Other notable buildings are the general postoffice, begun in 1902 and finished in 1907; the Mineria, occupied by the schools of mining and engineering; the military school, occupying a part of the Castle of Chapultepec ; the Iturbide palace, now occupied as a hotel; the Chamber of Deputies; the Palace of Justice; the old mint, dating from 1537; the penitentiary, completed in 1900; the Panteon, with its bronze monuments to the most celebrated Mexicans; the general hospital; the Jockey Club on Plaza Guard iola, now an American restaurant; the National university and new school edifices of modern design. The magnificent National Theatre, begun in 1900, has been partially completed, 12,000,000 pesos having been spent on it up to 1922.
The old Spanish edifices were very solidly constructed of stone, and private residences were pro vided with iron gates and window guards strong enough to with stand an ordinary assault. Private houses were also provided with flat roofs (azoteas) and battlements, which gave them great defensive strength, as well as a cool, secluded retreat for their inmates in the evening. The old Moorish style of building about an open court, or patio, still prevails. The better residences of the old style were commonly of two storeys—the ground-floor being occupied by shops, offices, stables and servants' quarters, the living rooms of the family being on the second floor. The modern constructions, such as those of the Colonia Judrez and other new residential districts are more attractive.
Mexico was formerly one of the worst drained large cities of the New World, its subsoil being permanently saturated and its artificial drainage being through open ditches into the San Lazaro canal, which nominally dis charged into Lake Texcoco. The difference in level between the city and the lake being less than 6 ft. and the lake having no nat ural outlet typhoid fever became a common epidemic in its lower and poorer sections. In 1629 the streets of the city were covered to a depth of 3 ft. and remained flooded until 1634. The earliest effort to correct this evil was by the Dutch engineer, Maartens (Span., Martinez), who planned a deep cutting through Nochis tongo hill, north of the city, to carry the overflow of Lake Zum pango to the river Tula, a tributary of the Panuco. The cutting was 13 m. long and is known as the Tajo de Nochistongo. It was begun in 1607 but was not completed until 1789, and then it was found that the city was still subject to partial inundations, al though an enormous sum of money and 70,000 lives of Indian labourers had been expended upon it. During the year 1856
President Ignacio Comonfort invited tenders for drainage works conditional on the use of waste waters for irrigation purposes, and the plan executed consists of a canal and tunnel 43 m. long, start ing from the east side and 41 ft. below the mean level of the city, and running north to Zumpango and thence eastward into a tunnel over 6 m. long, which discharges into a small tributary of the Panuco river, near the village of Tequixquiac. The greatest depth of the tunnel is 3o8 f t. The works were completed in 1goo.
For the water supply the Aztecs used the main causeway through their city as a dam to separate the fresh water from the hills from the brackish water of Texcoco, and also obtained drinking water from a spring at the base of Chapultepec. The Spaniards added three other springs to the supply and constructed two long aque ducts to bring water into the city. Three other sources were added during the 19th century, and in 1899-1906 steps were taken to secure a further supply from the Rio Hondo. Besides these there are I I public and 1,375 private artesian wells in the city. All these sources are estimated to yield about 220 to 230 litres per head per day.
Considerable attention has al ways been given to education in Mexico, but in colonial times it was limited in scope, and confined to the dominant classes. The old University of Mexico, with its faculties of theology, law and medicine (founded 1551 and inaugurated 1553), ceased to exist in 1865 and was succeeded by schools of engineering, law and medicine, which have been signally successful. The university, however, was reopened in 191o. A summer school, in connection with it, was established in 1922, designed especially to attract foreign students for the study of Spanish. The Government also maintains schools of agriculture, commerce, fine arts, music, pharmacy, technology and an admirable high school, besides a large number of primary and secondary schools, for which modern school buildings have been erected. Normal and industrial schools for both sexes are maintained, the latter (artes y oficios) perform ing a very important service for the poorer classes.