies
where a party claims the specific recovery of goods
and chattels, or deeds and writings detained from
him. This is seldom used: trover is the more frequent
remedy, in cases where it may be brought.
WRIT OF DOWER - A writ which lies
for a widow ciaiming the specific recovery of her
dower, no part having been yet assigned to her. It
is usually called a writ of dower unde nihil habet.
There is another species, called a writ of right
of dower, which applies to the particular case where
the widow has received a part of her dower from the
tenant himself, and of land lying in the same town
in which she claims the residue. This latter writ
is seldom used in practice.
