Isthmus, is 20 miles long and 10 wide, and is sheltered from the north winds by the Mulatas Archipelago. The bay of Mandinga on the southwestern side of the gulf, forms a deep and easily approached harbor. Caledonia Bay, also protected by a belt of cays, has two deep inner harbors. Sassardi and Caledonia. The bay of Panama extends from Cape Garachine on the east to Cape Malo on the west, the two capes being 100 miles distant from each other in a straight line. At the eastern side of the bay of Panama, is the Gulf of San Miguel, which decreases from a width of fifteen and one-half miles at its mouth to seven and onehalf miles a short distance inland, then increases to eleven miles, again decreasing until it reaches a width of four and one-half miles. At this point it turns to the southeast where it is known as Darien harbor, a landlocked haven eleven miles long, four miles wide at its mouth, and two miles at its head. On the western side of the bay of Panama, is the bay of Parita, nearly twenty miles wide at its mouth. The Gulf of Montijo, twenty miles long and fourteen miles wide at its mouth, contains numerous islands. The coast of Panama is skirted with islands. Islands. The Pacific coast shows 1,053 islands with a total area of 500 square miles, and the Caribbean coast, 630 islands and islets with a total area of 147 square miles. The Chiriqui Archipelago protects Almirante Bay and the Chiriqui Lagoon. Columbus Island, protecting Almirante Bay, is seven miles long and three miles wide. It is flat and covered with dense forests. Provision Island, lying east of Columbus Island, is eight miles long and irregular in shape. The northern side is marked by a range of hills from 300 to 400 feet in elevation, while the southern side is low and swampy. Near these islands lies the Escudo de Veraguas, an island long disputed by Colombia and Costa Rica. Farther east, the Mulatas Archipelago protects the Gulf of San Blas. This belt of islands and reefs extends for eighty miles along the coast. They are all low and of sandy formation, rising but a few feet above the sea

and covered with forests and cocoanut groves. The Pearl Islands in Panama Bay cover 400 square miles of land and water. The islands are low and but little cultivated. The largest island of the group, Rey, is 15 miles long and 7 miles wide. There is a peak on this island 600 feet high. Coiba, the largest island belonging to Panama, is 21 miles long and from 4 to 12 miles wide. It is covered with dense forests. Cebaco Island lying across the mouth of the Gulf of Montijo, is thirteen and one-half miles long and three miles wide. Taboga, a gem of the Pacific, is one of the prettiest islands belonging to the Republic. The greater portion of its surface is mountainous, but a good deal of the land is under cultivation. Taboga pine apples are known all over the Isthmus, while mangoes, oranges, and other fruits are produced extensively. The island is 12 miles from Panama city, and is much resorted to by people from the mainland. Panama is divided into seven provinces Political Divisions. namely, Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui, Coclé Colon, Los Santos, Panama, and Veraguas. Each province is administered by a Governor appointed by and responsible only to the President of the Republic. The provinces are in turn, divided into municipal districts, governed by a municipal council whose members are popularly elected, and by an Alcalde, or Mayor, who is the chief administrative official of the municipality and also the direct agent of the provincial governor. In all internal affairs, the municipalities are self-governing.

The constitution of the new republic came into Government. force on February 23, 1904. The fundamental law provides for a centralized republican form of government. Supreme executive authority is vested in the President. He is elected by popular vote for a term of four years and is ineligible for the next succeeding term. An exception was made in the case of President Amador who was elected by the National Assembly instead of by popular vote. The powers of the President are similar to those possessed by the chief executives of all republican govern

ments. He must sign or veto all bills passed by the legislative body within from five to eight days, depending on the length of the bills, otherwise they become laws without his signature. Bills vetoed by the President by reason of their doubtful constitutionality are referred to the Supreme Court of the country. If that body decides they violate no provision of the constitution, the President must affix his signature. Other vetoed bills may be repassed by the assembly by a two-thirds vote. The President appoints all the higher responsible officials of the country, including members of his Cabinet, judges of the Supreme Court, diplomatic and consular representatives, and governors of the provinces. In some appointments the chief executive acts alone; in other cases, approval of the legislative body is required. All regulations, orders and decrees of the President must be countersigned by the member of his Cabinet in charge of the subject under consideration. The President is assisted in the discharge of his duties by a Cabinet consisting of a Secretary of Government and Justice; Secretary of Foreign Relations; Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Public Instruction and Secretary of Public Works. These officials have a voice, but no vote in the legislative body. In case of the death or disability of the President, executive powers devolve upon one of three persons termed Designadores, elected at each session of the Assembly, and in the event of the disability of these three officials, upon a member of the Cabinet. The law-making branch of the government is a single body, the National Assembly, consisting of Deputies elected for a term of four years in proportion of one Deputy for every 10,000 inhabitants, or a fraction over 5,000. Substitutes are elected in the same manner, at the same time, and for the same term. The Assembly meets every two years and extra sessions may be called by the President.

Courts.

The administration of justice is vested in a Supreme Court, circuit courts, district courts, and other inferior tribunals established by law. The Supreme

Court is located in Panama with jurisdiction and powers similar to those possessed by such courts in other South American countries. Its judges, five in number, are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Assembly. The circuit courts, of which there is one for each province, located in the capital city of each, possess jurisdiction, coextensive with the respective provinces. The district courts, one for each municipal district, have local jurisdiction. The appointment of the judges of the circuit, district and other inferior courts rests largely with the immediate superior tribunals; the decisions of these inferior courts are subject to review by the higher tribunals. In a general way foreigners enjoy the same rights and privileges before the tribunals of the Republic, as citizens do.

All imports into the Republic, with the exception Customs. of a limited number of articles included in the free list or subject to a specific duty, pay an ad valorem duty of ten per cent. Some of the more important articles on the free list are animals for breeding purposes, ice, guano, seeds and plants, machines weighing less than 2204 pounds, read making and canal machinery, railway rolling stock and track supplies, telegraph materials, coal imported by the consumer, bridge iron, ships and ship parts, raw materials necessary in the manufacture of beer, candles and soap, excepting tallow; bookbinders' and printers' supplies, including ink and paper; articles imported by steamship companies, religious and charitable organizations, and by the Government for exclusive use. Spirits, wines, liquors, tobacco, coffee, matches, match materials, opium, salt, and cattle are subject to to specific duties, as follows: Ordinary spirits and its compounds, up to 21 deg. Cartier, such as rum, brandy, gin, whisky, refined anisette, rossolis, orange cordial, $1.50 silver per liter. Liquors of from 22 deg., to 42 deg. Cartier, such as chartreuse, creme de cacao, peppermint, Padre Kernan, kümmel, absinthe, $2.00 per liter; alcohol up to 42 deg. Cartier, $1.00 per liter; alcohol above 42 deg. Cartier, $150 per

liter; concentrated liquid used in the manufacture of dutiable beverages, $15 per liter; bitters, such as Angostura bitters, fernet-branca, cocoa, 60 cents per liter; white, red and Bordeaux wines, 10 cents per liter; wines, sweet, malaga, sherry, oporto and vermouth, 20 cents per liter; champagne, $2.00 per liter; aerated and mineral waters, elixirs and medicinal wines imported in special bottles, 25 per cent. silver on net gold value; cigars $2.00 per kilogram; cigarettes $3.00 per kilogram; other forms of tobacco, $2.00 per kilogram; coffee, $8.00 per quintal, gross weight; wax matches 80 cents per kilogram, gross weight; wooden matches, 30 cents per kilogram; raw materials for matches, 10 cents per kilogram, gross weight; opium $15 per kilogram; salt, $2.00 per quintal; cattle for public consumption: males, $20.00 each, females, $15.00 each. All the above duties are in Panama silver. The liter is 1.056 quarts. The kilogram is 2.2046 pounds. The quintal is 220.46 pounds.

New inventions and inventions already patPATENTS. ented abroad may be patented in Panama, providing the invention is not already covered. Application for a patent should be made to the Secretary of Fomento, Panama, Rep. of Panama. The application must be accompanied by a description of the invention, indicating its nature and object, and if the application be made through a resident agent, by a power of attorney viséd by a consul of Panama; drawings and models, or samples are also required by the government. Patents are granted without examination. All correspondence and necessary papers must be in the Spanish language. The term for which a patent may be secured is five, fifteen, or twenty years, at the option of the applicant. Action must be taken within one year of grant. The cost of filing application is about $20 gold, with an annual fee of $20 gold during the life of the patent. The law of Panama recognizes two classes of trade marks, for the registration of which, slightly different procedure is necessary, and different fees

TRADE MARKS.