given case. Thus, the scientific division of all matter into the animal, vegetable. or mi!l'oral ki·ngdom would be absurd as applied to a grant of lands, since all lands belong to the mineral kingdom, and therefore, could not be excepted from the grant without being d•::structive of it. Upon the other hand, a definition which would co"nfine it to the precious metals-gold and silver-would so limit its application as to destroy at once half the value of the exception. Equally BUbversive of the grant would be the definition of minerals found in the Century Dictionary : as "any constituent of the earth's crust"; and that of Beinbridge on Mines : "All the substances that now form, or which once formed, a part of the solid body of the earth". Nor do we approximate much more closely to the meaning of the word by treating minerals as substances which are "mi"ned" as distinguished from those are "quarried", since many valuable deposits of gold, copper, iron, and coal lie upon or near the surface of the earth, and some of the most valuable building stone, such for instance, as the Caen stone in France, is excavated from mines ru"nning far beneath the surface. This distinction betwe>~n underground mines and open workings was expressly repudiated in Midland R.C. v. Haunchwood Brick & Tile Co. IL.R. 10 Ch. Div. 552) and in Hext v. Gill (L.R. 7 Ch. 699)".
