304 
which, far from being inferior to, actu- 
ally excels that of the most polished 
nations of the world. It is in vain that 
sceptics endeavour to trace an origin for 
this system in imitation; it is in vain 
that they resort to Greece, to Rome, to 
Asia, and to Egypt, the cradle of science, 
to divest the ancient Mexicans of the 
superior talent and research requisite 
for this arrangement. From the earliest 
times, in Chaldea, in India, in Rome, in 
Greece, and in Egypt, the zodiac was 
divided into twelve signs, and the year 
into twelve months, averaging thirty days. 
But the Mexican zodiac is divided into 
‘twenty signs, and the year into eighteen 
months, averaging twenty days. Now, 
this fact alone would seem to go to 
break all link of connexion between the 
Mexicans and the ancient people to 
whom we have referred; or, if it had 
established any connexion, it would 
seem to go to establish the fact of the 
Mexicans being a Chinese colony, driven 
out by an irruption of the Tartars (and, 
not improbably, that which was headed, 
in 1279, by the Tartar Emperor Coblai). 
In fact, the calendars of each country 
strikingly agree: for both nations have 
no more than 360 days to the year, 
which they divide into months of twenty 
days each ;—both, as Acosta states with 
regard to the Mexicans, begin their year 
on the 26th of February ;—and both add 
five intercalary days to the end of the 
year. But, in this latter point, both 
agree with the Egyptians; and they 
were spent, among the Mexicans, as 
they were in Egypt and throughout the 
entire East, in eating, drinking and 
diversions. 
But, in one point, the Mexicans stand 
alone, namely, in their Cycle of fifty-two 
years, the duplication of which consti- 
tuted the Mexican century. The astro- 
nomical wheel, preserved in a painting 
in Mr. Bullock’s possession, fully bears 
out this high estimate of Mexican profi- 
ciency in astronomy:—and this painting 
illustrates his model of a Sculptured 
Cycle of Time, in the same Museum. 
In the inner circle, the eighteen months 
are represented by their appropriate 
symbol; and in the outer, the cycle of 
fifty-two years is represented in the 
precise characters described by Acosta: 
the first year being Tochti, or the rabbit ; 
the next, Cagli, or the house; the next, 
Tecptl, or the flint ; and the next, Acatl, 
or the reed. 
It appears, then, that their astronomi- 
cal system, taken generally, is like that 
of no other nation but the Chinese; but 
Analogies of Mexican and Egyptian Antiquities. 
[June I, 
that it still bears a partial resemblance 
to the Egyptian, both in the arrange- 
ment and the employment of the five 
intercalated days. The analogy, indeed, 
between Chinese antiquities, more espe-~ 
cially Chinese hieroglyphics, and the 
Egyptian, need not be here insisted 
upon. 
The above astronomical coincidence 
is almost the sole ground of. affinity 
which can be referred to between the 
Chinese and the Mexicans. The hiero- 
glyphics of Mexico exhibit no other 
resemblance to the Chinese, than what 
must naturally ensue from the fact of 
arbitrary images being conventionally 
employed to express ideas. The harsh 
structure of the Mexican pronounced 
language is as opposite to that of China, 
as consonants are opposite to vowels. 
Neither, indeed, does it bear a strong 
resemblance, in that respect, to the 
Egyptian. So far, every thing indicates, 
in the Mexicans, an independent and 
talented race of people, striking out a 
new astronomical, political and social 
system for themselves. But, as we 
began by affirming, so we shall conclude 
with inferring, from a comparative sur- 
vey of the valuable records of Mexican 
art and science,—That there is a strong 
family-likeness between them and those 
of Egypt, which may justify the opinion 
of national affinity. . 
The Cycle in question is evidently 
constructed so as to represent a wheel. 
Now, wheels, we know, were unfailing 
ornaments of Egyptian temples. The 
sun, in the form of a human face, is 
placed in its centre, as it is in many of 
the planispheres in Egypt, preserved by 
Kircher: and it is similarly surrounded 
by a symbol, universal throughout the 
East, and more especially a favourite 
emblem’in Egypt, of the two conflicting 
serpents of light and darkness, of good 
and evil. The planetary battlements, 
with the eight houses of the planets, 
which constitute the ¢hird circle out of 
seven, exhibit the same astrological 
theory which was current in Persia, 
India, Chaldea and Egypt, and which 
is preserved in the Rabbinical Sephy- 
roth. 
The dress of the Mexicans, more pro- 
nounced in the Description of the Ancient 
City, to which we have adverted, than 
in the picture-writing on Mr, Bullock’s 
manuscripts, is perfectly Egyptian ; that 
is to say, there is an apron descending 
from the abdomen, and covering midway 
down the thigh; which is analogous to 
the same part of Egyptian costume. 
In 
