PERALTA, Manuel Maria de (pay-ral'-tah), Costa Rican diplomatist, born in Cartago, Costa Rica, 4 July, 1847. He received an academic education, studied law, served in the Costa Rican legations in London and Paris, and in 1875 became minister to the United States. While in Washington he was empowered to sign a treaty by which the neutrality of the Nicaragua canal and its control by a board of directors were stipulated, in January, 1877. In 1878-'87 he served in Europe, except in 1884-'6, when he was again minister to this country. In October, 1887, Mr. Peralta returned to Washington as special counsel for the republic of Costa Rica. He has been engaged in negotiations with the United States government regarding the interoceanic canal and the boundary question between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, which, in 1887, was submitted to President Cleveland. He was delegate to the international canal congress at Paris in 1879, and in 1881 was vice-president of the congress of Americanists at Madrid. In addition to verses and essays in periodicals, he has published "La republique de Costa Rica" (Geneva, 1871) : "Costa Rica: its Climate, Constitution, and Resources" (London, 1873); "El Rio San Juan de Nicaragua" (Madrid, 1882) ; "Costa Rica, Nicaragua y Panama en el Siglo XVI." (1883) ; "Costa Rica y Colombia de 1573-1881" (1886); and "El Canal interocdanico de Nicaragua y Costa Rica en 1620 y en 1887" (Brussels, 1887).