COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 29 



large picture record, known as the Mapa de Mizquiahnala. Eight 

 native calendars were shown, in which each month was designated by 

 its appropriate name drawn from the date with which it began, accord 

 ing to the system adopted throughout the calendar. This system is 

 well known and has been exemplified in detail by the studies of Mrs. 

 Zelia Nuttall, who believes that by following out its rules dates could 

 be recorded without confusion extending over several thousand years. 



The elaborate computations drawn up by this lady relating to this 

 subject were displayed by an exhibit in one of the rooms attached to 

 the Mexican department. It presented on a large sheet the arithmet 

 ical enumeration and names of a series of years arranged according to 

 the theory which she believes was carried out by the Mexican astron 

 omers and priests with a degree of accuracy superior to that which at 

 the same date prevailed in Europe. Her studies, with ample illus 

 trations and explanations, will be published by the Peabody Museum 

 of Archaeology, at Cambridge, Mass., and therefore do not require 

 extended notice in this connection. 



One of the most conspicuous objects in the Mexican collection was a 

 reproduction in wood of the temple, sacred edifices, and inclosure of the 

 famous ancient city of Cempoallan, visited by Ferdinand Cortez, on the 

 shores of the Gulf of Mexico, a little north of Vera Cruz. This impor 

 tant and populous locality disappeared from history after the Conquest 

 and became covered with a dense tropical forest, which in some meas 

 ure preserved the structures which its inhabitants had erected. A 

 series of explorations were conducted by the Director of the National 

 Museum on the site, and he succeeded in recovering, with great exact 

 ness, the dimensions and general appearance of these edifices. They 

 owe their origin to the tribes known as the Totonacos, who at this point 

 occupied the shore of the Gulf south of the Huastecas, who inhabited 

 the rich valley of the Kiver Panuco. 



Another wooden model, carefully executed, was presented of the 

 structure known as the temple of Tajin near Papantla, in the State of 

 Vera Cruz, a monument of prime importance, and still so well pre 

 served that its outlines and appearance can be accurately determined. 

 Several other such models served to present the visitor with a clear 

 idea of the peculiar style of architecture in vogue among the native 

 tribes within the territory of Mexico. 



From the same tribe of the Totonacos there was exhibited a quan 

 tity of material gathered by the energetic Director of the Museum, 

 among which maybe named, as of special interest, numerous small clay 

 heads presenting a remarkable diversity of feature and characteristic 

 traits. These, although derived from the State of V^era Cruz and the 

 province historically occupied by the Totonacos, are strikingly similar 

 to those which are so familiar to collectors, from the celebrated site of 

 Teotihuacan, northwest of the City of Mexico ; a fact of the more worth 

 because, according to their own ancient traditions reported by the 



