The native dark races are indeed much more robust in form, and hardier in constitution, than strangers to their climate; and many of them drink “aguardiente,” or uncoloured cane spirits, in great quantity, and with less immediate ill effect than one would expect. Their constant use of such excitants as ardent spirits and fermented beverages called “chichas,” with animal food and agi, may possibly be a principal reason why these persons, whenever they are seized with inflammatory complaints, stand general bleeding better than others of their own caste fed upon sango, a name applied to a sort of mash made with maize-meal and sweet potatoes: but persons of European descent, with skin so much more delicate than the darker races in Peru, and endowed with a more susceptible nervous system, suffer much more readily from atmospherical vicissitudes; and their digestive organs and powers of assimilation being comparatively weak, those irregularities, borne by the negro and zambo with comparative impunity, are to the white man, whose organization is not so suitable as theirs for a warm and relaxing climate, the frequent cause of various disorders of the bowels, as indigestion, cholera morbus, or dysentery. The dietetics of the Limenians naturally induce frequent examples of impaired digestion; and worms, too usually the inmates of unhealthy bowels, are so remarkably common, and in acute febrile diseases are so generally expelled either dead or alive, that their appearance in such disorders is looked upon as a matter of course. What share the water, as a vehicle for ova, may have in propagating these worms, it may be difficult to assign; but as the aqueducts are much neglected, and proper filtering-stones not in general use, it is likely that some seeds of disease may thus enter the system; and it may be mentioned that, during the warm weather, a host of animalcules show themselves to the naked eye in the earthen jars, or “_botijas_,” which are kept in the culinary apartments as receptacles for water intended for ordinary domestic purposes; and even water, heated in hot baths to ninety or more degrees of Fahrenheit, if again allowed to cool, and stand over a few days, is seen crowded with myriads of playful animalcules. Of water taken by the writer from the fountain of the great square in Lima, just as the river began to rise in January from the effects of the inland rains, he is happy to be able to furnish the following analysis by Dr. Thomson of Glasgow. Sp. gr. 1·00028; purer than Clyde water: 1000 grains contained Grains. Common salt 0·05 Sulphate of lime 0·19 Silica 0·06 Vegetable matter 0·04 ---- 0·34 ----