2. A substantive response to a claim, other than an expression of total agreement, would require defendant to demur or to plead. A demurrer would challenge the legal sufficiency of the plaintiff’s declaration. If defendant did not demur, he responded to the declaration in a plea. Pleas were of two types, dilatory and peremptory. A dilatory plea did not deny the merits of plaintiff’s claim, but rather challenged plaintiff’s right to have the court hear the case and included various pleas to the jurisdiction of the court. A peremptory plea, or plea in bar, was on the merits. See p. 502, supra.