“In the Statutes at Large and Revised Statutes of 1873 there are over 40,000 quarto pages. The lack of a practical quide to the innumerable subjects on which Congress had legislated since 1789 was felt by certain Members of the House and Senate in connections with their work of drafting and criticizing bills. During the last days of the session of Congress which ended June 30, 1906, the authors of the present volume proposed the preparation of an Index Analysis to the Federal Statutes. By an amendment made in the House to the sundry civil bill, the appropriation asked for to undertake the present experiment was provided. The volume of the Index Analysis covering the general and permanent law from 1873 to 1907 was published in 1908, under directions from Congress (34 Stat. L., 1399), to “expedite the preparation of that part of the new index to the Statutes at Large which is an index to the statutes enacted since the year 1873.” “