Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-286) and index.

Glossary -- Introduction -- Managing the missions and social-cultural change -- Smallpox epidemics and smallpox treatment -- Demographic patterns on the Paraguay and Chiquitos mission frontiers -- Mission demographic patterns among sedentary and non-sedentary natives on the frontiers of Spanish America : a comparative discussion -- Post-jesuit expulsion population trends -- Conclusions -- Appendix 1: Population of the Paraguay missions, in selected years -- Appendix 2: Females as a percentage of the total population of the Paraguay missions -- Appendix 3: Marriages recorded in the Paraguay missions, in selected years -- Appendix 4: Vital rates of the Paraguay missions -- Appendix 5: Population of the Chiquitos missions -- Appendix 6: Females as a percentage of the total population of the Chiquitos missions -- Appendix 7: Marriages recorded in the Chiquitos missions in selected years -- Appendix 8: vital rates of the Chiquitos missions -- Appendix 9: Castillian weights and measures mentioned in the text -- Appendix 10: A note on colonial Spanish American silver coins -- Appendix 11: Area measurements of agricultural land in Spanish America.