Proffer

See Profert; Propound; Tender, 2. PROFIT; PROFITS. 1. The gain made upon any business or investment, when receipts and expenses are taken into account. ^ Compare Earnings. Net income; as, in the expression "profits used m construction." Not, therefore, that which is required and expended to keep property (as, a railroad) in its usual condition, proper for operation, and which is classed with repairs, part of the current expenses." Mesne profits. The pecuniary benefit received by one who dispossesses another of realty, between the disseisin and the restoration of possession.^ The provisions of the New Tofk Code of Civil Procedure providing for recovery in an action of ejectment, as damages for withholding the property, " the rents and profits, or the value of the use and occupation of the property," may be regarded as a legislative definition of the ancient technical expression " mesne profits." The owner should have either the rents actually received or the rental value, as may be just under the circumstances. The " mesne profits " consist of the net profits,, the rental value, or the value of the use and occupation, in ascertaining which necessary payments for taxes and ordinary repairs are to be deducted.* Net profits. The gain that accrues on an investment after deducting losses and expenses; not what is made over losses, expenses, and interest.* See Income. The words "net profits" define themselves. They mean what shall remain, as the clear gains of any business venture, after deducting the capital invested in the business, the expenses incurred in its conduct, and the losses sustained in its prosecution.' In the law of partnerships, " profits " are the excess of returns over advances; the excess of what is obtained over the cost of obtaining it. " Losses " are the excess of advances over returns; the excess of the cost of obtaining over what is obtained. " Profits " and " net profits " are, for all legal purposes, synonymous expressions; but the returns themselves are often called " gross profits; " hence it becomes necessary to I Pennock v. Fuller, 41 Mich. 165 (1879). ' [People V. Supervisors, 4 Hill, 23 (1843), Bronson, J.; 9 Wail. 788; 142 Mass. lOS. > Grant v. Hartford, &c. R. Co., 93 U. S. 227 (1876), Bradley, J.; s. c, 9 Blatch. 542. < See Leland v. Tousey, 0 Hill, 333 (1844); Nash v. Sullivan, 32 Minn. 190 (1884); 14 Neb. 12. "Wallace v. Berdell, 101 N. Y. 14-15 (1885), cases, Rapallo, J. « [Tutt V. Land, 50 Ga. 350 (1873), Trlppe, J.; 105 Mass. 105; 13 East, 543. call profits "net profits," to avoid confusion.^ See further Partnership. Profit a prendre. The right to take a pai't of the soil or produce of the land. A r i ght to the products or proceeds of Ian d. ^ This right, if enjoyed by reason of holding another estate, is regarded as an easement appurtenant to the estate; whereas, if it belongs to an individual, distinct from ownership in other lands, it takes the character of an interest or estate In the land itself, rather than that of a proper easement.^ The right, although capable of being transferred in gross, may be attached by the owner of the land to other land as an appurtenance, and pass as such upon conveyance of the latter. While the technical definition of an easement excludes such right, the right is nevertheless in the nature of an easement.^ See Per-