TITLE V.

OF THE ACQUISITION OF TITLE TO PUBLIC MINERAL LANDS BY LOCATION, AND PRIVILEGES INCIDENT THERETO.

II. LODE CLAIMS OR DEPOSITS "IN PLACE."

III.

PLACERS AND OTHER FORMS OF DEPOSIT NOT "IN "PLACE."

IV. TUNNEL CLAIMS.

V. COAL LANDS.

VI. SALINES.

VII. MILLSITES.

VIII. EASEMENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY-DEFINITIONS.

ARTICLE I.

INTRODUCTORY.

11. "LODE," "VEIN," "LEDGE.'

III. "ROCK IN PLACE.'

IV. "TOP," OR "APEX."

V. "STRIKE," "DIP," OR "DOWNWARD COURSE."'

'ARTICLE I. INTRODUCTORY.

§ 280. Introductory.

281. Division of the subject.

§ 282. Difficulties of accurate definition.

? 280. Introductory.-In the preceding chapters of this treatise we have endeavored to determine what lands are subject to appropriation under the mining laws, to outline the general nature of the legal system which sanctions such appropriation, and to designate the persons who may or may not under this system acquire, hold, and enjoy rights upon the mineral lands of the public domain. We are now to consider the manner in which such rights may be acquired, and the acts necessary to be done and performed as a condition precedent to such acquisition.

281. Division of the subject.-Some of the requirements of the law are general in their nature, and apply with equal force to all classes of mineral deposits. Others, by reason of the nature of the thing to be appropriated, or on account of a difference in governmental policy respecting it, are essentially of special application to individual groups. The embarrassments sur

rounding the arrangement of the subject for the purpose of philosophical, or even methodical, treatment are not to be underestimated. The body of the mining law is complex and incongruous, illogically arranged, and inharmoniously blended. Perhaps the mere form in which the subject is presented is of minor importance, and may be left to the discretion of the author without furnishing justification for serious criticism. At the same time, some orderly method should be adopted by which the practitioner or student may find the state of the law from the author's standpoint, on any given branch, without reading the work from preface to appendix. A comprehensive index may lessen the evil flowing from a want of systematic arrangement, but this cannot wholly supply the necessity for grouping individual classes, and treating them separately, when their nature will permit. We think the object will be fairly accomplished by the division and distribution of the subject into the following heads:

(1) Lode claims, or the appropriation of deposits " in place";

(2) The appropriation of claims usually called "placers," and other forms of deposit not "in place"; (3) Tunnel claims;

(4) Coal lands;

(5) Salines;

(6) Millsites;

(7) Easements.

2282. Difficulties of accurate definition.-Before entering upon the formal discussion of the mode of acquiring mining rights upon the public domain, there are certain words and phrases of such frequent occurrence in the mining laws that some attempt at defining them is advisable. In analyzing these various laws and their