Claim

In Cal., any piece of ground belonging to the public domain, but occupied, for mining purposes, in conformity with local law and usage, by a single person or an a ociation. The amount that may be included, and the conditions on which po e ion may be retained, have been fixed from time to time by judicial decisions and by statutes based on local customs. cian and physicist; Academician 1731. Figure of the Earth , 1743; Theory of the Moon , 1752.