SQUIER, Ephraim George, author, born in Bethlehem, New York, 17 June, 1821 ; died in Brooklyn, New York, 17 April, 1888. In early youth he worked on a farm, attended and taught .school, studied en-gmeering, and became interested in American antiquities. Hewas associated in the publication of the "New York State Mechanic," at Albany, in 1841-'2, and engaged in journalism in Hartford, Connecticut, and Chilli-cothe, Ohio, in 1843-'8, during which period he also investigated the ancient monuments of the Mississippi valley in conjunction with Dr Edward Hamilton Davis (q. v.), and prepared the narrative that was published in vol. i. of the "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge" (Washington, 1848) He also made an examination of the ancient remains of New York state under the auspices of the New York historical society in 1848. He was appointed special charge d'affaires to all the Central American states in 1849, and negotiated treaties with Nicaragua, Honduras, and San Salvador. In 1853 he made a second visit to Central America to examine a line for a projected interoceanie railroad, and to make further study of the archaeology of the country. In 1856 he received the medal of the French geographical society for his researches In 1863 Mr. Squier was appointed United States commisstoner to Peru, where he made an exhaustive investigation of Inca remains and took numerous photographs of them. In 1868 he was appointed consulgeneral of Honduras at New York, and in 1871 he was elected the first president of the Anthropological institute of New York. In 1874 his health became so seriously impaired as to preclude further original research, and though he subsequently recovered sufficiently to direct the final preparation and revision of his work on Peru for publication, the affliction resulted in his death. He was a member of numerous historical, archaeological, and scientific societies, and several years chief editor of Frank Leslie's publishing-house. Besides many official reports, scientific papers, magazine articles, and contributions to the "Encyclopedia Britannica" and foreign periodicals, his works include "Aboriginal Monuments of the State of New York" ("Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," 1849 ; Buffalo, 1851) ; "Serpent Symbols" (1852) ; " Nicaragua : its People, Scenery, and Monuments" (New York, 1852); "Notes on Central America" (1854); "Waikua, or Adventures on the Mosquito Shore" (1855)" "The States of Central America" (1857 ; revised ed., 1870) ; Monographs of Authors who have written on the Aboriginal Languages, , . of Central America" (1860) ", "Tropical Fibres and their Economic Extraction" (1861); and "Peru: Incidents and Explorations in the Land of the Incas" (1877).