••Antonio Álzate. „ 871 



measuring tJbe distances and varying the tints. Occasionally, 

 the sight penetrates towards the N. E. even to the farthest 

 horizon occupiedby the opposite side ofthe same Valley, which 

 unroUs itselff before the spectator in a proiection o£ more thau 

 100 kilometers ( 62 miles ) — In the foreground of this slope 

 can be contemplated from the highest point the picturesque 

 and fertile villages which we have mentioned: Tizapan, Mix- 

 coac, &., Highways ornamented with trees unites these places 

 with the famous Castle o£ Chapultepec, surrounded its bean- 

 tiful and age oíd grove, — and with the Capital, which ma- 

 jestically extends itself in the centre of the Valley at a dis- 

 tance of 16 or 20 kilometers (11 miles) — The whiteness of its 

 edificies forms a vivid contrast with the soft, azure and sil- 

 very tints of the lakes around it. In the distance, at the right, 

 towards the E., the two grand voléanos of the Sierra Nevada, 

 Popocatepetl an Ixtacihuatl lif t their dazzeling peaks of snow 

 to a height, which contemplated from this situation, seem to 

 rise higher than when contemplated from the depth of the 

 Valley. 



This grand perspective with changing views and aftects 

 in accordance to the hour, and which are visible from diffe- 

 rent points, whether at a higher altitude near the forests of 

 "El Desierto" (the Desert) near of Cuajimalpa and '*E1 Con- 

 tadero" ( at an altitude of 2760 meters ) or at Sn. Nicolás To- 

 tolapa, a pleasant village above Contreras, or at '*La Magda- 

 lena" (3628 meters) and "La Cañada." 



The temperature at these places is generally 1 or 2 degre- 

 es centigrades lower than that of the city of México, but mo- 

 re even. At this point we have observations by Dr. Altami- 

 rano, ( ' ) taken simultaneously in the mansión of the state of 

 Eslava (2300° meters, altitude) in the city of México and in the 



(1) Director ofthe: Medical National Institution of the city of Mé- 

 xico. 



