Mexico of Today 



177 



The scientific boards and establish- 

 ments of the government render good 

 sendees to science in general and par- 

 ticularly to our country. There is a 

 geodesical board that, besides other 

 scientific occupations, is measuring the 

 part of the arc of the meridian corre- 

 sponding to Mexico. 



lya Comision Geografica Exploradora 

 (the geographical exploring board), in 

 order to make a correct map of the re- 

 public on a large scale, is now working 

 in the States of Nuevo Leon, Vera Cruz, 

 and Tamaulipas. The topographical 

 sur\'eys measure an area of 424,148 

 square kilometers, the itineraries 142,- 

 799 lineal kilometers, and the number 

 of positions astronomically determined 

 is 424. The learned members of this 

 Society can appreciate properly the time 

 and scientific labor represented by these 

 operations. 



Our astronomical obser\'atory in Ta- 

 cubaya, Federal District, is in constant 

 communication with similar institutions 

 in the civilized world, and our directors 

 have visited them repeatedl}- and been 

 present at the astronomical congresses 

 of all nations. It has also the honor 

 of taking part in the formation of a pho- 

 tographic zone of the celestial map that 

 is to be executed by international con- 

 vention. 



Speaking of this science, it is worth 

 mentioning that Mexico, since colonial 

 times, has always had remarkable astron- 

 omers, and in the seventeenth century 

 the illustrious Don Carlos de Sigiienza 

 y Gongora, of European renown, was 

 appointed by Charles II of Spain his 

 royal cosmographer. In our times we 

 had Diaz Covarrubias, and in fact Mex- 

 ico, since the sixteenth centur}-, has 

 taken a prominent part in all astronom- 

 ical observations, and was one of the 

 many countries to observe the transit of 

 Venus through the disc of the sun more 

 than 100 years ago. 



There are also meteorological obser- 

 vatories in connection with those of the 



United States, and a geological insti- 

 tute, one of whose works, the geolog- 

 ical cut from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, 

 figured ver}' advantageously in the last 

 Paris Exposition, and many other scien- 

 tific institutions supported by public 

 funds or by private enterprise. 



To give some idea of our means of 

 communication and public works, I shall 

 mention some facts about our railroads, 

 telegraphs, telephones, and postal serv- 

 ice, and of some of the great works in 

 the capital and states. 



Besides many hundreds of miles of 

 railways in active construction, we have 

 in actual operation 14,573 kilometers, 

 or 9,055.22 English miles. In the last 

 four years 3,104 kilometers of roads 

 were finished. 



Mexico being a mountainous country, 

 the cost of these roads in many cases 

 was enormous ; but we can boast of 

 having some of the most daring and 

 magnificent works of engineering and 

 of the most picturesque views in the 

 world. One of the two railroads con- 

 nectiiig the capital with the port of 

 Vera Cruz has a section literally above 

 the clouds, and, according to the opinion 

 of foreigners visiting the country, the 

 trip of any tourist would be amply re- 

 paid by only traveling on that magnifi- 

 cent railroad, so solidly and skillfully 

 built and cautiously run that an acci- 

 dent of a serious nature has never hap- 

 pened in more than 28 years of continual 

 operation. For construction and splen- 

 did scenery, the railroads running from 

 Morelia to Uruapan, in the state of 

 Michoacan, and from Puebla to Oaxaca, 

 connecting the two states of said names, 

 can be especiall}^ recommended. 



The number of passengers increases 

 at an enormous rate year by year. In 

 1893, 22,781,343 passengers were car- 

 ried on Mexican railways ; in 1 900 this 

 number had nearly doubled, exceeding 

 40,000,000. Of merchandise, 3,798,360 

 tons were carried in 1893, and in 1900 

 nearly 8,000,000 tons. 



