Com′stock Lode, a ledge of silver to which Virginia City, Nev., largely owes its growth. Discovered in 1859, the lode has yielded at times over $10,000,000 yearly. The shaft is 2,300 feet deep; but work is now only done on the upper levels, the workmen having been driven from the depths by the great heat (120° F.) and by the suffocating gas produced by the action of the air on the sulphurous rock cut at different levels.