days of Cortés, as attested by the surveys made at different periods of the isthmus of Tehuantepec. The
tion. Much space is devoted to church history, numerous concise accounts being supplied of the orders, of spiritual conquests and establishments, and of prominent men. Data on industrial matters are comparatively meagre, and relate to a limited number of states; the information on these subjects is mostly derived from government reports. Commerce and mining are subjects of special articles. Statistics on population are scattered and incomplete. Some information on physical and political geography is supplied in brief, detached accounts. Much attention is given to biography, the conquistadores, viceroys, prominent churchmen, political, military, literary, and scientific men being well represented in numerous articles. Bibliographical mention is rare, and only incidental mention is made of literature and the fine arts. A special article is devoted to a brief review of early histories. Notable instances of natural phenomena, epidemics, and inundations are separately described. Among the authorities used are Mellado's Diccionario, Beristain's Biblioteca, Alcedo's Diccionario, Cavo's Tres Siglos, Alaman's Disertaciones Historicas, Zavala's Rev. Mex., and Apuntes para la Hist, de la Guerra con los Estados Unidos. Numerous and extended articles on antiquities are for the most part extracts from Stephens. The original work was published by a society of distinguished literary men. The Mexican edition was brought before the public by a corps of prominent Mexican writers, their contributions to the appendix being collected and arranged by Manuel Orozco y Berra.
Papeles Variss, comprising 230 volumes of miscellaneous matter. This is one of the most important collections in my Library, as it affords information on every possible subject within the limit of an historical work. It is composed of numerous sets of smaller collections made by prominent Mexicans, and consists of over 3,000 different publications which have been bound together in volumes containing respectively from two or three to over one hundred, according to their size. These publications — mostly pamphlets — are the productions of a great variety of authors. Dignitaries of the church and government ministers, learned doctors and lawyers, generals and officers of the army, and men of letters, all of note and prominent in their respective professions, have contributed to their existence. Among the Papeles Varios, however, are found works of 200 or 300 pages; manifestoes and proclamations of a single sheet; anonymous squibs and lampoons; odd numbers of different periodicals, poems, odes, and sonnets, plays and comedies. That portion — only a small one — of the collection which belongs to the 17th and 18th centuries pertains chiefly to church matters, and consists of sermons, pastorals, ecclesiastical edicts, etc. By far the greater number of these volumes are made up of pamphlets bearing dates of the 19th century, and are principally of a political and historical character. They contain productions of many important authorities on all the great events that occurred in Mexico during three quarters of a century. The war of independence, the Texan question and struggle with the U. S., the French intervention and 2d empire, with intervening revolutions and changes of government, are represented by a great number of these pamphlets. But far more numerous are those bearing upon political matters, and which embrace all the details of government, from the formation of the constitution to the question of adopting the system of double entry in the government account-books. Controversies, moreover, carried on between opposing politicians, and between military or civil rivals, give the historian a deep insight into Mexico politics and intrigues on the one hand, and by representing both sides of the questions at issue, afford him, on the other, an opportunity of being impartial in his decisions. Much information, also, can be gleaned with regard to military organization and regulations, the national debt, internal loans, and the government's proceedings relative to che church and its property. Apart from all these subjects, there are numerous papers on agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and other industries, and
