Some idea of the magnitude of the work of this society may be gained from the following statistics. The whole number of distinct publi cations (not including periodicals) issued by the society from the home office from 1825 to 1903 was 8,408, of which 2,138 have been volumes and (3,360 tracts, etc. These have been published in a score of different languages. The lotal number of volumes issued during the previous seventy eight years is 32.743,752; of tracts, 449,554,252: and of periodicals. 264,278.fi68: making a grand total of 746.57(3,672 copies of publications printed. Six periodicals are published by the society, viz. the American Messenger. Apples of Gold, Light and Life, Deutssbcr Volksfreund, A merikanischer Botschafter, and Man:anas. de Oro. The society has made appropriations amounting to $747.213, by the aid of which 508.0 publications have been issued at foreign mission stations in 157 languages and dialects.
The constitution of the Religious Tract Society of London is similar to that of the American Tract Society. Its affairs are conducted by a committee, composed of in equal proportion of members of the Church of England and of Prot estant dissenters. During its one hundred and four years the society has printed hooks and tracts in 250 different languages. in all the society has published over ten thousand books, tracts, etc., and its total distribution amounts to about 3.540,000.000 copies of its publications.
In New York and many other cities there are city mission and tract societies, which find the printed page a valuable auxiliary in reaching the 'submerged tenth.' Many of the evangelical dc nominations have their own boards of publica tion or publishing societies, which employ tract literature, especially in aid of their Sunday school work. In Great Britain, in addition to the Religious Tract Society, there are several other tract societies. such as the Monthly Tract
Society; and the Stirling Tract Enterprise. On the Continent of Europe there are perhaps a score of societies which are engaged more or less in the publication and circulation of tract liter ature. Among the most important of these arc the Paris Tract Society (Societe des Traitcs Re ligieux), the Toulouse Religious Book and Tract Society. the Genera Et-angelical Society, the Italian Erangelical Publication Society of Flor ence, and the German Evangelical Book and Tract Society. In India, China, Japan, and other heathen lands there are a large number of tract societies which aim to provide Christian literature in the native languages. According to the Centennial Surrey of Foreign Missions, by James S. Dennis (New York. 1902). there are a total of 159 missionary publishing houses and printing presses in snch lands. The annual issues from these amount to 10,800,927 copies. There are also 379 magazines and papers pub lished under missionary auspices, and these have a combined circulation of 250.809 copies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The literature on the subject Bibliography. The literature on the subject of tract societies consists chiefly of the annual reports, pamphlets, etc.. published by the vari ous societies themselves. The Story of the Re ligious Tract Society; for One Hundred Years. by Rev. S. G. Green, D.D. (London. 1899), was pre pared by an editorial secretary of the Religious Tract Society of London, and is an authoritative history of that society. The American Tract Soeiety—Am historical Sketch (New York, 1900), though but a brief pamphlet. presents the salient points concerning the history of the American Tract Society. The Report of the Ecu menical Conference of Foreign Missions, Nero York, 1900 (New York and London, 1900). gives some interesting facts with reference to this sub ject.