348 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



the gods of drunkenness were also called Totochtin, " rabbits ". The 

 day ome Tochtli, " 2 rabbits '\ was under their influence. Wlioever 

 was born on that day, if he did not take special precautions, seemed 

 inevitably doomed to become a drunkard. Since there were dif- 

 ferent kinds of drunkenness, intoxication manifesting itself with 

 different people in very different ways, the " 400 rabbits " (centzon 

 totochtin) were spoken of '" as though one intended to say that pulque 

 made innumerable kinds of drunkards "." Hence the pulque gods 

 were also designated as centzon Totochtin, the " 400 rabbits ", and a 

 large number of them were specified by particular names. Con- 

 cerning the significance of these deities, this one fact is of primary 

 importance, that they are all closely related to the earth goddess. 

 Like her, they wear the golden Huaxtec nose ornament, shaped 

 like a crescent, which was called yaca-metztli. This ornament is 

 so characteristic of them that it is usually marked on all objects 

 dedicated to the pulque gods. A second characteristic of these deities 

 is the bicolored face, painted red and black. The two colors, in 

 many parallel red and black longitudinal stripes, likewise served to 

 denote an object as consecrated to the pulque gods. Thus, in the pic- 

 ture manuscript of the Biblioteca Nazionale in P'lorence, the manta 

 de dos conejos, "blanket of the 2 rabbits"' (ome-tochtilmatli), the 

 shoulder covering of the pulque gods, and, in the same manuscript, the 

 shield of Macuil-Xochitl, are marked in this way. These gods are 

 characterized by a remark which occurs above them in the picture man- 

 uscript of the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence still more exactly than 

 by their relation to the eartli goddess. The pulque gods in this 

 manuscript are represented after or among the fiestas mobiles, imme- 

 diately after the feast of flowers (chicome xochitl and ce xochitl), 

 and it is stated in this place that "when the Indians had harvested 

 and gathered in their maize, then they drank to intoxication and 

 danced while they invoked this demon and others of these four him- 

 dred '\ It seems, therefore, that here we have to do with gods of 

 husbandry, who were to impart virtue to the soil as the pulque — and 

 this is always brought out — imparts courage and strength and was 

 the drink of the fearless and strong, the eagles and jaguars (quauhtli 

 and ocelotl), that is, the warriors. 



Among the names by which these gods were known, in addition to 

 ome Tochtli, " 2 rabbits ", which refers directly to their nature as 

 pulque gods, Ave meet almost exclusively such as are derived from 

 place names, or at least are formed in a similar manner to those 

 derived from place names, as Acolhua, Colhuatzincatl, Toltecatl, 

 Totoltecatl, Izquitecatl, Chimalpanecatl, Yauhtecatl, Tezcatzoncatl, 

 Tlaltecaj'oua, Pahtecatl, Papaztac, Tlilhua : and a pulque god Tepox- 

 tecatl, a god of Tepoxtlan, is repeatedly and prominently mentioned. 



" Sahagun, v. 4, cliap. 5. 



