The Lima Benevolent Society is composed of a hundred members, from whose number a board of directors is elected annually, with authority to appoint two inspectors for each establishment of importance; one inspector is appointed for each minor organization and for the religious brotherhoods, whose incomes are administered by the society, the surplus of their rents, after deducting expenses, being applied to its purposes. The president of the board of directors is the general manager of the society, who bears the title of Director of Benevolence. The gentle heart of the Limeña is quickly moved to pity by the sight of suffering and distress, and generous contributions are made to many charitable institutions not included among those of the society, though the latter extends its benign protection over all the city, performing its noble task with great efficiency, through the aid of the pious Sisters of Charity, who form a devoted corps of nurses and guardians in its hospitals, asylums, and poorhouses. In Callao, Arequipa, Puno, Trujillo, and Cajamarca, as well as in the capital, the visitor to the institutions of charity meets these sweet-faced gentle ministers of mercy. The most important hospital of Lima was constructed soon after the glorious victory of Callao in 1866, when the Spaniards were driven from the Pacific Coast, and it was named, in honor of that event, the Hospital Dos de Mayo. The Director of Benevolence at that time was Don Manuel Pardo, who planned the edifice in 1868 and presided at the inauguration of the hospital during his presidency, in 1875. It is a spacious and handsome building, and the wards of invalids are separated from the various departments of hospital service by beautiful gardens. A thousand patients can be accommodated in the institution, though the daily average is about six hundred men. The principal hospital for women, the Santa Ana, is the oldest in Peru, having been founded by the first Archbishop of Lima, in 1549. A new edifice has recently been constructed for the use of the hospital, having the latest modern conveniences. The maternity ward occupies a separate site, and serves as a practical school for obstetricians. The hospital of Santa Ana has a children’s clinic, and a clinic of ophthalmology. The new building is fitted up with twelve separate wards, having forty beds in each, and a special section for children. [Illustration: OFFICES OF THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, LIMA.]