Mexico

MEXICO (Span. Mejico, or Mexico,) officially styled Estados Unidos Mexicanos and Republica Mexicana, a federal republic of North America extending from the United States of America southward to Guatemala and British Honduras, and lying between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea on the east. Its northern boundary line was fixed by the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty of 1848 and the Gadsden treaty of 1853; it follows the Rio Grande del Norte from its mouth north-westward to lat. 31° 47' N., thence on that parallel W. Ioo m., thence S. to lat. 3 1° 20' N., thence due W. to the IIIth meridian, thence in a straight line (nearly W.N.W.) to a point on the Colorado river 20 m. below the mouth of the Gila river, thence northward to the mouth of the Gila, and thence, nearly due W., along the old line between Upper and Lower California to a point on the Pacific coast one marine league S. of the southernmost point of San Diego Bay; this line has a total length of 1810 m., of which the Rio Grande comprises 1136 and the land route 674 m. The boundary line with Guatemala, for a long time in dispute, was fixed by the treaties of 1882 and 1895. It is an arbitrary line and follows only two natural lines of demarcation - the Suchiate river from the Pacific coast to its source, and the Chixoy and Usumacinta rivers from near the 16th parallel N.W. to a point on the latter 25 kilometres, S. of Tenosique (Tabasco). Between these rivers the boundary line is determined by the peaks of Tacana, Buenavista and Ixbul, and from the Usumacinta eastward it follows two parallels of latitude, one on the point of departure from that river, and the other, the longer, on that of 1 7° 49' to the British Honduras frontier. The boundary with British Honduras was determined by a treaty of 1893 and is formed in great part by the Hondo river down to the head of Chetumal Bay, and thence through that bay to the Boca Bacalar Chicathe channel separating Yucatan from Ambergris Cay. Geographically, Mexico extends from 14° 30' 42" (the mouth of the Suchiate) to 32° 42' N. lat., and from 86° 46' 08" to 117° 07' 31" W. long. Approximately its greatest length from N.W. to S.E. is 1900 m., its greatest width 750 m., and its least width a little short of 1 4 0 m. In outline it is sometimes compared to a huge cornucopia with its small end curving S.E. and N. The interior curve formed by the Gulf of Mexico is comparatively regular and has a coast-line of about 1400 m. The Caribbean coast-line is about 327 m. long, exclusive of indentations. The outer curve facing the Pacific is less regular, is deeply broken by the Gulf of California, and has a coast-line of 4574 m., including that of the Gulf. The peninsula of Lower California (q.v.) lies parallel with the mainland coast and extends southward to about 22° 52' S. lat., a distance of nearly 760 m. The area of Mexico is commonly given by English authorities as 767,005 sq. m., by German statisticians as 1,987,201 sq. kiloms. (767,290 sq. m.), and by H. H. Bancroft, who quotes official figures, as 1,962,899 sq. kiloms. (757,907 sq. m.).

Physiography

The surface features consist of an immense elevated plateau with a chain of mountains on its eastern and western margins, which extends from the United States frontier southward to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; a fringe of lowlands (tierras calientes) between the plateau and coast on either side; a detached, roughly mountainous section in the south-east, which belongs to the Central American Plateau, and a low sandy plain covering the greater part of the Isthmus of Yucatan. The peninsula of Lower California is traversed from north to south by a chain of barren mountains which covers the greater part of its surface. The slopes are precipitous on the east coast, but on the west they break down in hills and terraces to the Pacific. This range may be considered a southward continuation of the Californian Sierra Nevada. The great plateau of Mexico is very largely of volcanic origin. Its superstructure consists of igneous rocks of all descriptions with which the original valleys between its marginal ranges have been filled by volcanic action. The remains of transverse and other ranges are to be seen in the isolated ridges and peaks which rise above the level of the table-land, in some cases forming well-defined basins; otherwise the surface is singularly uniform in character and level. The two noteworthy depressions in its surface, the Valley of Mexico and Bolson de Mapimi, once contained large bodies of water, of which only small lakes and marshy lagoons now remain. The highest part of this great plateau is to be found in the states of Mexico and Puebla, where the general elevation is about 8000 ft. Southward the slope is broken into small basins and terraces by transverse ranges, and is comparatively abrupt. Northward the slope is gentle, and is broken by several transverse ridges. At Ciudad Juarez (adjoining El Paso, Texas), on the northern frontier, the elevation is 3600 ft., which shows a slope of only 42 ft. to the mile. Less is definitely known of the elevated regions of Chiapas, on the border of Guatemala, which are separated from the great Mexican Plateau by the low Isthmus of Tehuantepec (718 ft. at the highest point of the transisthmian railway), but their general elevation is much lower, and they are broken by wooded sierras and eroded by water-courses.

The mountain ranges which form part of the great Mexican Plateau consist of two marginal chains known as the Sierra Madre Occidental, on the west, the Sierra Madre Oriental, on the east, and a broken, weakly-defined chain of transverse ranges and ridges between the 18th and 10th parallels known as the Cordillera de Anahuac. All these chains are known locally under diverse names. The Sierra Madre Occidental consists of several parallel ranges in the north, where a broad belt of country is covered with a labyrinth of ridges and valleys. The most eastern of these are known as the Sierra Tarahumare and Sierra del Durango, and the most western as the Sierra del Nazareno, Sierra Yaqui and Sierra Fuerte. These converge in southern Sinaloa and Durango to form the Sierra de Nayarit. Near the 10th parallel the great chain again divides, the eastern part crossing the southern end of the plateau, and the western, or Sierra Madre del Sur, following the shore line closely to Tehuantepec. The Sierra Madre Occidental has but few noteworthy elevations, its culminating points being the Nevado de Colima (14,363 ft.) and Volcan de Colima (12,750 ft.) in the state of Jalisco. In the Sierra de Nayarit the Cerro Pimal rises to an elevation of 11,319 ft., and in the extreme south the Cerro del Leone to 10,302 ft. These sierras lying near the coast have an imposing appearance from the lowlands, but when seen from the plateau their general elevation is so dwarfed as to render them comparatively inconspicuous. The Sierra Madre Oriental consists of a broken chain of ranges extending along the eastern margin of the plateau from the great bend in the Rio Grande south-eastward to about the 19th parallel. In the north these ranges are low and offer no great impediment to railroad building. South of Tampico, iiowever, they are concentrated in a single lofty range. This range extends south-eastward along the western frontier of Vera Cruz (state) and includes the snow-capped cone of Orizaba or Citlaltepetl ,(18,209 ft.), and the Cofre de Perote, or Nanchampapetl (13,419 ft.). The eastern slopes are abrupt and difficult, and are a serious impediment to communication with the coast. Rising from the open plateau half way between this range and the city of Mexico is the isolated cone of Malinche, or Malintzin (14,636 ft.). Crossing the highest part of the Mexican Plateau is a broken series of ranges, which form the water-parting between its northern and southern slopes. To a part of these ranges has been given the name of Cordillera de Anahuac, but there is no true cordillera across this part of Mexico. In a general sense these ranges may be considered part of the eastern branch of the Sierra Madre Occidental, which turns eastward on the 10th parallel and crosses the plateau in a south by east direction. Southward the plateau is traversed by many low ranges and breaks down in terraces, forming one of the most fertile and attractive parts of the republic. Close to the capital are the Sierra de Ajusco, whose highest point is 13,078 ft. above sea-level, the Nevado de Toluca (15,168 ft.), in a range which separates the valleys of Mexico and Toluca, the Montes de las Cruces, and that volcanic, spur-like range, running northward at right angles to the axis of the other ranges, whose culminating points, some 20 m. south-east of the city, are the gigantic, snowclad volcanoes of Popocatepetl (Smoking Mountain) and Ixtaccihuatl (White Woman). Both of them are extinct and Popocatepetl no longer smokes. Their elevations, according to the Comision Geografica Exploradora, are 17,888 and 17,343 ft. respectively, that of Ixtaccihuatl being the highest of its three crests. This part of Mexico is highly volcanic in character, the transverse ridge just described having a large number of extinct volcanoes and at least three (Colima, Jorullo and Ceboruco) that are either active or semi-active. Colima was in a state of eruption as late as 1909, Jorullo (4262 ft.) is said to date from 1759, when its cone was formed, and Ceboruco (7100 ft.) in the territory of Tepic, shows occasional signs of activity. Near the coast in the state of Vera Cruz is San Martin, or Tuxtla (9708 ft.), which has been quiescent since its violent eruption of the 2nd of March 1 793. Orizaba is sometimes included among the semi-active volcanoes, but this is a mistake. It has been quiescent since 1566, and is now completely extinct. Earthquakes are common throughout the greater part of the republic, especially on the western coast. They are most violent from San Blas southward to the Guatemala frontier, and some of the Spanish towns on or near this coast have suffered severely. Chilpancingo, in Guerrero, was badly shattered in 1902, and in 1907, and in 1909 was reduced to a mass of ruins. The earthquake shocks of the 30th and 31st of July 1909 were unusually severe throughout southern Mexico, reducing Acapulco and Chilpancingo to ruins and shaking the city of Mexico severely. In Acapulco a tidal wave followed the shock. Slight shocks, or temblores, are of almost daily occurrence. According to Humboldt's theory there is a deep rent in the earth's crust about the 19th parallel through which at different periods the underground fires have broken at various points between the largest of this class, and has the town and port of Carmen at its western extremity. On the northern coast of Yucatan is the small, inhabited island of Holbox or Holboy, and on the eastern coast the islands of Mujeres, Cancum and Cozumel, of which the first and last have a considerable population and good ports. On the Pacific coast there are a number of islands off the rocky shores of Lower California and in the Gulf of California - most of them barren and uninhabitable like the adjacent coast. The largest of these, some of them inhabited, are: Guadalupe - about 75 m. west of the coast on the 29th parallel, which is fertile and stocked with cattle; Cerros, off Viscaino Bay, and Santa Margarita, which partly shelters Magdalena Bay, on the Pacific side; and Angel de la Guarda, Tiburon, San Marcos, Carmen, Monserrate, Santa Catalina, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Espiritu Santo and Cerralvo in the Gulf. Lying off San Blas in the broad entrance to the Gulf are the Tres Marias, and directly west of Colima, to which it belongs, is the scattered volcanic group of Revillagigedo.

The peculiar surface formation of Mexico - a high plateau shut in by mountain barriers, and a narrow lowland region between it and the coast - does not permit the development of large river, r Ho^n Revillagigedo g/gedo Islands aSoc ( orro State boundaries .............. State capitals ...,. Railways Ciudad Ruins.., .............:. guascalientes Tlaxcala j { _Guanajuato Morelos Queretaro Tabasco the Gulf of Mexico and the Revillagigedo Islands. " Only on the supposition that these volcanoes, which are on the surface connected by a skeleton of volcanic rocks, are also united under the surface by a chain of volcanic elements in continual activity, may we account for the earthquakes which in the direction mentioned cause the American continent, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, to oscillate at the same time " (Egloffstein, p. 37).

The lowland or tierra caliente region, which lies between the sierras and coast on both sides of Mexico, consists of a sandy zone of varying width along the shore-line, which is practically a tidewater plain broken by inland channels and lagoons, and a higher belt of land rising to an elevation of about 3000 ft. and formed in great part by the debris of the neighbouring mountain slopes. On the Pacific side there are places where the mountain spurs extend down to the coast, but in general this lowland region ranges from 30 to 40 m. in width, except in southern Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatan, where it extends farther into the interior. The talus zone of this region, especially atelevations of 1000 to 3000 ft., is noted for its great fertility and the luxuriance of its vegetation.

There are no large islands on the coast of Mexico, and most of the smaller ones are unimportant. Many of those that fringe the Gulf coast are sand-keys, or parts of a new coast formation. They are commonly barren and uninhabitable. The Isla del Carmen, which partly shuts in the Laguna de Terminos (Campeche), is one of Santo y Gulf ? Honduras basins. Add to this the light rainfall on the plateau and a lack of forests, and we have conditions which make large rivers impossible. The hydrography of Mexico, therefore, is of the simplest description - a number of small streams flowing from the plateau or mountain slopes eastward to the Gulf of Mexico and westward to the Pacific. Most of these are little more than mountain torrents, but one has a course exceeding 500 m., and few have navigable channels. The principal watershed is formed by the sierras of the state of Mexico, from which streams flow north-east to the Gulf of Mexico, northwest to the Pacific and south-west to the same coast below its great eastward curve. The Rio Grande del Norte, or Rio Bravo, on the northern frontier, is practically an American river, as it rises in American territory and receives very little water from the Mexican side. Its larger Mexican tributaries are the Rio de los Conchos, Salado and Pesqueria. Of the Suchiate and Hondo, which form part of Mexico's southern boundary, the first is a short, impetuous mountain torrent flowing into the Pacific, and the other a sluggish lowland stream rising in north-eastern Guatemala and flowing north-east through a heavily forested region to Chetumal Bay. The peninsula of Yucatan has no rivers, and that of Lower California only a few insignificant streams in the north. This is due to the porosity of the soil in the former, and the very limited rainfall in the latter. The largest rivers of Mexico are: the Rio Grande de Santiago, called the Lerma above Lake Chapala, rising in the state of Mexico and flowing westward across Guanajuato, Jalisco and Tepic to the Pacific coast, with a total length of 540 m., celebrated for its deep canyons and waterfalls; the Rio de las Balsas, or Mescala, which rises in Tlaxcala and flows south and west to the Pacific with a course of 426 m.; the Yaqui, which rises in western Chihuahua and, after breaking through the northern ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental, flows south-westerly across Sonora to the Gulf of California, with a length of 390 m.; the Grijalva, also called the Chiapas on its upper course, which has its sources in the state of Chiapas and flows north-west and north across Tabasco to the Gulf of Mexico, with a total length of 350 m.; the Fuerte, which rises in southern Chihuahua and, after breaking through the sierras, flows south-west across Sinaloa to the Gulf of California, with a course of 340 m.; the Usumacinta, which is formed by the confluence of the Chixoy and Pasion on the east frontier of Chiapas, and flows north-west across Tabasco to the Grijalva, with a course of 330 m.; and the Panuco, which has its source in the north-west of the state of Mexico and flows north-eastward to the Gulf of Mexico. The rivers of the Pacific coast have no navigable channels worth mentioning, but many on the Gulf coast are navigable for considerable distances. The more important of these are in Tabasco - the Grijalva, navigable for about 93 m., and the Usumacinta, for about 270 m. The country about the Laguna de Terminos is low and flat, and is traversed in all directions by deep, sluggish streams. Many of the rivers crossing the lowlands bordering the Gulf have short navigable channels, the most important of which is the Panuco and its tributaries. The Rio Grande is navigable for small vessels up to Matamoros (31 m.), and for smaller craft 65 m. farther. Nearly all the Gulf coast rivers, however, are obstructed by bars owing to the quantity of silt brought down from the sierras and the prevailing winds and currents on the coast.

The lakes of Mexico are small and few in number. They may be divided into two classes; those of the plateau region which occupy lacustrine depressions and receive the drainage of the surrounding country; and the tide-water lagoons of the coast formed by the building up of new sand beaches across the indentations in the coast-line. Of the former, the best known are the lakes of the Valley of Mexico - Texcoco, Chalco, Xochimilco, Zumpango, Xaltocan and San Cristobal - which are probably the remains of a lake once occupying the whole valley. They receive considerable surface drainage, but are slowly diminishing in area. Some of them, like Xochimilco, will eventually disappear. The largest, Texcoco, has an area of about I 1 z sq. m. (30 sq. kiloms.), but it covered a much larger area at the time of the Spanish conquest. Its surroundings are bleak and sterile and its waters brackish and polluted with the drainage of the neighbouring city for nearly four centuries. The other lakes are wholly different in character and surroundings, especially Chalco and Xochimilco. Texcoco is now connected with the new drainage works of the capital and is no longer a menace to its population through inundations and pestilential fevers. Another group of lakes is to be found in the Laguna district of south-western Coahuila, where the Tlahualila, Mairan, Parras and others occupy a large lacustrine depression and receive the waters of the Nazas and Aguanaval rivers from the south-west (Durango). The size of this isolated drainage basin is very large, the Nazas River alone having a length of about 370 m. The great Mapimi desert of western Coahuila is another lacustrine depression, but only marshy lagoons remain. In eastern Coahuila, near Monclova, are the Agua Verde and Santa Maria lakes, and in eastern Chihuahua there is a similar group. The largest and most attractive of the plateau lakes is Chapala, in the state of Jalisco, about 80 m. long by 10-35 m. wide, which receives the waters of the Lerma and discharges into the Pacific through the Santiago. On the lower terraces of Michoacan are Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo lakes, and elsewhere among the sierras are numerous other small bodies of water. Among the tide-water lagoons, of which there are many along the Gulf coast, the best known are the Laguna de Terminos in Campeche, Tamiahua in Vera Cruz, Madre (130 m. long), Pesquerias (21 m. long) and Chairel (near Tampico) in Tamaulipas. All these lagoons are navigable, and those of northern Vera Cruz and Tamaulipas, when connected and improved, will afford a safe inland route for some hundreds of miles along the coast. The north coast of Yucatan is remarkable for the extensive banks built up by the Gulf current from 5 to 7 m. from the shore-line. Inside the present sandy coast is a peculiar tide-water channel called the Rio Lagartos, which follows almost the whole northern shore, with occasional openings or bocas, connecting with the open sea. It is apparently of the same character as the lagoons of Tamaulipas. There are a number of these lagoons on the Pacific coast - such as Superior and Inferior near Salina Cruz, Papacayo, near Acapulco, Cayutlan, near Manzanillo, and Tecapan in Tepicbut they are usually shallow, sometimes swampy, and have no value for commerce.

There is a marked difference between the Gulf and Pacific coastlines of Mexico in regard to their minor indentations and harbours. The south-west part of the Gulf of Mexico is called the Gulf of Campeche (Campeachy), but no distinction is necessary. This coast has no bays of importance, its rivers are obstructed by sandbars, and it has only one natural harbour - that of Carmen and the Laguna de Terminos, which has sufficient depth for the larger classes of vessels and is sheltered by the islands of Carmen and Puerto Real. Of the principal ports on this coast, Matamoros, Tampico, Tuxpan, Coatzacoalcos and Frontera are on rivers, which are obstructed by bars. Tampico and Coatzacoalcos, however, have been improved by breakwaters or jetties, and the deepening of the Channels across the bars, into safe and commodious harbours. Vera Cruz is an open anchorage inside a series of reefs which afford no protection to vessels from the " northers." A breakwater has remedied this defect and Vera Cruz is no longer considered a dangerous port. Campeche has a small artificial harbour, which is so silted up that vessels drawing 9 ft. must anchor I m. outside and larger vessels still farther away. Progreso, Yucatan, has only an open roadstead, and large vessels cannot approach its landing-place nearer than 6 m. On the east coast of Yucatan there are two deep, well-sheltered bays, Ascension and Espiritu Santo, which afford good anchorages, and at the north end of the island of Cozumel the bay of Santa Maria offers an excellent harbour. The Pacific coast has several deep and well sheltered bays; but they are separated from the interior by the rough and difficult ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental. There are two large indentations of the coast - the Gulfs of Tehuantepec and California. The former is opposite the Gulf of Campeche, and. possesses no distinguishing characteristic. The Gulf of California, on the other hand, penetrates the continent for a distance of 739 m., from south-east to north-west, with a maximum breadth of 190 m. Its area is usually restricted to the waters north of the latitude of Cape San Lucas, but it should be extended to the outer waters enclosed by a line from Cape San Lucas to Cape Corrientes. Its. upper waters are not much navigated because of the aridity of its. coasts, but there are two or three important ports towards the south. The Gulf has a considerable number of islands, most of them near the peninsular coast, and several deep, well-protected bays - those of La Paz and Santa Ines in Lower California, Guaymas in Sonora, Agiobampo, Topolobampo and Altata Salinas in Sinaloa. On the Pacific coast of Lower California are the Ensenada de Todos Santos and the bays of San Quentin, Viscaino and Magdalena. The principal bays on the mainland coast are Olas Atlas, which is the harbour of Mazatlan, San Blas, Banderas, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Salina Cruz and Tonala. Several of these are being improved.

[[[Geology]]

By far the greater part of Mexico is covered by deposits. of Cretaceous and later date, the pre-Cretaceous rocks occurring only in comparatively small and isolated patches. At the southern extremity of the great table-land, however, in the state of Puebla, there is a considerable mass of crystalline rocks which is believed to be of Archaean age. Similar rocks occur also in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero and elsewhere; but owing to the absence of any early fossiliferous deposits, the age of these rocks is very uncertain. Silurian and Devonian fossils have been reported at one or two localities, but for the present the observations are open to doubt. The earliest fossiliferous beds which have been proved to exist in Mexico belong to the Carboniferous system. They are found on the borders of Guatemala and consist of limestones and dolomites with Productus.

The Mesozoic beds are of greater importance. The Triassic and Jurassic systems are met with only in scattered patches. The former consists of sandstones and clays, and the fossils found in. them are chiefly plants, including Gangamopter-is and Macrotaeniopteris, two characteristic genera of the Indian Gondwana system. The Jurassic beds are marls, sandstones and limestones, which contain marine fossils. The Cretaceous rocks take a far larger share in the formation of the country. They form the greater part of the Sierra Madre Oriental and also cover most of the central plateau. They contain many fossils, including Hippurites and Ammonites. The sedimentary deposits of the Tertiary era do not occupy a very wide area. They occur, however, along the coasts, where they are marine, and also on the central plateau, where they are of lacustrine origin. But by far the most important of the Tertiary rocks are the volcanic lavas, agglomerates and ashes, which cover so much of the country. It is in the western half of Mexico that they are most fully developed, but towards the southern extremity of the plateau they spread nearly to the eastern coast. The eruptions are said to have begun with the ejection of syenites, diorites and diabases, which probably took place at the close of the Cretaceous or the beginning of the Eocene period. In the Miocene period andesites of various kinds were erupted, while at the close of the Pliocene began the great eruptions of basalt which reached their maximum in Quaternary times and continue to the present day.' (P. LA.)] Climate. - Mexico stretches across 17 parallels of latitude, with the Tropic of Cancer crossing her territory about midway. This implies tropical and sub-tropical conditions. The relief of the land and varying degrees of rainfall and vegetation, however, serve to modify these conditions in many important particulars. The elevation and extent of the great central plateau, which penetrates ' See J. G. Aguilera, Sinopsis de geologia mexicana; " Bosquejo geologico de Mexico," segunda parte, Bol. inst. geol., Mexico, Nos. 4-6 (1897), pp. 189-270, with map - a summary of this paper will.. be found in Science Progress, new series (1897), vol. i. pp. 609-615.. See also the Livret-guide of the Tenth Cong. Geol. Internat.. (1906).

deeply into the:tropical half of the country, carry with them temperate and sub-tropical conditions over much the greater part of the republic. Above the plateau rise the marginal sierras, while a few isolated peaks in the region of perpetual snow give to Mexico a considerable area of cold temperate and a trace of arctic conditions. Descending to the lowlands on either side of the plateau, the temperature rises steadily until the upper limit of the tropical region, called tierras calientes, is reached, where the climate is hot, humid and unhealthy, as elsewhere in the forested coastal plains of tropical America.

The tierras calientes (hot lands) of Mexico include the two coastal zones, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the states of Tabasco, Campeche, and part of Chiapas, the peninsula of Yucatan and a part of eastern Oaxaca. The mean temperature ranges from 77° to 82° F., seldom falling below 60°, but often rising to 105°, and in the sultry districts of Vera Cruz, Guaymas and Acapulco to and even above 110°. The rainfall is heavy in the south, except Yucatan, but diminishes gradually toward the north, until on the Pacific and Gulf of California coasts it almost disappears. These lowland districts are densely forested in the south, except Yucatan, and large areas are covered with streams, swamps and lagoons, the abode of noxious insects, pestilential fevers and dysentery. On both coasts yellow fever epidemics appear at frequent intervals. The great fertility of these regions and the marvellous wealth of their forests are irresistible attractions to industrial and commercial enterprise, but their unhealthiness restricts development and is a bar to any satisfactory increase in population. The heavy rainfall on the Gulf coast, however, which reaches a maximum of 90 to too in. in the Huatusco district of Vera Cruz, causes the flooding of large areas of lowlands, and will make improvement very difficult. The peninsula of Yucatan, whose general level does not rise above 130 to 200 ft. above the sea, consists almost wholly of an open, dry, calcareous plain. The temperature ranges from 66° to 89°, but the heat is tempered by the cool sea-breezes which sweep unobstructed across its plains. The rainfall is abundant in the rainy season, but in the long dry season it is extremely rare. In the wet season the rain is quickly absorbed by the dry, porous soil; consequently there are no rivers and no lakes except near the forested region of the south-east. These exceptional conditions give to Yucatan a moderately hot, dry, and comparatively healthful climate. Another hot, dry climate is that of the tierras calientes of Sonora. The coast is low and extremely arid, and would be uninhabitable were it not for the proximity of the Sierra Madre, where a light rainfall is experienced, and for the numerous rivers that cross the arid belt between the mountains and the sea. The maximum temperatures in this region are 98° at Hermosillo and 119° at Guaymas.

To a large extent the climate of Mexico is determined by vertical zones. According to H. H. Bancroft (Resources of Mexico, pp. 3-4), the tierras calientes, which include a coastal zone 30 to 40 m. wide and the low-lying states already mentioned, rise from sea-level to an elevation of 3280 ft. The tierra templada, or sub-tropical zone, rises to an elevation of 5577 ft., and comprises " the greater portions of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, nearly half of Tamaulipas, a small part of Vera Cruz, nearly the whole of Chiapas, nearly all of Oaxaca, a large portion of Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa and Sonora," together with small parts of the inland states of Puebla, Mexico, Morelos and Michoacan. The mean annual temperature is about 75°. Above this is the tierra fria, which ranges from 5577 to 8200 ft., and includes all the higher portions of the Mexican plateau, and which corresponds to the temperate regions of Central United States where frosts are very rarely experienced. Even here the high sun temperatures give a sub-tropical character to the country. In the sierras, above the tierras frias, which are not " cold lands " at all, are the colder climates of the temperate zone, suitable for cereals, grazing and forest industries, and, farther up, the isolated peaks which rise into the regions of snow and ice.

Speaking generally, the four seasons are clearly marked north of lat. 28° N. only. South of that parallel they merge in the estacion de las Aguas, or rainy season, from May to October, and the estacion seca, or dry season, which prevails for the rest of the year. The rains generally begin on the east coast and gradually move northwards. The windward slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental receive the greater part of the rainfall, and the winds, deprived of their moisture, pass over the northern plateau without further precipitation. On the Pacific coast the belt of calms, known as the northern horse latitudes, crosses the northern parts of Lower California and Sonora, which accounts for their extreme aridity. The southern terraces of the plateau have no high mountain barriers between them and the moist winds of the Caribbean, and they too receive an abundant rainfall in the wet season, especially during the prevalence of heavy " northers " on the Gulf coast. The precipitation varies widely, that of the western side of the northern plateau (Chihuahua and Durango) being about 39 in., that of the Valley of Mexico about 25 in., and that of the whole republic 59 in. Long droughts are common in many parts of the country, and on the barren surfaces of the plateau the rains drain away rapidly, leaving but slight beneficial results.

Flora and Fauna. - The types of animal and vegetable life found in Mexico belong, in a general sense, to those of the northern temper ate region, and those of the tropical regions of Central and South America. The great central plateau and its bordering lowlands form an intermediate territory in which these dissimilar types are found side by side, the tropical species extending northward along the coast to the United States, while the northern species have found their way to the southern limits of the plateau. The jaguar and puma have found their way into the United States, while the wolf, coyote, bear and beaver have gone far southward on the plateau, and the buffalo was once found in large numbers on its more favoured northern plains. This intermingling of types does not apply to south-eastern Mexico, where animal life is represented by many of the genera and species found in the forested lowlands of the great Amazon basin.

Aside from its origin, the fauna of Mexico includes at least five species of monkey, the jaguar, puma, ocelot (Felis pardalis), wolf, coyote, lynx, badger, otter (Lutra felina), beaver, muskrat, bear, raccoon (Procyon), coati (Nasua), tapir, two species of peccary (Dicotyles torquatus and D. labiatus), skunk (Mephitis, Spilogale and Conepatus), marten, several species of opossum (including a pigmy species of the Tres Marias islands), sloth, two species of ant-bear (Myrmecophaga tetradactylus and Cyclothurus didactylus), armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), a small arboreal porcupine (Synetheres mexicanus), the kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus), three species of deer - the white-tailed Cariacus toltecus, the little black-faced brocket, Coassus rufinus, which is also found in Brazil, and the Sonora deer (Odocoileus couesi) - the Mexican bighorn (Ovis mexicanus) of Chihuahua, at least two species of hare (Lepus calotis and L. palustris), rabbits, black, gray, red and ground squirrels, gophers, and many small rodents. Alligators and crocodiles are numerous in the lagoons and rivers of the coast and the iguana is to be found everywhere throughout the tropical lowlands, the large black Ctenosura acanthinurus being partly arboreal in habit when full grown. Mexico is a paradise of lizards, which are noted for their diversity in form as well as for their remarkable colouration. Frogs and toads are represented by scores of species, some of which, e.g. the tree-frogs (Hylidae), are extremely interesting. The ophidians are also very numerous, ranging from the comparatively harmless boa-constrictor to the deadly " palanca " or " fer de lance " (Lachesis lanceolatus) and rattlesnake (Crotalus), of which there are several species. In southern Mexico in 1902 and 1904 Hans Gadow collected specimens of 44 different kinds of snakes, which he estimated to be only about 45% of the species in the states visited. The arboreal life of the tropical forests has developed the treeclimbing habit among snakes as well as among frogs and toads, and also the habit of mimicry, their colour being in harmony with the foliage or bark of the trees which form their " hunting-grounds." Bats are numerous, both in species and individuals. The sanguinary vampire (Desmodus rufus) has an extensive range through the tierras calientes and tierras ternpladas of the southern states. The coasts of Mexico, together with their accessible lagoons and rivers, afford innumerable breeding-places for turtles, which include the large green and tortoise-shell species. In some places the capture of the latter is the source of a considerable export trade in tortoiseshell. The coast of Lower California is a favourite resort for the fur-bearing seal, r and pearl oysters find a congenial habitat in the south waters of the Gulf. There are some good fishing-grounds on the coasts, but fishing as an organized industry does not exist. The inland waters, with the exception of Lake Chapala, have comparatively few species, but the government has introduced carp, brook-trout and salmon-trout.

The avifauna of Mexico includes most of the species of the tropical and temperate regions of America - such as parrots (chiefly the yellow-headed Chrysotis), parakeets (Conurus canicula), macaws (Ara macao and A. militaris), toucans, trogons, herons, egrets, ibis, spoonbills, boat-bills (Cancroma), ducks, pelicans, cormorants, bitterns, stilts, sandpipers, curlews, grackles, kingfishers, motmots, " Chachalacas " (Ortalida poliocephala), woodpeckers, jays, cuckoos, " garrapateros " (Crotophaga sulcirostris), the ingenious weaver-bird (Icterus), and another species (Cassicus), whose curiously woven, sack-like nests are suspended from the slender limbs of trees, and sometimes even from telegraph-wires, scarlet-crested fly-catchers (Muscivora mexicana), tanagers, mocking-birds (called " zenzontl "), turkeys, partridge, quail (Colinus, Lophortyx, Callipepla and Cyrtonyx), doves, pigeons, eagles, caracara hawks (Polyborus), fishhawks, falcons, crows, and turkey-buzzards (both the red-faced " aura " of North America and the black-faced " zopilote " of the tropics), which are the scavengers of the country. The most numerous, perhaps, are the humming-birds, of which there are many genera and species, each one distinct in form and colour. They are called " huitzilin " (spikelet) by the 'Aztecs, and " colibri," " chupaflor " and " chupa-miel " (floweror honey-sucker), and " pajaromosca " (fly-bird) by the Spanish-speaking Mexicans. These descriptive names are highly poetic, as also that of the Portuguese, " beija-flor " (flower-kisser); but the humming-bird is insectivorous, and thrusts his long bill into flowers in search of insects instead of honey. Mexico is credited with a great variety of song-birds, but these are to be found chiefly in the partly-forested country of the tierras templadas and tierras frias. Her chief distinction, however, is in birds of varied and gorgeous feathering. The wonderful plumage of the " quetzal " (Trogon resplendens) was, it is said, reserved b y the Aztec rulers for their own exclusive use. Of the indigenous birds, the turkey has been fully domesticated, and the musk-duck and " chachalaca " are easily reared. Sea-fowl are most numerous on the coasts of Lower California, where certain islands in the arid belt are frequented at night by countless numbers of them. It should be added that many of the migrating birds of North America pass the winter in Mexico.

The insect fauna of Mexico covers a very wide range of genera and species which, like the other forms of animal life, is largely made up of migratory types. No complete study has ever been made of this fauna, but much has been, and is being done by the U.S. Biological Survey and Plant Industry Bureau. To the traveller, the most conspicuous among the Mexican insects, perhaps, are the butterflies, beetles, ants and the myriads of mosquitoes, midges, fleas and chinches. Among the mosquitoes, which are extraordinarily numerous in some of the hot lowland districts, are the species credited with the spread of malarial and yellow fevers. The midges are even more numerous than the mosquitoes. In pleasing contrast to such pests are the butterflies of all sizes and colours, beetles of an inconceivable variety of size, shape and colouration, and ants of widely dissimilar appearance and habits. An interesting species of the last is the leaf-cutting ant (Eciton) which lives in large underground colonies and feeds upon a fungus produced by leaf-cuttings stored in subterranean passages to promote fermentation. These ants will strip a tree in a few hours and are very destructive to fruit plantations. Some of the native trees have developed ingenious methods of defence, one of which is that of attracting small colonies of another species to drive away the marauders. Most destructive, also, are the termites or white ants, whose ravages are to be seen in the crumbling woodwork and furniture of all habitations in the hot zones. Some species build their nests in trees - great globular masses sometimes three feet in diameter, supported on the larger branches, and connected with the ground by covered passages on the outside of the tree. These insects are blind and avoid the light. Bees find a highly congenial habitat in Mexico, and some honey is exported. Spiders are also represented by a large number of genera and species, the most dreaded being the venomous " tarantula " and the savage " mygale." Few countries, if any, can present so great a diversity in plant life as Mexico. This is due not only to its geographical position and its vertical climatic zones, which give it a range from tropical to arctic types, but also to its peculiar combination of humid and arid conditions in which we find an extensive barren table-land interposed between two tropical forested coastal zones. These widely divergent conditions give to Mexico a flora that includes the genera and species characteristic of nearly all the zones of plant life on the western continents - the tropical jungle of the humid coastal plains with its rare cabinet-woods, dye-woods, lianas and palms; the semi-tropical and temperate mountain slopes where oak forests are to be found and wheat supplants cotton and sugar-cane; and above these the region of pine forests and pasture lands. Then, there are the mangrove-fringed coasts and the dripping wooded slopes where rare orchids thrive, and above these, on the inland side of the sierra, a treeless, sun-scorched table-land where only the cactus, yucca, and other coarse vegetation of the desert can thrive without irrigation.

For convenience of description, the flora of Mexico may be divided into four great divisions: that of the comparatively barren plateau and the arid coast regions, the humid tierras calientes, the intermediate tierras templadas and tierras friar, and the higher regions of the sierras. The line of demarcation cannot be very sharply drawn, as the zones everywhere overlap each other and local climatic conditions greatly modify plant types. In general, the aspect of the great central plateau north of the Anahuac sierras is that of a dusty, treeless plain. There is but little natural vegetation to be seen - ragged yucca trees, many species of agave and cactus, scrubby mesquite bushes, sage bushes and occasional clumps of coarse grasses. The rainy season completely changes the appearance of these plains, new grass appears, and wheat and Indian corn are cultivated. The rains do not last long, however, and sometimes fail altogether. The most common plants of the Mexican plateau are the agaves, yuccas and cacti, each of which is represented by a number of species. The first is chiefly known in the south by the " magueys," from which the national drinks " pulque " and " mescal " are extracted. There is some confusion in the specific names of these agaves; the " pulque "-producing plant is usually described as the Agave americana, though A. atrovirens and several others are also credited with the product. The mescalproducing magueys have a thinner leaf and are not cultivated, with the exception of the species producing the " tequila " mescal. The chief value of the agaves, however, is in their fibres, of which a great variety is produced. The principal plateau agaves producing fibre are the A. lechuguilla and A. lophantha and A. univittata of the Jaumave Valley, Tamaulipas, which furnish what may be termed the genuine ixtle fibre. The " tapemete " fibre of western Mexico is credited by Mr E. W. Nelson to the A. vivipara, which is found chiefly in the warmer and lower elevations of the Pacific slope. There are many other fibre-producing agaves, including some of those from which pulque is derived. The cactus is unquestionably the characteristic plant of Mexico. About one thousand species have been described, a very large percentage of which are to be found on the Mexican plateau.

Explorations by botanists of the United States Department of Agriculture have been made in many localities, in Jalisco, Zacatecas, Michoacan and Tamaulipas, but many years must elapse before the whole ground can be covered. In central and southern Mexico the mountain slopes are forested up to 12,500 to 13,500 ft., juniper bushes continuing up to 14,000 ft. The forests consist of several species of evergreen and deciduous oaks, " oyamel " (Abies religiosa), the arbutus or strawberry tree, the long-leaved Pinus liophylla and the short-leaved " ocote " or Pinus montezumae and the alder, with an undergrowth of elder (Sambucus mexicana), broom and shrubby heath. In the Southern Sierra Madre, the " oyamel " and " ocote pine are the giants of the forest, sometimes rising to a height of 100 ft. Oaks are to be found over a wide area and at lower elevations of the sub-tropical zone as well. They are represented by a number of species, and are called " roble " and " encina " by the natives.

In the intermediate zones between the higher sierras and the tierras calientes the flora is very largely composed of species characteristic of the bordering hot and cold regions. Oaks are everywhere common and the " ocote " pine on the Gulf coast is found as far down as 6300 ft. In southern Mexico the pine is found at even lower elevations where the tropical growth has been destroyed by cultivation and fire. The lower slopes of the sierras, especially those of southern Mexico, are well forested and include an immense number of species. The most common families on the eastern slopes, where the precipitation is heavy, are the magnolias, crotons, mimosas, acacias, myrtles, oaks, plane-trees and bamboos. Palms are common, the chestnut abounds in many places, the cacti are almost as numerous as on the open plateau. On the southern slopes of the Ajusco and other sierras considerable forests of the " ahuehuete " or cypress (Taxodium distichum) are to be found. The " higuerilla or castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) is widely distributed throughout the plateau and the open plains of the lower zones. In some localities the characteristic types of the two climatic extremes, the palm and the pine, are to be found growing side by side.

No brief description can adequately portray the marvellous variety and magnificence of the flora of the tierras calientes. Its forests are not composed of one or a few dominating species, as in the cold temperate zone, but of countless genera and species closely interwoven together - a confused mass of giant trees, lianas and epiphytes struggling to reach the sunlight. This struggle for existence has completely changed the habits of some plants, turning the palm and the cactus into climbers, and even some normal species into epiphytes. Among the more important and conspicuous trees of these tropical forests are mahogany, rosewood, Spanish cedar (Cedrela), cassias, ceibas (Bombax), rubber (Castilloa), palms of many species including the oil-producing Attalea of Manzanillo and Acrocomia of Acapulco, guayacan (Guaiacum), logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum), brazilwood (H. boreale) which should not be confounded with the Brazilian Caesalpinia, palo blanco (Lysiloma candida), the cascalote and divi-divi trees (Caesalpinia Cacalaco and C. coriaria), the "zapote chico " (Achras sapota) from which chicle is extracted, " zapote prieto " (Diospyros ebenaster), wild fig, myrtles, bamboos and many of the types already mentioned in connexion with the sub-tropical zone. Of the 114 species of trees and cabinet-woods, 17 of oil-bearing plants, and over 60 of medicinal plants and dyewoods indigenous to Mexico, by far the larger part are represented in the tierras calientes. Among the well-known forest products of this zone are arnotto, jalap, ipecacuanha, sarsaparilla, rubber, orchids and a great variety of gums.

Of the economic plants and products of Mexico, the list is surprisingly long and interesting. The cereals, fruits and vegetables of Europe have been introduced and some of them have done well. Wheat is widely cultivated and a considerable part of the population depend upon it for their bread. Indian corn, which is believed to have had its origin in Mexico, also provides food for a large part of the population. " Tunas " or cactus fruit, red peppers, " zapotes " (the fruit of various trees), " arrayan " (Myrtus arayan), " ciruelas " or Mexican plums (Spondias), guavas, " huamuchil " (Pithecolobium dulce), tamarinds, aguacates (Persea gratissima), bananas, plantains, pineapples, grapes, oranges, lemons, limes, granadillas, chirimoyas, mammees (Mammea americana), coco-nuts, cacao, mangoes, olives, gourds and melons, are among the fruits of the country, and rice, wheat, Indian corn, beans, yams, sweet potatoes, onions and " tomatoes " (Physalis) are among its better-known food products. The food of the common people is chiefly made up of Indian corn, beans, red peppers and " tomatoes," There are about 50 known species of beans (Phaseolus) in Mexico and Central America, and probably a dozen species of red peppers (Capsicum) which are used both in seasoning and in making chili sauce. The " tomato " or " tomatillo " mentioned, is the fruit of the Physalis ixocarpa, sometimes called the " strawberry tomato " and the " Mexican groundcherry," which is used with red peppers to make chili sauce. The common potato (Solanum tuberosum), of which wild varieties are found, is not commonly used as a vegetable, but as a flavouring for soups and other dishes. Among other economic plants are the fibre-producing agaves, the best known of which is the A. rigida var. elongata which produces the " henequen " fibre, or sisal hemp, of Yucatan, silk or tree-cotton (Ceiba casearia), sugar-cane, cotton (Gossypium), indigo and " canaigre " (Rumex hymenosepalus) whose root contains a large percentage of tannin.

Mexico has suffered much from the reckless destruction of her forests, not only for industrial purposes but through the careless burning of grassy areas. The denuded mountain slopes and plateaus of southern Mexico are due to the prehistoric inhabitants who cleared away the tropical forest for their Indian corn fields, and then left them to the erosive action of the tropical rains and subsequent occupation by coarse grasses. Fire was generally used in clearing these lands, with the result that their arboreal vegetation was ultimately killed and their fertility destroyed. In the valleys of some of these denuded slopes oak and pine are succeeding the tropical species where fires have given them a chance to get a good foothold.

Population

According to the census of 1900 the population of Mexico numbered 13,607,259, of which less than one-fifth (19%) were classed as whites, 38% as Indians, and 43% as mixed bloods. There were 57,507 foreign residents, including a few Chinese and Filipinos. Since then the Japanese have acquired an industrial footing in Mexico. Under the constitution of 1824 all race distinctions are abolished, and these diverse ethnic elements are nominally free and equal. For many years, however, the Indians remained in subjection and took no part in the political activities of their native country. Since about 1866, spurred on by the consciousness that one of their own race, Benito Juarez, had risen to the highest positions in the gift of the country, they have taken greater interest in public affairs and are. already making their influence felt. In southern Mexico the Zapotecas furnish schoolmasters for the village schools. Peonage, however, is still prevalent on many of the larger estates, and serious cruelties are sometimes reported. The government itself must be held partly responsible, as for the transportation of the mountain-bred Yaquis to the low, tropical plains of Yucatan (see Herman Whitaker's The Planter, 1909), but the influence of three and a half centuries of slavery and peonage cannot be shaken off in a generation.

According to Humboldt, the census of 1810 gave a total population of 6,122,354, of which the whites had 18%, the mestizos 22% and the Indians 60%. The census of 1895 increased the whites to 22%, which was apparently an error, the mixed bloods to 47%, and reduced the Indians to 31%. It is probable that the returns have never been accurate in regard to the mixed bloods and Indians, but it is the general conclusion that the Indians have been decreasing in number, while the mixed bloods have been increasing. Neglect of their children, unsanitary habits and surroundings, tribal intermarriage and peonage are the principal causes of the decreasing Indian population. Recent observers, however, deny the assertion that the Indians are now decreasing in number except where local conditions are exceptionally unfavourable. The death rate among their children is estimated at an average of not less than 50%, which in families of five and six children, on an average, permits only a very small natural increase. The larger part of the population is to be found in the southern half of the republic, owing to the arid conditions prevailing in the north. The unhealthfulness of the coastal plains prevents their being thickly populated, although Vera Cruz and some other states return a large population. The most favourable regions are those of the tierras ternpladas, especially on the southern slopes of the great central plateau which were thickly populated in prehistoric times.

The dissimilar races that compose the population of Mexico have not been sufficiently fused to give a representative type, which, it may be assumed, will ultimately be that of the mestizos. Mexico was conquered by a small body of Spanish adventurers, whose success in despoiling the natives attracted thither a large number of their own people. The discovery of rich deposits of gold and silver, together with the coveted commercial products of the country, created an urgent demand for labourers and led to the enslavement of the natives. To protect these adventurers and to secure for itself the largest possible share in these new sources of wealth, the Spanish crown forbade the admission of foreigners into these colonies, and then harassed them with commercial and industrial restrictions, burdened them with taxes, strangled them with monopolies and even refused to permit the free emigration thither of Spaniards.. Out of such adverse conditions has developed the present population of Mexico. It was not till after the middle of the 19th century that a long and desperate resistance to foreign intervention under the leadership of Benito Juarez infused new life into the masses and initiated the creation of a new nationality. Then came the long, firm rule of Porfirio Diaz, who first broke up the organizations of bandits that infested the country, and then sought to raise Mexico from the state of discredit and disorganization into which it had fallen. Suspicion and jealousy of the foreigner is disappearing, and habits of industry are displacing the indolence and lawlessness that were once universally prevalent.

The white race is of Spanish descent and has the characteristics common to other Spanish-American creoles. Their political record previous to the presidency of Porfirio Diaz was one of incessant revolutionary strife, in which the idle, unsettled half-breeds took no unwilling part. The Indian element in the population is made up of several distinct races - the Aztec or Mexican, Misteca-Zapoteca, Maya or Yucateco, Otomi or Othomi, and in smaller number the Totonac, Tarasco, Apache, Matlanzingo, Chontal, Mixe, Zoque, Guaicuro, OpataPima, Tapijulapa, Seri and Huavi. As the tendency among separated tribes of the same race is to develop dialects and as habitat and customs tend still further to differentiate them, it may be that some of these smaller families are branches. of the others. In 1864 Don Manuel Orozco y Berra found no fewer than 51 distinct languages and 69 dialects among the Indian inhabitants of Mexico, to which he added 62 extinct idioms - making a total of 182 idioms, each representing a. distinct tribe. Thirty-five of these languages, with 69 dialects, he succeeded in classifying under II linguistic families. A later investigator, Don Francisco Belmar (Lenguas indigenes de Mexico, Mexico, 1905), has been able to reduce these numerous idioms to a very few groups. None of them were written except through the use of ideographs, in the making of which the Aztecs used colours with much skill, while the Mayas used an abbreviated form, or symbols.

The Aztecs, who called themselves Mejica or Mexicans after they had established themselves on the high table-land of Mexico, belong to a very large family or group of tribes speaking a common idiom called Nahua or Nahoa. These Nahua-speaking tribes were called the Nahuatlaca, and compose a little more than one-fourth of the present Indian population. They inhabit the western Sierra Madre region from Sinaloa southward to Chiapas, the higher plateau states, which region was the centre of their empire when Cortes conquered them, and parts of Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Oaxaca, Morelos, Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosi. They were energetic and warlike and evidently had not reached the zenith of their power when Cortes came. They had been preceded on the same plateau by the Chichimecs, possibly of the same race, who were conquered by the Aztecs sometime in the 15th century after a supposed occupation of the territory about 400 years. The characteristic civilization of prehistoric Mexico, however, antedates both of these periods.

An Aboriginal race called the Toltecs is said to have occupied Vera Cruz and Tabasco and to have extended its empire westward on the plateau to and perhaps beyond the present capital. They were the builders of the pyramids of Cholula and Teotihuacan, near the city of Mexico, and of Papantla, Huatusco and Tuzapan, in Vera Cruz. One of their towns was Tollan (now Tula) 50 m. north of the national capital, and it is not improbable that the people of Cholula, Texcoco and Tlaxcala at the time of the Spanish invasion were occupying the sites of older Toltec towns. There has been much discussion in regard to the origin of the Toltecs, some assuming that they were a distinct race, and others that they belonged to the Nahuatlaca. Another and perhaps a better supposition is that they belonged to the Maya group, and represented a much earlier civilization than that of the builders of Palenque, Quirigua and Copan. Confirmatory evidence of this is to be found, not only in the character of their constructions, but in the circumstance that a tribe closely akin to the Mayas (the Huastecos) still occupies a retired mountain valley of Vera Cruz, entirely separated from their kinsmen of the south, and that a dialect of the Maya language is still spoken in northern Vera Cruz. There is evidence to show that the Aztecs adopted the civilization of the Toltecs, including their religion (Quetzalcoatl being a god of the Toltecs and Mayas), calendar and architecture. Perhaps the most remarkable of the Mexican races are the Mayas, or MayaQuiche group, which inhabit the Yucatfin peninsula, Campeche and parts of Tabasco, Chiapas, and the neighbouring states of Central America (q.v.). The remarkable ruins of Palenque, Uxmal, Chichenitza, Lorillard, Ixinche, Tikal, Copan and Quirigua, with their carved stonework and astonishing architectural conceptions, show that they had attained a high degree of civilization. They were agriculturists, lived in large, wellbuilt towns, cultivated the mountain sides by means of terraces, and had developed what must have been an efficient form of government.

The Mistecas, or Mixtecas, and Zapotecas, who occupy the southern slopes of the central plateau, especially Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca and Guerrero, form another distinct race, whose traditional history goes back to the period when the structures now known as Mitla, Monte Alban, Xochicalco and Zaachila were built. Their prehistoric civilization appears to have been not inferior to that of the Mayas. They were an energetic people, were never subdued by the Aztecs, and are now recovering from their long subjection to Spanish enslavement more rapidly than any other indigenous race. The Otomis comprise a large number of tribes occupying the plateau north of the Anahuac sierras. They are a hardy people, and are the least civilized of the four principal native races.

The Totonacs inhabit northern Vera Cruz and speak a language related to that of the Mayas; the Tarascos form a small group living in Michoacan; the Matlanzingos, or Matlaltzincas, live near the Tarascos, the savage Apaches, a nomadic group of tribes ranging from Durango northward into the United States; the Opata-Pima group, inhabiting the western plateau region from Sonora and Chihuahua south to Guadalajara, is sometimes classed as a branch of the Nahuatlaca; the Seris, a very small family of savages, occupy Tiburon Island and the adjacent mainland of Sonora; and the Guaicuros, or Yumas, are to be found in the northern part of the peninsula of Lower California. In southern Mexico, the Chontales, Tapijulapas, Mixes and Zoques inhabit small districts among and near the Zapotecas, the first being considered by Belmar a branch of that family. The Huavis inhabit four small villages among the lagoons on the southern shore of Tehuantepec and have been classed by Belmar as belonging to the Maya stock. The census of 1895 gave these Indian races an aggregate population of nearly 4,000,000, of which nearly 3,450,000 belonged to the first four groups. Three of these four had made important progress toward civilization. Some of the others had likewise made notable progress, among which were the Tarascos, Totonacs and Zoques.

The builders of Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua, evidently belonged to the Pueblo tribes of Arizona and New Mexico. As for the builders of Quemada, in Zacatecas, nothing positive is known. The ruins apparently are of an earlier period than those of Mitla and Xochicalco, and have no inscriptions and architectural decorations, but the use of dressed stone in the walls, rather than adobe, warrants the conclusion that they belonged to the civilization of southern Mexico.

From the records made at the time of the Spanish conquest, and from the antiquities found in the abandoned cities of prehistoric Mexico. it is certain that the Indians lived in substantial houses, sometimes using dressed stone, inscriptions and ornamental carvings on the more pretentious edifices; they cultivated the soil, rudely perhaps, and produced enough to make it possible to live in large towns, they made woven fabrics for dress and hangings, using colours in their manufacture; they were skilful in making and ornamenting pottery, in making gold and silver ornaments, and in featherwork; they used the fibres that Nature lavishly provided in weaving baskets, hangings, mats, screens and various household utensils. Copper was known to them, and it is possible that they knew how to make cutting instruments from it, but they generally used stone axes, hammers and picks, and their most dangerous weapon was a war-club into which chips of volcanic glass were set. Many of these primitive arts are still to be found in the more secluded districts, and perhaps the best work in pottery moulding in Mexico to-day is that of uneducated Indian artists.

Of the half-breed element which has become so important a part of the Mexican population, no safe estimate can be made. Education, industrial occupation, commercial training and political responsibility are apparently working a transformation in a class that was once known chiefly for indolence and criminal instincts, and many of the leaders of modern Mexico have sprung from this race. Settled government, settled habits, remunerative employment and opportunities for the improvement of their condition are developing in them the virtues of the two parent races. Brigandage was formerly so common that travel without an armed escort was extremely dangerous; under President Diaz, however, not only has such lawlessness been repressed but the brigands themselves have been given regular employment as rural guards under the government. This class is also furnishing the small traders of the towns, overseers on the plantations and public works, petty officials, and to some extent the teachers and professional men of the provincial towns.

Political Divisions.-The republic of Mexico is politically divided into 27 states, one federal district, and three territories. The states are generally subdivided into distritos (districts) or partidos, and these into municipios (municipalities) which correspond to the townships of the American system. The state of Nuevo Leon, however, is divided into municipios only, while some other states use entirely different titles for the divisions, the larger being described as departamentos, cantons and municipios, and the smaller as partidos, directorial and vecindarios rurales. The Federal District consists of thirteen municipalities. The territory of Lower California is divided into two large districts, northern and southern, and the latter into partidos and municipios-the larger divisions practically forming two distinct territories.

The states and territories, with their areas, capitals and populations, are as follows: The area and population of Yucatan include those of the territory of Quintana Roo, which formed part of that state at the time of the census.

Baja, or Lower California, is divided into two districts for administrative convenience. The Distrito del Norte is credited with a population of 7583 and has its capital at Ensenada (pop. 1026); the Distrito del Sur has a population of 40,041 and has its capital at La Paz.

Tepic was detached from the north-west part of Jalisco and organized as a territory in 1889.

Quintana Roo was detached from the state of Yucatan in 1902 and received a territorial government.

The principal cities of Mexico, other than the capitals above mentioned, are as follows, the populations being those of 1900 except when otherwise stated: Acapulco (pop. 4932), a famous port on the Pacific coast in Guerrero, which was wrecked by the earthquake of 1909; Carmen, or Laguna de Terminos (about 6000), a thriving commercial town and port on the Gulf coast in Campeche; Celaya (2 5,5 6 5), a railway centre and manufacturing town of Guanajuato; Ciudad Guzman, or Zapotlan (about 17,500), an interesting old town of Jalisco; Cholula (about 9000), an ancient native town of Puebla, widely known for its great pyramid; Comitan (9316), the commercial centre of Chiapas; Cordoba (7974 in 1895), a picturesque Spanish town in the sierras of Vera Cruz; Cuautla (6269), the centre of a rich sugar-producing district of Morelos; Guaymas (8648), a flourishing port of Sonora on the Gulf of California; Leon (62,623), the largest city in Guanajuato and distinguished for its commercial activity, manufactures and wealth; Linares (20,690), the second city of Nuevo Leon in size and importance; Matamoros (8347), a prominent commercial centre and river port of Tamaulipas; Mazatlan (17,852), the foremost Mexican port on the Pacific coast; Orizaba (32,894), a city of Vera Cruz famous for its delightful climate and picturesque surroundings; Parral (14,748), a well-known mining centre of southern Chihuahua; San Cristobal (about 16,00o), once capital of Chiapas and rich in historical associations; Tampico (16,313), a Gulf port and railway terminus of Tamaulipas; Tehuantepec (10,386), the largest town on the Tehuantepec railway in Oaxaca; Vera Cruz (29,164), the oldest and best known Gulf port of Mexico.

Communications

Railways began in Mexico with a line of four kilometres between the capital and Guadalupe, which was finished in 1854 and afterwards became a part of the Ferrocarril Mexicano. The latter dates from 1857, when a concession was granted for the construction of a railway from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz. The French invasion of 1862 found only 10 m. in operation outside of Vera Cruz and military needs led to its immediate extension to Paso del Macho, at the foot of the sierras, about 35 m. At the same time the English company holding the concession extended the Guadalupe line to Puebla. Nothing more was accomplished until after the downfall of Maximilian, and with a liberal subsidy from the Mexican government the Ferrocarril Mexicano was pushed to its completion in 1873. It is celebrated because of the difficulties overcome on the precipitous eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre, the beauties of the mountain scenery through which it passes, and the rapid transition from the hot, humid coastal plain to the cool, arid plateau, 7924 ft. above the sea at Boca del Monte. The railway extends 263 m. between Vera Cruz and Mexico City, to which 58 m. were added in branches from Apizaco to Puebla, and from Ometusco to Pachuca. The line was capitalized at $46,000,000 and has paid a good profit on the investment. The period of active railway construction, however, did not begin until 1878, during the first term of President Porfirio Diaz. In 1874 a concession was granted for a line from the port of Progreso to Merida (222 m.), and in 1878 four concessions were added under which 806 m. were constructed. The principal of these four concessions was the Ferrocarril Interoceanico running from Vera Cruz to Mexico City and across the republic toward Acapulco. In 1880 concessions were granted to the F.C. Occidental, F.C. Central Mexicano, F.C. Nacional Mexicano and three others of less importance, aggregating nearly 3500 m. The first three of these have become important factors in the development of Mexico. The first runs southward from the capital to Oaxaca through the rich sub-tropical states of Puebla and Oaxaca, and the other two run northward from the same point to the American frontier. These two lines, popularly called the Mexican Central and Mexican National, have their northern termini at Ciudad Juarez and Laredo on the Rio Grande and connect with American trunk lines at El Paso and Laredo. These two great lines were merged in 1908, with an aggregate capital of $460,000,000 Mexican money, of which the Mexican government holds $230,004,580, or a controlling interest. Important branches of these lines extend to Tampico on the Gulf coast, to Manzanillo on the Pacific coast, and westward and southward into Michoacan and Guerrero, with a coast terminus at or near Acapulco. The next important line is the F.C. Internacional Mexicano, running from Ciudad Porfirio Diaz, on the Rio Grande, south-westward across the plateau to Durango, and is to be extended to Mazatlan, on the Pacific coast. This line was built with American capital and without a subsidy. Another line built with American capital and in connexion with American railway interests extends southward from Nogales, on the northern frontier, to Hermosillo, Guaymas and Mazatlan; it is to be extended to Guadalajara and possibly to other points in southern Mexico. Monterrey is connected with Tampico by a Belgian line known as the F.C. de Monterrey al Golfo Mexicano, and the capital is to have direct connexion with the Pacific, other than the F.C. Interoceanico, by a line through Cuernavaca and Iguala to the coast. Indirectly the capital has a Pacific coast connexion by way of Cordoba and the F.C. Vera Cruz al Pacifico to a junction with the Tehuantepec line. One of the most important railways in Mexico is the F.C. Nacional Interoceanico de Tehuantepec, also called the Tehuantepec National, and the Mexican Isthmus railway, which is 192 m. long and was formally opened in 1907. This line crosses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from Coatzacoalcos (officially Puerto Mexico) on the Gulf coast to Salina Cruz on the Pacific coast, and has been under construction many years. The railway was first completed in 1894, but light and defective construction, together with lack of shipping facilities at its terminal points, rendered it useless. To correct these defects the line was completely rebuilt and terminal ports constructed. In 1909 the ports were ready to receive large ocean steamships, and regular traffic was begun, including cargoes of Hawaiian sugar for New York. The highest point on the line (Chivela Pass) is 735 ft. above sea-level. The railway has been built by the Mexican government as a transcontinental route for international commerce. Its final construction together with that of its two ports were executed by S. Pearson & Sons, Ltd., of London, who also undertook the working of the line when open. It was estimated in 1907 that the total cost of the railway and ports when completed would be about £13,000,000. The line is connected at the station of Santa Lucrecia (109 m. from Salina Cruz) with the Vera Cruz and Pacific railway which gives an all-rail connexion with Vera Cruz and Mexico City, the distance between the latter and Salina Cruz being 520 m. According to the President's Message of April 1909, there were 14,857 m. of railway in operation, of which 11,851 m. belonged to or were controlled by the government. It is the evident policy of the Mexican government to prevent the absorption of its railways by private monopolies, and this is effected by state ownership of a controlling share in most of the trunk lines.

Mexico is well provided with tramway lines in its larger cities.. A British consular report for 1904 stated that Mexico City and Torreon only were using electric traction, but that Guadalajara, Monterrey, Aguascalientes, Lagos, Colima, Vera Cruz and San Luis Potosi would soon be using it. No official reports are available. The telegraph lines had an aggregate length of 35,980 m. at the end of 1907, of which 33,000 m. belonged to the national government. The President reports an addition of 1626 m. in 1908. Wireless telegraphy was represented in 1908 by a connexion between Mazatlan and Lower California, which was in successful operation. Telephone lines were in use in all the large cities and in connexion with the large industrial enterprises and estates, beside which the government had 500 m. of its own in 1908.

Commerce

In 1905 the mercantile marine of Mexico comprised only 32 steamers, of 13,199 tons, and 29 sailing vessels, of 8451 tons. The ocean-carrying trade was almost wholly in the hands of foreigners, the government wisely refraining from an attempt to develop an occupation for which its citizens had no natural aptitude. The coastwise trade is principally under the Mexican flag, but the steamers are owned abroad. An official publication entitled " Mexico: Yesterday and To-day, 1876-1904," states that while the number of steamers engaged in the foreign trade increased from 841 to 969 in the 17 years from 1886 to 1903, the number of Mexican steamers decreased from 55 to 4. For the year1906-1907the entries of vessels from foreign ports numbered 1697, of 3,282,125 tons, and the clearances were 1669, of 3,257,932 tons. Subventions are paid for regular steamship service at the principal ports, the total expenditure in1907-1908being £42,876. These ports are well served by a large number of foreign steamship companies, which give direct communication with the principal ports of the United States, Europe, and the west coast of South America, and the initiation of a Japanese line in 1908 also brings Mexico into direct communication with the far East. The larger ports for foreign trade are Vera Cruz, Tampico, Progreso, Carmen and Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf coast, and Guaymas, La Paz, Mazatlan, Manzanillo, San Blas, Acapulco and Salina Cruz on the Pacific coast. Some of these - Vera Cruz, Tampico, Coatzacoalcos, Salina Cruz, Manzanillo and Mazatlan - have been greatly improved with costly port works. Among the smaller ports, some of which are open to foreign trade, are Matamoros, Tuxpan, Alvarado, Tlacotalpan, Frontera, Campeche and the island of Mujeres (coast of Yucatan) on the Gulf side, and Ensenada, Altata, Santa Rosalia and Soconusco on the Pacific.

The foreign trade has shown a steady increase during the period of industrial development, to which better means of transport have been an invaluable aid. In1906-1907the imports were valued at $111,234,968 U.S. gold, and the exports at $123,512,969, of which very nearly one half consisted of precious metals. According to an official report issued early in 1909 there had been a heavy decrease in both imports and exports, the former being returned at $36,195,469 and the latter at $54,300,896 for the six months ending the 31st of December 1908. Too rapid development and overtrading were given as reasons for this decline. Import and export duties are levied, the former in many cases for the protection of national industries. The imports largely consist of railway material, industrial machinery, cotton, woollen and linen textiles and yarns for national factories, hardware, furniture, building material, mining supplies, drugs and chemicals, wines and spirits, wheat, Indian corn, paper and military supplies and e9uipment. The exports include gold, silver, copper, coffee, henequen or sisal, ixtle and other fibres, cabinet woods, chicle, rubber and other forest products, hides and skins, chickpeas, tobacco and sugar.

Agriculture

The agricultural resources of Mexico are large and unusually varied, as they comprise some of the cereals and other food products of the temperate zone, and most of the leading products of the tropics. Agriculture, however, received slight attention, owing to the early development of the mining industries. An indirect result of the industrial development of Mexico, which began during the last quarter of the 19th century, has been an increased interest in agriculture, and especially in undertakings requiring large investments of capital, such as coffee, sugar and rubber plantations. A large part of the country is too arid for agriculture, and even with irrigation the water supply is sufficient for only a small part of the dry area. This region has, for the most part, a temperate climate, and produces wheat, barley, Indian corn and forage crops. Long droughts often destroy the wheat and Indian corn and compel their importation in large quantities to supply thepeople with food. This uncertainty in the wheat crop extends to the southern limits of the higher plateau, and is a serious obstacle to the increased production of this cereal. Indian corn, also, is a comparatively uncertain product on the plateau, and for the same reason. As it is a staple food with the poorer classes, the deficiency is made up through importation. These drawbacks tend to restrict agriculture on the plateau to comparatively limited areas, and the country people are, in general, extremely poor and badly nourished. A comparatively new product in this region is that of canaigre, which is grown for the tannin found in its root. It is a native of the arid regions and is now cultivated with success. The district about Parras, in southern Coahuila, produces grapes, which are principally used in the manufacture of wine and brandy. An important product of the plateau and of the open districts of the tierras calientes, growing in the most arid places, is the " nopal " or prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica). Its fruit, called " tuna " by the natives, is refreshing and wholesome and is a staple food in spite of its spiny covering. In the tierras calientes of Mexico, however, better conditions prevail. A fertile soil, abundant rainfall and high temperatures have covered these mountain slopes and lowland plains with a wealth of vegetation. The problem for the agriculturist here is not irrigation, but drainage and keeping down spontaneous growths. In these regions, sugar, tobacco, indigo, cacao, rice, sweet potatoes, alfalfa, beans and cassava are produced, and Indian corn yields two and three crops a year. Fruits also are plentiful, both wild and cultivated. Among them are the banana, plantain, tuna, chili pepper, olive, coco-nut, orange, lemon, lime, mango, pomegranate, " pina " or pineapple (wild and cultivated), fig, ahuacatl (Persea gratissima), chirimoya (Anona chirimolia), papaya, gourd, melon, guava, ciruela (plum), and the several " zapote " fruits, including " Chico zapote " from the Achras sapota, which produces the " chicla " or chicle-gum of commerce, " zapote blanco " from the Casimiroa edulis, " zapotebarracho " (or " amarillo ") from the Lucuma salicifolia, " zapoteprieto " (or " negro ") from the Diospyros obtusifolia, and " zapotemamey." The production of rubber is becoming an important industry, large plantations having been set with both Hevea and Castilloa rubber trees. Lying between these two regions is the subtropical belt where coffee of an excellent quality is produced, and where cotton is cultivated. Coffee has become an important article of export, but cotton does not yield enough for the domestic factories. Better cultivation would probably increase the output and make it an article of export. A peculiar and highly profitable branch of Mexican agriculture is the cultivation of the Agave for two widely different purposes - one for its fibre, which is exported, and the other for its sap, which is manufactured into intoxicating liquors called "pulque " and " mescal." In Yucatan immense plantations of the Agave rigida var. elongata are cultivated, from which large quantities of " henequen " or " sisal," as the fibre is called, are exported. It is produced on light shallow soils overlying calcareous rock. It is also cultivated in Campeche and Chiapas. The pulque industry is located on the plateau surrounding the city of Mexico, the most productive district being the high, sandy, arid plain of Apam, in the state of Hidalgo, where the " maguey " (A gave americana) finds favourable conditions for its growth - a dry calcareous surface with moisture sufficiently near to be reached by its roots. Its cultivation is the chief industry of the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Puebla and Tlaxcala. Of the 208 plantations in the state of Hidalgo in 1897, 129 were devoted to maguey. The plant is propagated from suckers and requires very little attention after transplanting to the field where it is to remain, but it takes six to eight years to mature and then yields an average of ten gallons of sap during a period of four or five months, after which it dies. " Pulque "f is the fermented drink made from this sap: " mescal " is the distilled spirit made from the leaves and roots of the plant. There are other agaves used both in the production of drinks and fibres, but they are not cultivated. The " ixtle " fibres shipped from Tampico and Chiapas are all obtained from the agaves and yuccas found growing wild.

The natural and forest products of Mexico include the agave and yucca (ixtle) fibres already mentioned; the " ceibon " fibre derived from the silk-cotton tree (Bombax pentandria); rubber and vanilla in addition to the cultivated products; palm oil; castor beans; ginger; chicle, the gum extracted from the " chico-zapote " tree (Achras sapota); logwood and other dye-woods; mahogany, rosewood, ebony, cedar and other valuable woods; " cascalote " or divi-divi; jalap root (Ipomaea); sarsaparilla (Smilax); nuts and fruits.

Stock-raising dates from the earliest Spanish settlements in Mexico and received no slight encouragement from the mother country. For this reason much importance has always been attached to the industry, and stock-raising of some sort is to be found in every state of the republic, though not always to a great extent. The Spaniards found no indigenous domestic animals in the country, and introduced their own horses, cattle, sheep and swine. From these are descended the herds and flocks of to-day, with no admixture of new blood until toward the end of the 19th century. The horses and cattle are of a degenerate type, small, ungainly and inured to neglect and hard usage. The horse is chiefly used for saddle purposes and is not reared in large numbers. The mule is more generally used in every part of the country, being hardier, more intelligent and better adapted for service as a draft and pack animal. The transport of merchandise and produce was wholly by means of pack animals before the advent of railways, and is still the common means of transport away from the railway lines. For this purpose the sure-footed mule is invaluable. In some districts, however, oxen and ox-carts are employed, especially in the southern states, and always in the open, level country. The varying climatic conditions of Mexico have produced breeds of cattle that have not only departed from the original Spanish type, but likewise present strikingly different characteristics among themselves. Those of the northern plateau are small, hardy and long-lived, being bred on extensive ranges in a cooler atmosphere, and accustomed to long journeys in search of water and pasture. In the south they are larger and better nourished, owing to the permanent character of the pasturage, but are less vigorous because of the heat and insect plagues. In Yucatan the open plains, rich pasture, and comparative freedom from moist heat, insects and vampire bats, have been particularly favourable to cattle-raising, and the animals are generally rated among the best in Mexico. Notwithstanding the frequency of long, destructive droughts, cattle-raising is a preferred industry among the landowners of the northern states, and especially near the American frontier. Almost total losses are frequently experienced, but the profits of a favourable year are so great that losses seldom deter ranchers from trying again. In the sierra regions of western Chihuahua and Durango, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, and the plateau states farther south, the rainfall is more abundant and the conditions more favourable. The largest herds are to be found in Chihuahua and Durango. Above 5000 ft. the wild pasturage is short, tender and reproduces itself annually. It is exceptionally nutritious, but it disappears altogether in the dry season because of its short roots. The lowland pasture, from 2000 to 5000 ft., is composed of more vigorous grasses, with an undergrowth of an exceptionally succulent character. The stock-raiser on the border pastures his herds on the uplands during the rainy season, and on the lower pastures during the remainder of the year. Next in importance is the breeding of sheep, which is largely confined to the cooler sierra districts. They are commonly of the Spanish merino breed, and suffer in many localities on account of insufficient pasturage. Some attention is given to the breeding of goats because of the local demand for their skins, but the industry is apparently stationary. The raising of swine, however, is increasing. In the last decade of the 19th century the capital invested in these live-stock industries was estimated (by Bancroft) to exceed $700,000,000, but an official return of the 30th of June 1902 gave an aggregate valuation of only $120,523,158 (Mexican), or about £12,052,316. According to this report, which is not strictly trustworthy, there were in the republic 5,142,457 cattle, 859,217 horses, 334,435 mules, 287,991 asses, 3,424,430 sheep, 4,206,011 goats and 616,139 swine. Two years later home consumption returns noted the slaughter of 958,058 cattle (129,938 in the Federal District), 561,982 sheep, 992,263 goats and 887,130 hogs - the last item being larger than the census return of 1902. The greater part is consumed in the country, but there is a considerable export of cattle to the United States, Cuba and Central America, and of hides and skins to the United States and Europe. A few mules are sent to Central America, but the home demand usually exceeds the supply.

Other Industries

There are no fisheries of importance except the pearl fisheries on the eastern coast of Lower California, and the tortoise fisheries on the coasts of Campeche, Yucatan, and some of the states facing the Pacific. The pearl fisheries have been worked since the arrival of the Spaniards, and were once very productive notwithstanding the primitive methods employed. Since the closing years of the last century pearl fishing in the Gulf of California has been carried on with modern appliances and better results by an English company under a concession from the government. Motherof-pearl or abalone and other shells are also found, and, with sponges, are exported. Fishing for the tortoiseshell turtle gives employment to a large number of natives in the season, and considerable quantities of the shell are exported. Other industries of a desultory character include the collection of archil, or Spanish moss, on the western side of the Californian peninsula, hunting herons for their plumes and alligators for their skins, honey extraction (commonly wild honey), and the gathering of cochineal and ni-in insects. The ,cochineal insect was once an important commercial product, but the industry has fallen into decay. The " ni-in " (also known as " axe ") is a small scale insect belonging to the genus Coccus, found in Yucatan, Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, Michoacan and other southern states, where it inhabits the spondia trees and produces a greasy substance called " ni-inea," which is much used by the natives as a varnish, especially for domestic utensils, as it resists fire as well as water.

Mining

The best-known and most productive of the industries of Mexico is that of mining. It was the chief object of Spanish exploration, and the principal occupation of European residents and capital during three centuries of Spanish rule. Agricultural and pastoral industries gradually gained footholds here and there, and in time became important, but mining continued far in advance until near the end of the 19th century. Mines of some description are to be found in 26 of the 31 states and territories, and of these the great majority yield silver. According to the official records, there were registered in September 1906, 23,191 mining properties, of which very nearly five-sixths were described as producing s:'ver, either by itself or in combination with other metals: The properties were classed as 1572 gold, 5461 silver, 970 copper, 383 iron, 151 mercury, 94 lead, 86 sulphur, 52 antimony, 49 zinc, 40 tin, 21 opals, 9 manganese, 6 " sal gema," 5 tourmalines, i bismuth and i turquoise - the remainder being various combinations of these minerals. The .absence of coal from this list is due to the circumstance that coal mines were at that time considered as private property and were 'not registered under the general mining laws. A comparison with 1888-1889, when 8970 properties were registered, will show how rapidly the mining industries have been developed during that period. Besides the above, the mineral resources of Mexico include coal, petroleum, asphalt, platinum, graphite, soda and marble. In 1906 the productive mines numbered 1786, of which 491 were in Sonora, 282 in Chihuahua, 211 in Durango, 113 in Oaxaca and 105 in Nuevo Leon. Gold is found in Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sinaloa, Sonora, Vera Cruz, Zacatecas, and to a limited extent in other states; silver in every state and territory except Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, Tlaxcala and the Yucatan peninsula; copper in Lower California, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Sonora, Tamaulipas and some other states; mercury chiefly in Guanajuato, Guerrero, San Luis Potosi, Vera Cruz and Zacatecas; tin in Guanajuato; coal, petroleum and asphalt in 20 states, but chiefly in Coahuila, Hidalgo, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Vera Cruz; iron in Durango, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and other states; and lead in Hidalgo, Queretaro and in many of the silver-producing districts. The most celebrated iron deposit is that ,of the Cerro del Mercado, in the outskirts of the city of Durango - a mountain 640 ft. in height, 1100 in breadth, and 4800 in length, reputed to be almost a solid mass of iron. Large masses of the metal are also said to exist in the sierras of Lower California. The principal coalfields that have been developed are in the vicinity of Sabinas, Coahuila. They have been opened up by American capitalists and the coal is used on the railways passing through that region. Mexican coal is of a low grade - similar to that found in Texas, but as an official geological report of 1908 estimates the supply in sight at 300,000,000 tons its industrial value to the country cannot be considered inferior to that of the precious metals. The same is true of the petroleum deposits in Tamaulipas, near Tampico, and in southern Vera Cruz. An investigation by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1909 finds that the crude Mexican oils are of low grade, but that while not equal to those found in the upper Mississippi basin for refining purposes, they furnish an excellent fuel for railway engines and other industrial purposes. Many of the Mexican railways are using these fuel oils, which are superseding imported coal. In 1909 a well was opened in the southern oilfields whose yield was equal to the best American product.

Manufactures

Although Mexico is usually described as a nonmanufacturing country, its industrial development under President Porfirio Diaz will warrant some modification of this characterization. Manufacturing for international trade has not been and may never be reached, but the industry certainly has reached the stage of meeting a great part of the home demand for manufactured goods, where the raw material can be produced in the country. There were of course some crude industries in existence before the arrival of the 'Spaniards, such as weaving and dyeing of fabrics made from various fibres, and making earthenware utensils, images, &c. The Spaniards introduced their own industries, including sugar-making, weaving, tanning, and leatherand metal-working, some of which still exist. The early methods of making cane sugar, clarified with clay and dried in conical moulds, are to be found all over Mexico, and the annual output of this brown or muscovado sugar (called "panela " by the natives) is still very large. The sugar crop of1907-1908was reported as 123,285 metric tons, in addition to which the molasses output was estimated at 70,947.5 metric tons, and " panela " at 50,000 tons. Other estimates make the " panela " output much larger, the product being largely consumed in the rural districts and never appearing in the larger markets. The estimated number of sugar mills in 1904 was about 2000, of which only about 300 were important for size and equipment. Merino sheep were introduced in 1541 and woollen manufactures date from that time. Large factories are now to be found in all parts of Mexico, and good and serviceable grades of broadcloths, cassimeres, blankets and other fabrics are turned out. There is also a considerable quantity of carpeting, underwear and hosiery manufactured. An important branch of this industry is the manufacture of " zarapes " (called ponchos " in other parts of Spanish America) - a blanket slit in the centre for the head to pass through, and worn in place of a coat by men of the lower classes. The most important textile industry is cotton manufacture, which has become a highly successful feature in the industrial life of the republic. There were 146 factories in 1905, of which 19 were idle, and these were distributed over a very large part of the country. About one-half the raw cotton consumed was produced in Mexico, and the balance imported in fibre or as yarn. The industry is protected by a high tariff, as is also the production of raw cotton, and further encouragement is offered through a remission of internal revenue taxes where Mexican fabrics are exported for foreign consumption. The cotton factories of 1905 were equipped with 22,021 looms having 678,058 spindles, and with 38 stamping machines, employed 30,162 operatives, and turned out 13,731,638 pieces of cloth. Statistical returns, however, are somewhat incomplete and conflicting, and cannot be used with confidence. Coarse fabrics chiefly are manufactured, but the product also comprises percales, fine calicoes, ginghams, shirtings, towelings, sheetings and other kinds of goods. Considerable attention is given to the manufacture of " rebozos," the long shawls worn by women. Another very important manufacturing industry is that of tobacco, the consumption of its various products being large among all classes of the population. There were 467 tobacco factories reported in 1905 to be engaged in the manufacture of cigars, cheroots, cigarettes, snuff and cut tobaccos for the pipe. The number of factories reported for 1899 was 743, but as the consumption of leaf, tobacco increased from 5,546,677 to 8,587,356 kilogrammes, it may be assumed that the decrease in factories is due to the absorption or disappearance of the small shops using old-fashioned methods. Other important manufactories are flour mills, of which there were over 500 in 1904; iron and steel works, of which there are 7 large establishments, including the immense plant at Monterey; 90 smelters for the reduction of precious metals; tanneries, potteries, and factories for the manufacture of hats, paper, linen, hammocks, harness and saddles, matches, explosives, aerated waters, soap, furniture, chocolate and sweetmeats. There are also a large number of distilleries, breweries, and establishments for the manufacture of it pulque," " mescal," and imitation or counterfeited liquors. In addition to these are the many small domestic industries, such as the making of straw hats, mats, baskets, pottery, ropes and rough textiles. The policy of the Mexican government is to encourage national manufactures, and protective duties are levied for that purpose. Other favours include exemption from taxation and exemption from import duties on machinery and raw materials. These inducements have attracted large sums of foreign capital and have brought into the country large numbers of skilled operatives, especially in the cotton, iron and steel, and smelting industries.

Constitution

Under the Constitution of the 5th of February 1857, subsequently modified in many important particulars, the government of Mexico is described as a federation of free and sovereign states invested with