dower in a mere personal privilege, or in a
revocable license pertaining to land. The widow of a partner is
ordinarily entitled to dower in so much of the partnership land as is
left after the payment of the firm's debts and the adjustment of
matters between the partners. But if an agreement among them that the
land shall be considered as personal property for all purposes, then
no dower therein can be claimed by the widow of any partner.

A wife can release her inchoate dower or future expectation of
receiving it by joining in a conveyance with her husband for that
purpose. In order to make the election binding, it must be made with
full knowledge on the widow's part of her husband's estate, and the
relative value of her dower interest. The election is personal, and
cannot be exercised by her representatives after her death, nor by
creditors; and if insane, this cannot be done by any committee or
guardian acting under the authority of a court.

An absolute divorce, even though for the husband's fault, divests the
wife of dower, unless her right is saved by statute. Quite frequently,
the statute provides that there shall be no dower in case of divorce
for the wife's fault. Occasionally it is provided by statute that
divorce for the husband's fault shall not bar dower; and sometimes a
statute requires dower to be assigned immediately upon divorce without
awaiting the husband's death. It may be added that the principles of
the common law relating to dower have been largely modified by statute
in all the states.

=Drunkenness.=--The courts are reluctant to recognize intoxication as
an excuse either for committing a crime or for repudiating a contract,
but if from long continued intemperate habits a man has become
actually insane or incompetent, his actual mental condition will be
recognized whatever may have produced it.

Again, in making a contract the other party could hardly deal with a
man badly intoxicated without knowing his condition, consequently the
element of fraud appears, and the contract may be declared invalid
either for lack of contracting capacity on the part of the drunken
man, or for fraud on the part of the other in taking advantage of his
condition. His fraud would be still greater if he had designedly
caused the drunkenness of the other. Either objection, however,
renders the contract voidable rather than void, and should an
intoxicated party, after he became sober ratify his contract, or fail
t