742 PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. [ART. 16.

at the most public square in the town, one-half of the pur-
chase money to go to the person impounding such geese or swine,
and the other half to the owner, and if no owner shall claim
the said half on the day of sale, the whole to the person im-
pounding.

176. If the owner of any geese or swine impounded under the
preceding section, shall prove to the satisfaction of any justice
of the peace residing in said town, that the said geese or swine did
not go at large from negligence or want of care on his part, and
that due diligence was used to prevent it, the owner shall have
return of the property on paying all expenses of keeping and
proving the same.

177. No swine belonging to the inhabitants of the town of
Queen Anne, or the inhabitants of Prince George's county, living
within one-quarter of a mile of said town, shall be suffered to go
at large in said town or within one-quarter of a mile thereof;

and any swine so found going at large may be killed or im-
pounded by any person; if impounded, the person impounding
shall immediately give notice, by advertisements set up at the
'most public places in said town, describing the swine so im-
pounded, and if the owner shall not within five days after such
notice prove his property and make compensation for the-'hijury
(if any) sustained by any inhabitants of said town or county, to
be ascertained by any two disinterested persons residing therein,
and pay for every swine twenty-five cents for every day it shall
have been impounded, the person impounding may sell or kill
the same for his own benefit.

178. If any person shall be sued for killing or selling any
swine, under the preceding section, he may plead the general
issue and give the special matter in evidence.

179. No person in the town of Nottingham, in Prince George's
county, shall confine in any pen, sty, house, or other enclosure,
any hog, except from the twentieth of October to the first of
March in each year, under the penalty of forty dollars for each
offence, to be recovered before a justice of the peace as small
debts are, one-half to the informer and the other half to said
county.