Notes on the Sanitary 
Condition of flexico. 
BY 
O. 1*. CONN, AI. !>., 
CONCORD, N. H. 
[Reprint from the Transactions of the New Hampshire 
Medical Society.] 
i8q4- NOTES ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF 
MEXICO. 
G. P. CONN, M. D., CONCORD, N. H. 
" The use of travelling is to regulate the imagination by reality, and instead 
of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."-Dr. Johnson. 
That the reader may comprehend some of the various diffi- 
culties the hygienist has to encounter when seeking for inform- 
ation in a foreign land, I will quote from the writings of two of 
our celebrated authors whose graphic description expresses the 
conditions far better than I should be able to do for myself. 
It matters not that the one is an artist and brings out in words 
the ideal language of the canvas, while the other presents the 
cold, hard facts of the business man. Both are true to nature, 
only the point of observation was different. 
The artist and business man may travel together and share 
each other's woes and blessings, and yet the cool financial obser- 
vations of the one will partake of but little of the enthusiasm of 
the other. 
F. Hopkinson Smith, in his " White Umbrella in Mexico,'' 
says, it is " a land of white sunshine, redolent with flowers, a 
land of gay costumes, crumbling churches, and old convents, a 
land of kindly greetings, of extreme courtesy, of open, broad 
hospitality. It was more than enough to revel in an Italian sun, 
lighting up a semi-tropical land, to look up to white-capped 
peaks towering into the blue, to look down upon wind-swept 
plains encircled by ragged chains of mountains, to catch the 
sparkle of miniature cities, jewelled here and there in oases of 
olive and orange, and to realize that to-day, in its varied scen- 
ery, costumes, architecture, street life, canals crowded with 
flower laden boats, market plazas thronged with gayly-dressed 
natives, faded church interiors, and abandoned convents, Mex- 2 
ico is the most marvellously picturesque country under the sun, 
a tropical Venice, a new Holy Land." 
It has been said that Mexico is a land of altitudes. Her cities 
lie under a tropic sun, but their altitudes lift them to cooler and 
purer atmospheres, and make a veritable spring-time of even 
her summer days. The season in Mexico is all the year round ; 
it never ends ; the only difference between summer and winter 
is that it rains in the summer, and then only light showers. 
The only information requisite, as to the weather, is: June 
to November, umbrellas for afternoon wear; December to May, 
the blue sky and the Republic of Mexico are the only needed 
protection. 
William Elroy Curtis, in his " Capitals of Spanish America," 
says, " It wounds the pride of a Yankee tourist to discover that 
so little of our boasted civilization has lapped over into the bor- 
ders, and that the historic halls of Montezuma are only spatter- 
ed by the modern ideas which we exemplify. The native trav- 
eller still prefers his donkey to a railroad train, and carries his 
burden upon his back instead of using a wagon. Water is still 
peddled about the capital of Mexico in jars, and the native 
farmer uses a plough whose pattern is as old as that used in the 
Mexican Plough. 3 
Mexican Cart. 
days of Moses. Nowhere do ancient and modern customs 
come into such intimate contrast as in the City of Mexico. 
The people are highly civilized in spots. Beside the most 
novel and recent products of modern science one finds the 
rudest and crudest implements of antiquity. Types of four 
centuries can be seen in a single group in any of the plazas. 
Under the finest walls, with ceilings frescoed by Italian artists, 
and the walls covered with the rarest paintings, one finds a 
common bar-room, where native drinks are dealt out in gourds 
and the pinon stops to eat his tortillas. Women and men are 
seen carrying upon their heads enormous burdens through 
streets lighted by electricity, and stop to inquire, through tele- 
phone, where their load shall be delivered. 
" In an old inquisition building, where the bones of Jews and 
heretics have been racked and roasted, is a medical college sus- 
tained by the government for the free education of all students 
whose attainments reach the standard of matriculation, and 
bones are now sawed asunder in the name of science instead of 
religion." 
The Mexican cart seems to be " fearfully and wonderfully A Mexican Market Scene 5 
made," and without question may be considered antique. As 
with the exception of a few places where mining or other labor 
is carried on under freight supervision, the same old pattern is 
in use, as was found doing business when Cortez demanded the 
surrender and subjugation of the Aztec Capital. The creaking 
of its huge wooden wheels as they revolve upon their axles is 
suggestive of the fact that no inconsiderable amount of the 
power in front of the vehicle, is expended in causing the revolu- 
tion, and the tonnage transported must be small. 
Such language represents some of the contrasts of a people 
inhabiting a country that was settled and conquered before the 
United States was known as the " land of the free." It presents 
an anomalous condition that must be kept in mind as we look 
upon the peculiarities it reflects when viewed from a hygienic 
stand-point. It is only when we consider this country, its peo- 
ple, and its peculiarities of climate that a Northern or Eastern 
man is enabled to satisfactorily solve in his own mind the problem 
of a good hygienic condition in Mexico. 
While these quotations serve to give you some idea of the 
people and its climate, we must at the same time remember 
that in part it is the language of the enthusiastic artist, whose 
imagination was lighted up by the beauty of the scenery, while 
the other recites cold facts from the stand-point of a commission 
of investigation into possible commercial relations. 
From a sanitary point of view we will consider the topo- 
graphy of the country. The contour of the surface is peculiar, 
for while the greater portion of it is of a higher altitude, yet its 
topographical character is of such a nature that large areas 
have no natural drainage outlets. On the high tablelands, it is 
the rule rather than the exception that rivers of considerable 
size will empty into a lake having no visible outlet. Again, 
rivers of considerable size, after flowing along for miles much 
the same as we should expect in New England, will at once 
disappear by being absorbed by the earth, and will not appear 
again for long distances, when they will come to the surface 
and apparently having been reinforced by other streams, for the 
volume of water will be far greater than at the place where 
last visible. 6 
It may here be remarked that the central portion of the Mex- 
ican republic, and comprising nearly all except that portion 
lying directly adjacent to the Pacific Ocean or Gulf of Califor- 
nia, on the west, and the Gulf of Mexico on the east, is higher 
than any part of the United States east of the Mississippi river 
except our highest mountains. The Mexican Central railroad, 
which carries one from El Paso, Texas, to the City of Mexico, 
1,224 m>les, has no point in its entire distance that is not more 
than 600 feet higher than our own Kearsarge mountain, while 
there are considerable distances on this line where the rails are 
from 1,000 to 2,ooo feet higher than Mount Washington. 
With such high altitude, one might suppose that the drainage 
of the city might be easily affected. Unfortunately this is not 
true, and I think no city in the world has encountered more 
difficulty or been to greater expense, and still its drainage sys- 
tem is incomplete. 
The reasons for this are mainly the topography of the country 
to be drained. You may observe that I speak of it as a country 
instead of a city, which is true, as the city is located near the 
centre of a plain more than forty miles in extent, and the foot 
hills are plains extending still farther, so that the basin is more 
than one hundred miles broad. This basin is completely sur- 
rounded by an unbroken chain of mountains, ranging from a 
few hundred to more than 10,000 feet above the level of the 
city ; therefore, the natural water-shed of this whole section 
empties into this valley and its numerous lakes, some of which 
are actually higher than portions of the city. These are held 
back by dikes, like the waters in some portions of Holland, 
and nothing but this fact, and that the average rainfall for this 
basin is much less than we have in the United States east of 
the Mississipi, prevents its being inundated a considerable por- 
tion of the time. 
Occasional inundations have taken place, and this has been a 
potent factor in causing its people to try to solve the problem 
of how the city shall be drained. The city was inundated in 
1553, in 1580, in 1607, and from 1629 to 1634-five years-it 
remained under water. With lakes almost within the city 
limits that are on a higher elevation than the streets, you 
will expect the ground water to be higher than the surface, 7 
and I believe it is allowed that the average for the year is less 
than four feet, although, until the dike was constructed around 
Lake Texcoco, the water came within about eighteen inches 
of the surface, and not infrequently found its way into the 
streets. 
This surface water is impure, being discolored, and generally 
holding in solution large quantities of crude salts of soda. 
The supply of water for the city comes from Chapultepec, 
and at this point I would add that not infrequently small 
mountains of porphyry seem to have been pushed up through 
on that plain, as well as in other parts of Mexico, undoubtedly 
by volcanic force, and generally good water is found some- 
where in the fissures of this volcanic rock. The immense 
spring on Chapultepec is high enough for the water to find its 
way onto the city by gravity through an aqueduct constructed 
of stone and cement, supported on arches of the same material. 
There are two lines of aqueducts from this spring, which con- 
sists of open viaducts supported on arches, these arches being 
part of the way thirty or forty feet high. 
Some ten years ago iron pipes were laid 
in this viaduct to conduct the drinking- 
water and secure it from the dust and 
other impurities of the atmosphere. 
These iron pipes conduct only a part 
of the water, and lie in the bottom of 
the open viaduct partially or wholly 
covered by the water passing towards 
the city. This viaduct, being open, had 
to be levelled, and had gates to allow 
the water to be used at points along the 
way for irrigating pur- 
poses. These volcanic 
mountains are isolated, 
and generally not more 
than a mile or two in cir- 
cumference at the base, 
and in shape somewhat 
resembling the pinnacle at Hooksett. The original site of the 
city was on a small peninsular in the midst of a lagoon of salt 
Chamula Mother and Child. 8 
water, and was found to be liable to be inundated whenever 
there was an extra rainfall. 
We are informed by historical works that the original Aztec 
population were intensely religious and probably superstitious 
in character, and believed they were to migrate from place to 
place until they saw a sign which was to be to them significant 
of the place of their habitation. This sign was to be an eagle 
holding a serpent in its bill or talons, and resting upon a cactus. 
After nearly two centuries of 
migrating hither and thither 
through the country, much of 
the time fighting for their 
lives among their enemies, 
they came upon this sign in 
their imagination, and founded 
the city on that spot. It is in 
latitude 190 25' north and lon- 
gitude 990 5' west of Green- 
wich. I would add that this 
sign they sought for so long 
became the national emblem 
of the Republic of Mexico. 
An island was formed in 1466 by Montezuma the First, who 
had a dike constructed about seven and a half miles in length 
and sixty-five feet in thickness to hold back the waters of the 
lake. This island was formed in Lake Texcoco. 
In 1519, Cortez captured the city, but was obliged to vacate 
in about seven years. 
It is hardly necessary to remark that the city in its present 
condition is not considered a healthy one, having a very large 
death rate. 
In 1607, about the time of the settlement of Jamestown, a 
plan was considered to carry away the surplus waters so as to 
prevent inundation ; but little or no thought was taken of mak- 
ing a sewer. Lake Zumpango being the highest of six lakes, 
the canal through the Nochistongo cut was expected to carry 
away the surplus water which formerly had flown into the lake 
in which the city was situated, but it was not considered feasible 
to carry this cut deep enough to drain the lower lakes of the 
Seal of Mexico. 9 
city. This cut, which was completed during that century, car- 
ried off the surplus water for a few weeks, when it was under- 
mined, and caved in. Repeated attempts have been made to 
open it, but they have not succeeded in carrying it down to its 
original level. 
There are no fire-places, furnaces, or stoves in the city, all 
cooking being done in the old-fashioned Dutch oven, with a 
charcoal fire. 
Turkey Buzzards. 
As a scavenger all through Mexico, the turkey-buzzard takes 
the first rank, as in our southern states, and the government im- 
poses a fine on any one slaughtering them. 
The Spanish moss or lichen grows on nearly all large trees, 
and reminds one of our southern states. The eucalyptus grows 
in a thriving manner wherever it is planted. 
The present canal and tunnel for the drainage of the city is Dredger, 11 
a modification of Enrico Martinez's Nocbistongo cut, and was 
planned by Captain Smith, of the American Engineer corps, in 
1849. The canal and tunnel when complete will be a little more 
than thirty miles in length, of which the tunnel represents nearly 
one tenth. The location of the tunnel is under what is called 
the " saddle in the mountain," which represents the shortest dis- 
tance through from side to side. The cut was commenced in 
1879, or nearly forty years after it was first proposed, at the 
farthest extremity, and it is a portion of the tunnel. 
Political agitations have been the bane of the country, anil 
put a stop to the work. Little more was done until 1885, when 
the council of the city and the federal government combined to 
consummate this important sanitary work. A commission was 
appointed who have had charge of the work, and who have 
directed its execution. A loan was contracted in London for 
about $12,000,000, which has served to cover the cost up to the 
present time, and probably no trouble will be experienced in 
raising sufficient funds to complete the plan. A rough descrip- 
tion of this work would be to describe it as an open ditch or 
canal, having a depth of from 15 to nearly 100 feet, and a width 
averaging 40 feet on top, with the ordinary slope of sides, capa- 
ble of carrying away eighteen cubic metres per minute. The 
object is, first, to carry the sewerage from the city, and, second, 
the surplus waters which can be used to flush the canal. The 
latter will be very necessary, as the grade of the canal is only 
about one foot to the mile, being less than thirty-six feet in the 
whole distance. I use the words " surplus waters " in the 
reason that all portions of that plain are very productive 
when water is used for irrigating purposes, consequently it be- 
comes necessary to obtain water at a certain depth in order not 
to destroy the basin or plain for agricultural pursuits. The 
work has been actively prosecuted since 1885, and it is hoped 
that it may be completed in 1894. Over 5,000 men are em- 
ployed in this work, and five immense dredgers, some of them 
nearly as large as those used on the Panama canal. Each 
dredger is a complete outfit by itself, as it has its own motive 
power; its dynamos for electric lighting; its dormitories and 
dining rooms for the workmen, and with relays of men, is 
prepared to push the work during the whole twenty-four hours. 12 
As will be observed in the illustration, a narrow-guage rail- 
road had been constructed along the side of the canal. 
This was rendered necessary for the transportation of mate- 
rial and supplies, and over twenty miles had been built for that 
purpose. 
Three locomotives were employed, and over the mountain 
all of them were required to move heavy trains. 
The contract has been let to an English firm by the name of 
Pearsons & Son, who have bound themselves to complete the canal 
by the month of September, 1894. These contractors are carry- 
ing out the work of the canal in two different manners,-namely, 
by hand-work with centrifugal pumps to draw off the water which 
filters in the tunnel, and by means of the dredgers I have men- 
tioned, which have a capacity for 3,000 cubic metres of excavation 
per day, and which deposit the earth and water excavated at a dis- 
tance of more than 200 metres from the centre of the canal. 
This is accomplished by means of the buckets of the dredgers 
like an elevator carrying the earth and the water to a height of 
about sixty feet, where it empties into a chute, and the mud and 
water flow through the horizontal shafts which extend several 
feet beyond the sides of the canal. As the earth which has been 
excavated falls upon the sides of the canal, enough water falls 
with it, so that it becomes a solid bank, and in places where the 
canal passes through lakes, this earth is thrown up upon the 
sides, and becomes a dike to keep the water of the canal from 
flowing into the lakes. At the same time, flumes are con" 
structed through this dike, where bv raising a gate the surplus 
water and overflow of the lake can be run into the canal for the 
purpose of flushing. 
In the construction of this canal twenty-three overhead struc- 
tures are required, five of them being aqueducts to carry rivers, 
four are bridges for railroads, the rest being for main roads or 
private ways. These are all constructed of masonry, and some 
of them, especially just before we reach the tunnel, will be of 
great expense by reason of their perpendicular elevation. The 
tunnel commences where the depth of the canal is nearly eighty 
feet, and I understood the " saddle of the mountain," where 
the tunnel passes through, to be a little more than 300 feet 13 
above the level of the mason work of which the tunnel is con- 
structed. 
The streets in the city of Mexico are kept fairly clean, as a 
large force of men are employed to sweep the streets and re- 
move the garbage. This is utilized by being carried away for 
fertilizing purposes. 
The watering of the streets and plazas is done by men with 
buckets, or the old-fashioned watering pots. Generally vou 
would see men with an old-fashioned wooden 
pail with a bail of the same material to which a 
short piece of rope would be attached, 
which served to bring the water out of a 
ditch or cistern, when with a dex- 
terous movement of the arms and 
wrists he would convert the whole 
pailful of water into a small shower 
to sprinkle the street. 
I only saw one street-sprinkler 
while in the city, and that was used 
on the " Paseo de la Reforma," when the 
street was being reconstructed and macada- 
mized. and I question if this did not belong 
to the contractor. 
The prevailing method of constructing build- 
ings is and has been to build around courts, 
-patios,-and as the building material is gen- 
erally stone or cement,-the walls being of great 
thickness-the rooms are frequently cold and cheer- 
less. Very little lumber enters into the construc- 
tion of buildings, even the floors being generally of stone or 
clay. 
Scarcely any chimneys are to be seen, and no fire is used 
except in cooking. 
The climate, as described by Hopkinson Smith in the quota- 
tion which I read, is scarcely exaggerated, but were it not that 
a cloudless sky is present every day in the week from October 
to May, it would be dismal in the extreme, for at this altitude 
it all depends upon sunlight, as during a single night the tem- 
perature will fall to 400 F., and sometimes even lower. There 
Carrier. 14 
is always great change between the temperature during the day 
and at night, but with this constant sunlight during every day 
in the winter, any one must be difficult to please who cannot 
enjoy its soft atmosphere. 
The air is very dry, and one for a time suffers from thirst, but 
gradually we become accustomed to its effects, and afterwards 
no not mind or think much about it. This dry atmosphere, 
and the evaporation it occasions, is a potent factor in the sani- 
tary condition of the city and country, as it extracts moisture 
from all inanimate substances very rapidly, therefore many 
things that if left to themselves in New England would become 
a decided nuisance, simply become a dried fibre or mass in 
Mexico that gives out no odor. 
In regard to the possibilities of Mexico, it is but justice to 
say that progressive sanitary improvements may be found in 
almost every section, and it will not be long before one will 
find good drainage and good water in all large towns and cities, 
and I suspect it will not be very long before one will find the 
Yankee stove on duty in almost every well-regulated household, 
and while these improvements will take away much of the 
charm and novelty of travelling through this unique and strange 
land, it will be the means of affording much comfort to the 
invalid and tourist. 
I have heard this country compared with the old cities of 
Southern Europe, Asia, and Africa, and who knows how 
much they are the junior of some of those places. I cannot 
better illustrate my meaning than to use the following quota- 
tion, which I picked up in Mexico, but am not certain of the 
author's name. 
"World wrongly called the New: this clime was old 
When first the Spaniard came, in search of gold : 
Age after age its shadowy wings had spread, 
And man was born, and gathered to the dead: 
Cities arose, ruled, dwindled to decay ; 
Empires were formed, then darkly swept away; 
Race followed race, like cloud-shades o'er the field, 
The stranger still to strangers doomed to yield. 
The last grand line that swayed these hills and waves, 
Like Israel, wandered long 'mid wilds and caves, 15 
Then, settling in their Canaan, cities reared, 
Fair Science wooed, a milder God revered, 
Till to invading Europe bowed their pride, 
And pomp, art, power, with Montezuma, died." 
Note.-The author is under obligations to the editors and publishers 
of The Granite Monthly of New Hampshire and The Engineering Mag- 
azine of New York for a portion of the plates used in illustrating this 
article. Monitor Press, Concord, N. H.