THOMAS] MYSTIC USE OF NUMBERS 949 
McGee. And this would be true even in advance of a number system. 
The number 4 was therefore one which would naturally become promi- 
nent, and would necessarily become connected with the recognition of 
the cardinal points. The ‘*Cult of the Quarters” in mystic and cere- 
monial rites was therefore a natural outgrowth of the recognition of 
these points. 
This Cult of the Quarters and recognition of the number 4+ appears 
to have been carried almost to the extreme limit among the Mexican 
and Central American tribes. Reference to the cardinal points appears 
hundreds of times in the Mexican and Mayan codices, and reference to 
the number 4 is scarcely less frequent. In the latter, as in the Troano 
codex, on plate after plate the symbols of the cardinal points are placed 
in the four corners of the sections around the main central figure, 
indicating, as we may reasonably presume, that reference to these 
points is made in the ceremony to which the figure relates. In the 
Mexican codices they are referred to in several ways, sometimes, it 
would seem, almost unconsciously, from the mere force of habit. Sey- 
eral plates of the Borgian codex—which is probably the oldest of the 
series—are crowded with figures referring to the quarters and with 
symbolic representations of them, some plates being devoted entirely 
thereto. For example, three out of the four chief figures of plate 4 
are evidently drawn with direct'reference to these points, and the 
lurge figure on plate 7 is devoted to the same cult, this being indi- 
rated in the figure in different ways, as by colors, figures, four-day 

symbols, ete. Reference to this cult, or to the number 4, is also dis- 
tinctly seen in plates 9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 48, 61, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. 
Four isa prominent number in the time systems of the Mexican and 
Central American tribes. The years are arranged in four series, each 
with its dominical day. The Mexican cycle of fifty-two years consisted 
of four thirteens or four weeks of years, and according to the mythol- 
ogy of the same people the world has passed through four ages. In 
both Mexican and Mayan mythology the culture heroes appear as four 
brothers. 
This number also occurs so frequently in other connections as to show 
that it had with the native population a mystic significance. For 
example, it was believed by the Mexicans that the end of the world 
would happen on the day 4 Ollin, and in accordance with this belief 
the ‘* Feast of the Lords” lasted four days, beginning with 1 Ocelotl 
and ending with 4 Ollin; and other great feasts usually continued four 
days. The cross appears also to relate to the cult of the quarters, espe- 
ciaily such as the four-colored St Andrew’s cross on plate 70 of the 
Borgian codex. The Mexicans also assigned four gods as rulers over 
the inferno. It is stated in the Maya Chronicles, where they speak of 
the coming of the Tutulxiu, that there were four. The Cakchiquels, 
according to their Annals, consisted of four subtribes or clans, though 
