138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



the characters which correspoiul to the Mexican Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, 

 and Tochtli. 



It is true our manuscript (plate i) does not mention the first days 

 of the years, but in cohmin a it gives the days on which the sixth feast 

 of the year, Etzalqualiztli, felh 



We know that in the so-called months, or periods of 20 days, which 

 were named for the various yearly festivals, the actual feast of the 

 respective name always fell on the last day of the period. If, there- 

 fore, as our cohnnn a shows, in the 19 years presented here the feast 

 Etzalqualiztli, the sixth festival of the year, fell on the days 



then it directly follows that the first day of the seventh period (named 

 for the feast Tecuilhuitontli) must fall on the days 



And if, with Sahagun, we put the beginning of the year on the first 

 day of the period named for the feast Atlcaualco we shall have the 

 following series for the first days of these 19 years : 



From our manuscript, which, so far as I know, is the only Mexican 

 manuscript that contains a long series of years, or, more exactly 

 speaking, dates of days extending over a long series of years, it there- 

 fore follows positively that the Mexicans began their years with the 

 characters Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, and Tochtli, just as the Maya priests 

 who wrote the Dresden manuscript began their years with the days 

 corresponding to the same four characters. 



This result, which I reached on grounds of a more general na- 

 ture, and Avhich, as we see, is directly obtainable from our manu- 

 script, has been still further confirmed by evidence very recently 

 ])ublished. At the last session of the Americanist congress Avhich met 

 at lluelva Mrs. Zelia Nuttall exhibited upon a large chart a recon- 



