Brinton.] OiO [Nov, 4, 



The Nahaatl which I have placed in the comparative list rep- 

 resents that tongue in its oldest and purest form as given in the 

 Dictionary of Alonso de Molina, printed in 1571. The compari- 

 son leaves no doubt whatever, that the Alaguilac was a quite 

 pure form of the Nahuatl, and when we allow for the difference 

 in the orthography of Bromowicz, who writes as a German, from 

 that of Molina, the variation is surprisingly little. In the 

 phrases the schi represents the usual Nahuatl imperative form xi, 

 the X in that tongue having the sound of the German sch and 

 the English sh in " she." 



The only cliange which has taken place in the numerals is in 

 the number nine, the substitution for chicunaui^ " one hand and 

 four fingers," of niatakticwmi ; but I have no doubt this was a 

 piece of forgetfulness on the part of the venerable Dolores, and 

 that she gave the word for twelve, matlactUome (10 + 2), instead 

 of that for nine. 



Two questions will arise in the mind of the critical reader : 

 1. Did any other -language exist at Acasaguastlan to which the 

 name Alaguilac could have been applied? If not, and allowing 

 it to have been merely a slightly altered form of the Nahuatl, 

 was it introduced into that locality before or after the Conquest ? 



To the first of these questions, we may safely reply with a 

 clear negative. There is not a native proper name in the vicinity 

 but belongs either to Nahuatl or Chorti. There is not the slightest 



