But some things there be that can neither be divided nor enjoyed in common. Then, the law of Nature, which prescribeth equity, requireth “that the entire right, or else, making the use alternate, the first possession, be determined by lot.” For equal distribution is of the law of Nature, and other means of equal distribution cannot be imagined.

Of “lots” there be two sorts, “arbitrary,” and “natural.” Arbitrary is that which is agreed on by the competitors: natural, is either “primogeniture,” which the Greeks call κληρονομία , which signifies “given by lot,” or “first seizure.”

And therefore those things which cannot be enjoyed in common, nor divided, ought to be adjudged to the first possessor; and in some cases to the first born, as acquired by lot.