Civ. App. 382, 44 S. W. 906; Burrall v. Bushwick R. Co., 75 N. Y. 216; State v. Lewis, 118 Wis. 432, 95 N. W. 888; Heller v. National Marine Bank, 89 Md. 602, 43 Atl. 800, 45 L. R. A. 438, 73 Am. St. Rep. 212; Trask v. Maguire, 18 Wall. 402, 21 L. Ed. 938; Harrison v. Vines, 46 Tex. 15. The funded indebtedness of a state or goveriument, also, is often represented by stocks, shares of which are held by its creditors at interest. In the law of descent. The term is used, metaphorically, to denote the original progenitor of a family, or the ancestor from whom the persons in question are all descended; such descendants being called “branches.” Classes of corporate stock. Preferred stock is a separate portion or class of the stock of a corporation, which is accorded, by the charter or by-laws, a preference or priority in respect to dividends, over the remainder of the stock of the corporation, which in that case is called “common” stock. That is, holders of the preferred stock are entitled to receive dividends at a fixed annual rate, out of the net earnings or profits of the corporation, before any distribution of earnings is made to the common stock. If the earnings applicable to the payment of dividends are not more than sufficient for such fixed annual dividend, they will be entirely absorbed by the preferred stock. If they are more than sufficient for the purpose, the remainder may be given entirely to the common stock (which is the more usual custom) or such remainder may be distributed pro rata to both classes of the stock, in which case the preferred stock is said to “partictpate” with the common. The fixed dividend on preferred stock may be “cumulative” or “non-cumulative.” In the former case, if the stipulated dividend on preferred stock is not earned or paid in any one year, it becomes a charge upon the surplus earnings of the next and succeeding years, and all such accumulated and unpaid dividends on the preferred stock must be paid off before the common stock is entitled to receive dividends. In the case of “non-cumulative” preferred stock, its preference for any given year is extinguished by the faflure to earn or pay its dividend in that year. If a corporation has no class of preferred stock, all its stock Is common stock. The word “common” in this connection signifies that all the holders of such stock are entitled to an equal pro rata division of profits or net earnings, if any there be, without any preference or priority among themselves. “Deferred” stock is rarely issued by American corporations, though it is not uncommon in England. This kind of stock is distinguished by the fact that the payment of dividends upon it is expressly postponed until some other class of stock has received a dividend, or until some certain Hability or obligation of the corporation is