MEXICO. 



541 



nations, and conferring of professional titles 

 or ill-green, are regulated by special laws; the 

 following being the degrees conferred by the 

 tate: school-teachers, doctor of medicine, 

 professor of pharmacy, professor of veterinary 

 surgery, professor of agriculture, and other 

 titles in the various engineering branches. 



There are 54 professional and secondary 

 schools under official control, 12 of which are 

 established in the capital. The students at- 

 tending these schools number 9,837, there be- 

 ing besides 8,800 who receive instruction in es- 

 tablishments attached to religious institutions. 

 The annual outlay for secondary instruction 

 amounts to $1,100,000. 



In the National Preparatory School, estab- 

 lished in the city of Mexico, students are edu- 

 cated in all the branches required for any of 

 the professions, such as mathematics, physics, 

 astronomy, chemistry, geography, history, 

 natural history, logic, rhetoric, grammar, mor- 

 al sciences, Greek, Latin, nglish, French, 

 German, and Italian. There are laboratories 

 of physics, chemistry, and natural history. 

 The attendance in 1874 was 602. 



Other schools in the capital for the sec- 

 ondary or advanced branches are: the u School 

 of Arts and Trades," for men ; " Reform 

 School," for boys; "Law School," "Medical 

 School," " School of Engineering," " School 

 of Fine Arts," " School of Agriculture," 

 " Commercial School," " Military School," 

 " Deaf and Dumb Asylum," " Blind Asylum," 

 "Secondary or Intermediate School," for girls; 

 "Colegio La Paz," also for girls; and the 

 "Conservatory of Music and Declamation." 

 Sefior Covarrubias enumerates 40 public libra- 

 ries in the entire republic, three of which are 

 in the capital, and contain an aggregate of 

 236,000 volumes; and mentions museums of 

 antiquities, natural history, and fine arts, in the 

 capital, Campeachy, Oajaca, M6rida, Puebla, 

 and Guadalajara. 



Before dismissing the subject of education 

 it may not be improper to introduce here a few 



remarks concerning the cultivation of the fino 

 arts in Mexico. The principal art-school in 

 the republic in the Academy of San Carlos, in 

 the capital, where it was founded by the third 

 king of Spain of that name. It is one of the 

 most noteworthy institutions in the country, as 

 well for its magnificent collection of paintings, 

 engravings, and specimens of the sculptor's 

 art, as for the thorough and systematic course 

 of instruction given therein, and at a cost so 

 moderate as to place it within the reach of all 

 who desire to avail themselves of such ad- 

 vantages. It has always enjoyed the spirited 

 and substantial support of the Government, 

 and the progress attained in the establish- 

 ment has so far been commensurate with its 

 privileges. 



The teaching body comprises the director, 

 eighteen professors, and several assistants ; 

 and the number of pupils, in 1874, was 453. 



Photography has attained a high degree of 

 perfection in Mexico, assuredly owing, in part 

 at least, to the eminently favorable sky of that 

 region. 



According to an official publication, bearing 

 date of August, 1875, the Mexican army was 

 then composed as follows : 



Ofllcen. 



Horse 297 



Foot 765 



Artillery 188 



Coast-guards 23 



Invalids 19 



Total 1,241 



Men. 



4,848 



14.643 



1,815 



71 



2C5 



21,186 



No official statistical tables of the com- 

 merce of Mexico have been published since 

 those for 1873. Active trade exists between 

 the republic and Great Britain, Germany, 

 France, the United States, Spain, Belgium, 

 Italy, Cuba, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, 

 and Ecuador. 



The following table exhibits the various com- 

 modities imported in 1878, the invoice and 

 market values thereof, and the duties collected 

 thereon : 





It should, however, be borne in mind that 

 smuggling is so prevalent in Mexico that, in 

 order to have an approximate idea of the real 

 value of all the imports, it would be necessary 

 to double the figures of the various items of 

 the first and second columns of the foregoing 

 table. 



If we are to rely upon official returns, the 



total value of the exports for the same year 

 amounted to $31,691,150.84, divided into two 

 classes, as follows : 



Minerals. metal*, etc $&m,6T 78 



Agricultural and Industrial products. . 6.817,477 M 



Total $81,691,130 84 



Among the first class are the following : 



