Industrial progress has been fostered and encouraged by the extension of railways, and new lines are under construction in every part of the republic. Commerce has increased every year and the fiscal receipts have nearly doubled within the past four years. Foreign capitalists are constantly making new investments in the country, the statistics showing that twenty-nine mining and agricultural enterprises were established in Peru in 1907, of which a great many were of foreign ownership. The sources of national wealth have increased, partly owing to the discovery of valuable mines of coal and petroleum and to the revival of Peru’s guano industry, which promises to be richer in production than ever before. The interests of agriculture have been promoted by a careful study of its needs in the various regions; hydrographic experts have been employed to solve the problem of irrigation in the dry sections of the coast and artesian wells have been sunk at various points in the northern district. The importation of thoroughbred stock, the employment of foreign specialists in the various branches of husbandry to give lectures on the subject, and the free and liberal distribution of pamphlets, reports, and maps throughout the farming communities have been among the activities of the government in behalf of agricultural reform. Public health receives greater consideration and attention than formerly, Congress having voted large sums for the purpose of carrying out sanitary works in the centres of population throughout the republic, especially in the ports. Commissions, composed of medical men and engineers, have undertaken the improvement of sanitary and hygienic conditions, and this important reform is now far advanced, many cities already enjoying its benefits. [Illustration: PATIO OF THE POST OFFICE, LIMA.]