פירוש על קידושין 52:6

This story seems to prove that one can transfer movables by transferring land without the movables being on the land. Certainly, a hundred sheep and barrels cannot fit on a piece of land that is only one handbreadth square.
There are two versions of the story, and these are dependent on whether a dying person can transfer property by a declaration alone. According to the sages, he may and therefore this person who transferred his property by a more formal act, must have been healthy. Had he been sick they would not have told him he needed to transfer property by use of land. According to R. Eliezer, even a person who is dying cannot transfer ownership without a formal acquisition, therefore this person could have even been a sick person. Sick or healthy, they would have told him he needed to use land to transfer the movables.