_Mexico._--Extending, as it does, completely across the southern portion of the North American Continent, the climate of Mexico presents the same sequence from the drought of the eastern to the moderately ample rainfall of the western coasts; and here too, there are places in the central highlands that are much drier than any to be found on either coast. These points are illustrated in the table on following page. The corresponding data as to temperature are given below. TABLE OF TEMPERATURES OF MEXICAN STATIONS. =========+===========+====================+================== Place |Mean Annual| Coldest Month | Warmest Month |Temperature+--------+-----------+------+----------- | | Name | Mean | Name | Mean | | |Temperature| |Temperature +----+------+ +----+------+ +----+------ | F. | ~C.~ | | F. | ~C.~ | | F. | ~C.~ ---------+----+------+--------+----+------+------+----+------ Mazatlan |74·5|~23·6~|January |66·1|~19~ | July |81·6|~27·6~ Culiacan |76·5|~24·8~|January |65·0|~18·3~| July |84·5|~29·2~ Leon |65·5|~18·5~|December|56·4|~13·5~| May |73·6|~23·2~ Mexico |59·5|~15·4~|December|53·6|~12·0~| May |64·5|~18·1~ Puebla |60·0|~15·6~|January |53·1|~11·8~| May |64·5|~18·2~ Matamoros|73·5|~23·2~|January |62·6|~17·0~| July |84·2|~29·0~ Montery |70·4|~21·3~|January |54·6|~12·6~| June |82·0|~27·8~ Vera Cruz|76·6|~24·8~|December|70·5|~21·4~|August|81·3|~27·4~ Cordoba |69·0|~20·6~|January |64·4|~18·0~| May |73·5|~23·1~ =========+====+======+========+====+======+======+====+====== _Central America and the Isthmus of Panama._--This portion of the American continent is notoriously unhealthy, especially along the only routes practicable for an inter-oceanic canal. It is said that the construction of the railway across Panama cost a human life for every sleeper that was laid. Much of this is due to malaria, but yellow fever also frequently attacked the workers, and it is to be hoped that as both these diseases are known to be capable of transmission only by the agency of mosquitoes, that a rational prophylaxis against the bites of these insects will form part of the sanitary programme of the huge work that is now being proceeded with. In any case, when the new canal comes to be finished it will behove passengers by the mail boats to provide themselves with mosquito nets for this portion of the voyage. RAINFALL TABLE OF MEXICAN STATIONS.