As applied in the law of evidence, "declarations against interest" simply mean statements or book entries made by a person, since deceased, who was not a party to the pending cause, and which was against -the interest of the party making it at the time it was made.1

Declarations against interest, as a general rule, must be made by a deceased stranger, who must have had peculiar means of knowing the facts concerning which he testifies.

The declarations, to be admissible, must not be self-serving, but must operate against the interest of the declarant at the time written or spoken.

The reasons for the admissibility of declarations against proprietary or pecuniary interest, rest upon the utter improbability of their falsity, the absence of any motive for misrepresentation affording a strong assurance of their truth.