CLIMATE OF CENTRAL AMERICAN PLATEAU. 235 



per 1,000 feet. This average is based upon the study of the climate 

 of the cities of Puebla, Mexico, Guadalajare, San Luis Potosi, Pachuca, 

 Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Queretaro, Aguas Calientes, Leon, 

 Pabellon, San Juan del Kio, Patzecuaro, Tacubaya, the list including 

 all the cities situated on the tropical plateau and for which meteor- 

 ological records are available. The highest figure (2.7°) is given 

 by the city of Zacatecas, 8,187 feet high; the lowest (1.8°) by the city 



Four Types of Country Houses on the Central American Plateau. 



of Oaxaca, which, although standing 1,319 feet above San Jose, has 

 a warmer climate (69.0°) than the latter city. 



There are in Central America but two seasons: the rainy season, 

 extending from about the middle of May till the middle of November, 

 and the dry season, covering the rest of the year. In the rainy season, 

 rain falls only for a few hours every day, generally from 2 p. m. till 

 C p. m. leaving both mornings and evenings cloudless. Patients suf- 

 fering from lung troubles find both seasons about equally curative on 

 the highland. Debilitated and neurasthenic invalids recuperate better 

 in the dry than in the rainy term. During the rainy season, the 

 cities situated on the Atlantic slope have a climate somewhat dryer 

 than that of the cities which are located on the Pacific side. The con- 

 trary is true during the dry season. 



The intensity of light, a result of altitude and latitude combined, is 

 perhaps one of the most important therapeutic elements of the climate 



