U4 Geogtapbical IRotes on /JDejico, 



the digestive and respiratory organs, the former amounting to 4472 or 

 1.35 per cent, of the population and the latter to 3904 or 1.18 per cent, 

 of the population, and both causing 8376 deaths or 53.81 per cent, of 

 the total number of deaths. Deaths by typhus and typhoid fevers and 

 small-pox, which are supposed to make such great ravages in the City 

 of Mexico, were in reality insignificant, the deaths by the former 

 amounting in that year to 480 or 0.14 per cent, of the population, and 

 the deaths by small-pox were, in the Federal District, embracing the 

 City of Mexico and twenty-three suburban towns, 217 or 0.047 P er cent - 

 of the population of the District which is 473,820. Small-pox only 

 attacks the very poor people, and, strange to say, also foreigners, even 

 in case they have been vaccinated in their country, and to be free from 

 small-pox they must be vaccinated in Mexico. 



The months of the greatest mortality during the same year were 

 from February to May, and of the smallest the month of August, show- 

 ing that the unhealthy months are the dry months, that is before the 

 rains set in. 



The mortality in the City of Mexico is indeed very large, and it is 

 due principally to two causes, first, the want of proper drainage and 

 sewerage for the refuse of the city, a trouble which is now almost com- 



Porfirio Diaz, and by the suggestion of General Vicente Riva Palacio, then Secretary 

 of Public Works, the Central Meteorological Observatory was established. From 

 that date up to the present, an uninterrupted hourly observation is regularly taken 

 during the day and the night in the Central Meteorological Observatory. Some mag- 

 netical observations have also been made, and the Observatory is now thought of be- 

 ing removed to a more suitable spot. 



After the establishment of the Central Meteorological Observatory, some official 

 or private meteorological stations have also been established as follows : Aguascalien- 

 tes (Institute del Estado) ; Guadalajara (Escuela de Ingenieros), observer, Augustin 

 V. Pascal ; Guanajuato (Colegio del Estado), observer, Genaro Montes de Oca ; Leon 

 (Escuela Secundaria), observer, Mariano Leal ; Mazatlan (Observatorio Astronomico 

 y Meteorologico), observer, N. Gonzalez ; Oaxaca (Colegio del Estado), observer, Dr. 

 A. Dominguez ; Pachuca (Institute del Estado), observer, Dr. N. Andrade ; Puebla 

 (Colegio Catolico and Colegio del Estado), observers, Priest P. Spina and B. G. Gon- 

 zalez respectively ; Queretaro (Colegio Civil), observer, J. B. Alcocer ; San Luis Po- 

 tosi (Institute del Estado), observer, Dr. G. Barroeta ; Toluca (Institute del Estado), 

 observer, S. Enriquez ; Veracruz, observer, G. Baturoni ; Zacatecas (Institute), J. A. 

 Bonilla. Dr. Manuel Andrade, of Huejutla ; Dr. Matienzo, of Tampico; Father 

 Perez, of Morelia ; Father Arreola, of Colima ; Father Castellanos, of Zapotlan ; Sr. 

 Pascual Borbon, of Tacambaro, are enlightened observers to whom the Central Me- 

 teorological Observatory is indebted for their valuable co-operation, and also to the 

 telegraph operators of the " Telegraph system," who send, daily, some weather obser- 

 vations to this office. 



The staff of the Central Meteorological Observatory is now as follows: Director, 

 Mariano Barcena ; Vice-Director, Jose Zendejas, C.E. ; Second Observer, Francisco 

 Toro ; Assistants, Rafael Aguilar, Francisco Quiroga, Angel Robelo, Jose Torres, 

 and J. I. Vazquez. 



