The Argentine Republic possesses one of the most perfect systems of mortgage in existence among modern nations. To prove this statement we need only explain that the Argentine laws do not recognise secret mortgages; nor do they admit any privileges in favour of married women or minors in respect of special mortgages. Neither does such a thing exist as a general mortgage, nor are there any privileges taking precedence over the right of the mortgagee. The mortgage, like every action which affects or modifies the right of the proprietor over immovable property, must be signed before a notary and registered by the Conservator of Mortgages. Before drawing up the deed, the notary must, as in the case of sales, demand a certificate stating whether the property is or is not free from charges. Although the right of the proprietor is perfect as to possession, the law tends to give property a certain degree of mobility; thus for this reason the term of a sale with power of redemption is three years, the term of a lease ten years, and that of the registration of a mortgage ten years; but all these terms may be renewed upon expiration. The term of ten years in the case of mortgages does not affect the _Banco Hypotecario National_, nor the _Banque Hypothécaire de Buenos Ayres_, nor the _Banque Hypothécaire de la Capitale_, in virtue of the special laws which created these institutions. _The Bourse or Exchange._——The first Commercial Exchange or Bourse, or let us rather say the first institution to fulfil the functions of an exchange or Bourse, for we cannot give that name to the market which formerly existed in Buenos Ayres, was inaugurated in 1810 under the name of the Chamber of Commerce——_Sala de Comercio_. It was composed exclusively of members of the English colony, and offered them, besides the usual advantages of such establishments, the attraction of a well-furnished library. The documents available do not tell us how long this institution lasted, nor whether at a later period it opened its doors to the Argentine element nor whether, being finally transformed, it served as a basis for the organisation of the exchange as it is to-day. The only thing certain is that in July 1834 the first members of the association met in the Via San Martin, there to establish the Bourse, of which the inauguration took place on the 1st of December following. Before this date there was a financial group known as the “Sociedad Particular de Corredores,” which was known as the _Camuati_, and which busied itself with mercantile transactions. The Bourse retained its original premises until the year 1862, when it was installed in another building in the same street, at present occupied by the Caisse de Conversion, or Bank of Exchange.