"It is utilized more than you think," said Doctor Bronson, when Frank called his attention to the subject. "You remember that in Russia and other countries where large numbers of the population cannot read, the shop-keepers ornament their signs with pictures of the things they have to sell; and the custom is by no means unknown in our own land. A watch-maker hangs out a wooden watch, a boot-maker displays a boot or shoe, and a druggist shows a mortar and pestle. You remember how convenient it was in the far East, for the servants who did not know a single Roman letter, that the canned fruits, meats, and vegetables from America and England bore on their labels a picture of the article contained in the can?"
"Certainly, I do remember," replied the youth. "After all, there's nothing new under the sun, though the application of the idea here is something we have not before seen."
HOUSE BUILT BY MONTEJO.
There are twelve or fifteen squares, or plazas, in the city, the most important being, of course, the central one known as the Plaza Mayor. The cathedral and the Casa Municipal, or City Hall, face upon this square, and on one side of it is the oldest house in the city, dating from 1549. The city was founded in 1542 by Don Francisco de Montejo, the son of the Governor of the Province of Yucatan, and bearing exactly the same name. Montejo, junior, was lieutenant-governor and captain-general, and the old house just mentioned, which is one of the sights of Merida, was built by him. The façade is ornamented with sculptures, which are said to have been made by Indians after designs supplied by the Spaniards. They represent the conquerors trampling on the bodies of natives, who have been made non-resistant by the removal of their heads. It was probably the idea of Montejo that the sight of these sculptures would deter the Indians from any further resistance to the white men who came from beyond the sea, and brought the Christian religion to replace the paganism which they found here.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.