Survey

The act by which the quantity of a piece of land is ascertained; the paper containing a statement of the courses, distances, and quantity of land is also called a survey. A survey made by authority of law, and duly returned into the land office, is a matter of record, and of equal dignity with the patent; Steele’s Heirs v. Taylor, 3 A. K. Marsh. (Ivy.) 226, 13 Am. Dec. 151. See Lunt v. Holland, 14 Mass. 149; Kirby v. Lewis, 39 Fed. 66; Harry v. Graham, 18 N. C. 76, 27 Am. Dec. 226; and is not open to any collateral attack in the courts; Russell v. Land Grant and has been unchallenged for over fifteen years, whatever doubts may exist as to its correctness must be resolved in favor of the title as patented; U. S. v. Hancock, 133 U. S. 193, 10 Sup. Ct. 264, 33 L. Ed. 601. In construing maps of official surveys, courts give effect to the meaning expressed by their outlines, as well as by their language; St Louis v. R. Co., 114 Mo. 13, 21 S. W. 202. The declarations of a dead surveyor, when made on the ground, are competent evidence as to boundaries; so are his field notes, if authenticated otherwise than by his mere declarations; Collins v. Clough, 222 Pa. 472, 71 Atl. 1077, 15 Ann. Cas. 871. An ancient survey of a manor is admissible evidence of its boundaries: 62 J. P. 661. By survey is also understood an examination; and in this sense it is constantly employed in insurance and in admiralty law.