BIOLOGIA CENTRALI-AMERICANA. 



Edited by P. D. GODMAN and OSBEET SALVIN. 



XHE issue (in Parts) of a series of Quarto Volumes upon the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and 

 Central America under this title was commenced in September 1879, and has been continued to 

 the present time. The area examined includes the whole of Mexico from the United States 

 boundary (but omitting the peninsula of Lower California), British Honduras, the five Central- 

 American Kepublics of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and the 

 Colombian State of Panama as far south as the Isthmus of Darien. 



The materials for this work have been gradually accumulated since the end of the year 1857; 

 but during the past nine years, since the publication was commenced, the accessions in all branches 

 of Zoology have been very great, so that the extent of the work has been largely increased. To give 

 an idea concisely of what has been already done in the Insecta alone : the number of species of 

 various orders examined and catalogued nearly reaches 15,000; of these upwards of 7500 have 

 been described in this work for the first time, and a very large number of them have been 

 figured. 



Notwithstanding this rapid progress, much still remains to be done ; but the Editors 

 confidently hope, with the same cordial co-operation of their many contributors which they 

 have hitherto experienced, to bring the work to an end without curtailing the plan originally 

 contemplated. 



Of the Zoology five Volumes are complete, and five others are nearly so ; whilst several more 

 are in an advanced state. 



The Botany is finished and consists of five Volumes, including one of Plates. 



When this work was first planned, it was not intended to touch the wide field of investigation 

 offered by a study of the Indian races of the area described above, or of their works. The 

 subject was known to be too vast to be attempted in any general way. The recent work of 



