from each state and two from the federal district, half of the body being renewed every two years. The annual salary of the senators and deputies is $3,000. Congress holds two regular sessions annually, the first beginning September 16th and closing December 31st, the second opening April 1st and ending May 31st; the former can be extended thirty days and the latter fifteen days.

The executive power is vested in a president of the United Mexican States, who is elected by electors chosen by the people every four years. He is in

elected by indirect popular vote, and their term of office is six years; they are required to be native born.

The state governments are organized very much on the same plan as the general government.

The federal government derives its revenues from import, export, and transit duties, stamp tax, excise duties, tonnage, lighthouse, pilotage, and storage duties, etc. The state governments are supported by excise duties, levied on all foreign and domestic merchandise, and by certain direct taxes; the abolition of state taxes

coasts on both oceans, it forms a central plateau running southeast to northwest, at an elevation which varies from 4,000 to 8,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is on this plateau that the largest and most important cities are to be found. A series of volcanoes stand on this plateau, one of the highest being Popocatepetl. There are no good harbors on the Gulf of Mexico. That of Tampico, which is at present being improved so as to permit large vessels to cross the bar and get inside of the port, is the best. On the Pacific coast there are some excellent harbors, the principal one being that of Acapulco. The configuration of the country being mountainous does not permit the existence of navigable rivers, except for a short distance and only to

The physical formation of Mexico explains the difference of climate from the warmest to the coldest and the existence of products from all the zones. The mean temperature on the coast is about 85° Fahrenheit; in the temperate regions, 70°, and in the cold, 60°. The dry and wet seasons are well marked; the first commences in November and the second in June.

The arbora and flora of Mexico are unequalled. Flowers of all kinds grow in the open air and are for sale at all times of the year. All the cereals and fruits are produced. A great variety of fine wood is to be found in the forests. Excellent grazing land abounds for the fattening of cattle. Coffee is raised in the states of Chiapas, Vera Cruz, More

los, Michoacan, Colima, and others; the Uruapam coffee is considered one of the best. Tobacco and cotton are grown in some states to a certain extent. The cocoa bean is cultivated at Tabasco and Chiapas; the best is grown at Soconusco. India-rubber tree culture offers a large field for investment, as the tree fairly started requires little or no care and will produce milk six or seven years after planting. Mr. Matias Romero wrote some years ago an article on this subject, and he calculated that a plantation of 100,000 rubber trees would yield, after the sixth year, a net profit of over $100,000 at an expense of little less than $9,000. Fruit grows in great profusion and variety in Mexico. The crest of the central plateau produces the agave plant, from which pulque, the great national drink, is made. This is the fermented juice of the maguey plant and is used so much in the capital that there are 800 shops, where it is estimated that 250,000

pints are daily consumed. Two trains laden with nothing but pulque come to Mexico every day.

Barley, wheat, corn, and beans grow in the country. The yield of each in 1888 was estimated as follows: barley, about 6,000,000 bushels, wheat, I1,500,000, corn, 131,478,425, and beans, 8,000,000. The product of these cereals could be increased twenty or thirty fold with better cultivation and improved machinery.

Fibre plants also grow profusely in Mexico. The principal one is hennequen. cultivated in Yucatan, and one of the main staples of export. The ramie and other fibrous plants are also to be found, some of which produce excellent material for the manufacture of paper.

The principal cities in Mexico are the capital, with a population, in 1889, of 350,000; Guadalajara, 95,000; Puebla, 78,530; and Guanajuato, 53,000.

The population of Mexico, numbering almost 12,000,000, is made up as follows;

19 per cent Europeans and SpanishAmericans; 38 per cent Indians, and 43 per cent mixed (mextizo). The first class and part of the third constitute the

The Pyramid of Cholula.

principal part of the population. Spanish is the language spoken. The mixed race live in the large cities, where they engage in mechanical pursuits, in agriculture, mining, and manufactures.

Mexico is a producer of raw materials, and has but few manufactures. The principal one is the making of cotton cloth; the cotton mills consume annually

26,000,000 pounds of that staple, most of which is raised in the country, giving employment to more than 50,000 families. The cloth is worn by two-thirds of the inhabitants, and is usually made up in pieces of 30 yards, 4 inches in length by 341⁄2 inches in width; the price varies from $2.88 to $4.00 each. There are about 97 mills, producing 3,800,000 pieces, valued at $13,200,000. About 3,000 tons of yarn are used in the manufacture of shawls, blankets, etc. Cotton prints and carpets are also

made. There are quite a number of woollen mills, where cloths and carpets are manufactured. The silk industry has just been started and great results are expected from it. The manufacture of paper offers a profitable field, in view of the few mills now existing, where wrapping and printing paper is mostly made, and of the large variety of fibrous plants and