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serpent worship and the serpent symbols of Egypt, Assyria, 

 India, &c. An account was also given of the contents of the 

 mounds, consisting of pottery, flint heads, carvings in stone, 

 and numerous implements and weapons of metal. Turning 

 to the second department of the subject reference was made 

 to the earliest nations of whom there is any account, who 

 occupied Central America, including the Toltecs, Aztecs, Tez- 

 cucans. Extracts were given based upon the writings of the 

 historian Ixtlilxochitl, shewing the advanced nature of the 

 institutions of tliese peoples, and the magnificence of their archi- 

 tectural structures. Their scientific and artistic attainments were 

 quite equal to those of their Spanish conquerors. An account 

 was given of the cities, pyramids, and temples as they were 

 found by Cortez and his followers. Then followed the results of 

 explorations by Dupaix, Stevens, Charnay, and others, proving 

 that the cities of Central America were of an extent and mag- 

 nificence which scarcely find their parallel in Europe. Of the 

 earlier works the Pyramid of Cholula was perhaps the most 

 wonderful, being over 1,400 feet square, and occupying an area 

 four times the size of that occupied by the Great Pyramid of 

 Egypt — rising to a height of 200 feet, its summit being crowned 

 with a sumptuous temple, containing the image of one of the 

 great gods of the Aztecs. The Palace of Montezuma was three- 

 quarters of a mile long, and half-a-mile in width, containing 

 over BOO apartments, some being 50 yards square. Many other 

 examples were given of less importance. And in the course of 

 the paper reference was made to the mysterious rites of the 

 Aztecs — their human sacrifices, their cannibalism, and other 

 customs which blot the otlierwise fair page of their wondrous 

 history. In conclusion the following questions were dealt with : 

 •' Who constructed the ancient mounds of Ohio ? " " Who built 

 the great pyi-amids of Central America ? " " To what age could 

 these monuments be respectively assigned ? " " Was there any 

 connection betwixt the two civilizations?" "What analogies 

 can be drawn betwixt these works and the ancient works of the 

 Old World?" Mr. Waddington referred to the following as the 

 principal sources of his information : — " The Historical Works 

 of Prescott," " The Works on American Antiquities," pubhshed 

 under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute of New York, 

 Schoolcraft's work on the " Indian Tribes ; " works on " Central 

 American Exploration," byLordKingsborough, Stevens, Squiers, 

 and others ; and latterly papers in the North Aineiican Review by 

 Desire Charnay— stating that by the kindness of the authorities 

 of the Manchester Reference Library Mr. Butterworth had been 

 allowed to take photographs from the principal plates. These 

 were thrown upon the screen by the oxy-hydrogen hght and 

 formed a series of some 24 illustrations to the paper. A con- 



