mine2 (min)

[ part of the excavations may be an openwork (see that word), as in running an adit-level, which may be carried to a considerable distance before becoming covered by earth or rock. When the term mine used, it is generally understood that the excavation so named is in actual course of exploitation; otherwise some qualifying term like abandoned is required. No occurrence of ore is designated as a mine unle something has been done to develop it by actual mining operations. There are certain excavations which are called neither mines nor quar ries, as, for instance, places where clay is being dug out for bricks; such places are frequently (especially in England) called pits, and also openworks. With few and not easily specified exceptions, a quarry is a place where building-stone, or building-materials of any kind (as lime, cement, etc.), are being got; a mine, where some metal or metalliferous ore is in the proce of exploitation. In English the term mine includes excavations designated by the French as mines, as well as some of those called by them minières; quarry is the equivalent of the French carr ière. The term mine is sometimes extended in use to include the ores as well as the excavation. And alle be it that men fynden gode Dyamandes in Ynde, zit natheles men fynden hem more comounly upon the Roches in the See, and upon Hilles where the Myne of Gold is. Mandeville , Travels, p. 158. I would not wed her for a mine of gold. Shak., T. of the S., i. 2. 92. 2. Milit.: ( a ) A subterraneous gallery or pa age dug under the wall or rampart of a fortification, for the lodgment of a quantity of powder or other explosive to be used in blowing up the works. (b) Such an excavation when charged with an explosive, or the charge of explosive IMG:content-0661.jpg:[blocks in formation] AIKB, crater; AB, crater-opening CB, radius of the crater; AO, radius of explosion; 0, charge; OD, OF, radii of rupture. used in such a mine, or sunk under water in operations of naval defense to serve a similar purpose to mines on land. The radius of explosion of such a mine is the straight line drawn from the center of the charge of a mine to the edge of the crater; the radius of rupture is the distance from the center to the curved surface to which the disturbance caused by the explosion extends. IMG:content-0662.png:[blocks in formation] The A izes of Jerusalem will always remain a mine of feudal principles, and a treasure to scientific jurists. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 170. 4. An excavation made by an insect, as a leaf miner.-5. A mineral. [Prov. Eng.]-6. Ore. [Prov. Eng.] Take the myn of antymony aforeseid, and make therof al so sotil a poudre as ze kan. Book of Quinte E ence (ed. Furnivall), p. 10. Thus, with Cleveland ironstone containing after calcination some 40 per cent. of iron, about 11 cwts. of limestone are usually requisite per ton of pig iron, or about 22 per cent. of the weight of mine used. Encyc . Brit ., XIII. 297. Common mine ( mil it.), a mine in which the radius of the of explosive used for mining and exploded by electricity; a submerged torpedo which can be exploded electrically from a distant point. 3773 Electrical mines have the advantage over mechanical that by the removal of the firing battery the pa age of a ship is rendered perfectly safe, and that the condition of the mine can be ascertained by electrical tests; but the electric cables are liable to damage, and add greatly to the expense of the defence. Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 449. Electro-mechanical mine, a submarine mine or torpedo, usually sunk and anchored a short distance below the surface, containing a voltaic battery and a circuit closer which can be operated by the blow the torpedo receives from a pa ing ship. Electro- mechanical mines can be made by placing a voltaic battery inside the mine itself and joining it up to a fuse and circuit-closer, the circuit-closer completing the cir cuit when the mine is struck. Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 450. Fairy of the mine. See fairy . - Mine-locomotive. See locomotive. - Overcharged or surcharged mine ( mil it .), a mine that produces a crater the radius of which is greater than the line of least resistance. - Submarine mine, a defensive torpedo. - The Bonanza mines. See bonanza. - Undercharged mine ( mil it .), a mine that upon explosion produces a crater the radius of which is le than the line of least resistance. mine2 (min), v.; pret. and pp. mined, ppr. mining. [ see menace; threaten, cf. minatory, etc. In part the verb is due to the noun.] I. in trans. 1. To dig a mine or pit in the earth, in order to obtain minerals or to make a blast for explosion, as in a military mine; work in a mine. The enemy mined , and they countermined. Raleigh, Hist. World, V. iii. 19. 2. To burrow; form a lodgment by burrowing: as, the sand-martin mines to make a nest.-3. Figuratively, to work in secret; work by secret or insidious means. Efter that his manhood and his pyne Made love withinne her herte for to myne . Chaucer, Troilus, ii. 677. Mining fraud shall find no way to creep Into their fenced ears with grave advice. Sackville, Gorboduc, i. 2. IMG:content-0663.png:[blocks in formation] 2. To dig away or otherwise remove the foundation from; undermine; sap: as, to mine the walls of a fort. Merke sythene over the mounttez in-to his mayne londez, To Meloyne the mervaylous, and myne doune the walles. Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 428. The Pru ians arrived, mined the arches, and attempted to blow up the bridge, sentinels and all. Greville, Memoirs, Dec. 10, 1820. 3. To dig mines under, for the reception of explosives, as in mining or engineering works, and in military and naval operations. Old Parr Street is mined, sir, mined! And some morning we shall be blown into blazes-into blazes, sir; mark my words! Thackeray, Adventures of Philip, vii. There are many places where no sort of stationary mines could po ibly survive a gale, and although the waters may be reported as mined in all directions, a bold test would show them to be clear of such dangers. N. A. Rev., CXLI. 274. 4. Figuratively, to ruin or destroy by slow or secret methods. Whiles rank corruption, mining all within, Infects unseen. Shak ., Hamlet, iii. 4. 148. Rending friends asunder, Dividing families, betraying counsels, Whispering false lies, or mining men with praises. B. Jonson, Volpone, iii. 1.