36 <3eoarapbicai Botes on flDejico* 



by one as they grow old and die ; and as the leaves die they are re- 

 placed gradually and imperceptibly by new ones, so that the phenome- 

 non familiar to northern latitudes, of trees losing all their leaves in the 

 autumn and regaining them in the spring, is quite new to anybody 

 going to a temperature that has both extremes. 



The differences of climate depending upon the different degrees of 

 altitude are so great in Mexico that the vegetable products of this vast 

 country include almost all that are to be found between the equator 

 and the polar circle. 



The mean temperature in the hot region varies from 77 to 82 de- 

 grees, Fahrenheit, seldom falling below 60, but often rising to 100 

 degrees, and in the sultry districts of Veracruz and Acapulco occa- 

 sionally to 104 degrees, although the heat is not oppressive as is the 

 summer heat of the eastern portions of the United States. The vege- 

 tation is, of course, in consequence entirely tropical. In the southern 

 region the climate on both seaboards may be described as humid, hot, 

 and rather unhealthy, and in places where stagnant water and marshes 

 exist which are often found on the coast on account of the sea water 

 flowing in and remaining there intermittent and remittent fevers pre- 

 vail, and in some localities during the summer yellow fever and black 

 vomit are endemic. These conditions could easily be remedied by 

 proper drainage of the swamps and marshy districts. 



The heat of the Gulf of Mexico when the atmosphere begins to cool 

 in the polar regions causes a depression in the barometer, and conse- 

 quently very strong north winds, which sweep over the coast with ter- 

 rible force, causing great havoc. They generally begin in September 

 and last until the winter season sets in about December. As the 

 country is narrow, the effect of the north wind is felt all over it and 

 that is the prevailing wind. In the City of Mexico, for instance, not- 

 withstanding its altitude and that it is protected by high mountains 

 from the northern winds, the temperature falls when the northerns 

 prevail on the Gulf coast, and it becomes cloudy and drizzly, and the 

 same effect is felt, more or less, in other portions of the country. As 

 the country narrows towards the southeast, especially at Tehuantepec, 

 the northern wind blows with but small obstacles, and its force and 

 effects are felt all over it. The districts in the mountains bordering 

 the Pacific are affected in the same way as the City of Mexico. 



From 3000 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea is located our 

 temperate zone, which succeeds the hot zone in a verticle position, 

 and embraces all the higher terraces, and portions of the central 

 plateaus themselves. The mean temperature is from 62 to 70 degrees, 

 Fahrenheit, varying not more than 4 to 5 degrees during the season, 

 thus making one of the very finest climates on the face of the earth. 

 In this privileged region both extremes of heat and cold are unknown, 



