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202 to such an extent as already to counterbalance the natural movement of the population, and, if not checked in time, as threatening the race." —"United States Consular Reports," No. 3, 1881, p. 18.

This condition of affairs is not due, as some might infer, to any improvidence or want of enterprise on the part of the Mexicans, for the evil has long been recognized, and at present especially interests the Government. But the difficulties in the way of applying an efficacious remedy are very great, and engineers are not fully agreed as to the best method for attaining the desired result. "For such is the nature of the plain upon which Mexico is built, such the conformation of the land and the contour of the mountains about it, that a vast system of tunneling and canalization would be necessary to create a fall sufficient to drain the valley; and, before the city can be drained, the valley must be." It is said that one celebrated American engineer, whose advice was recently asked by the Government, reported that, if a thorough drainage could