358 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



marked the cardinal point west for the Mexicans. Sahagun says 

 that in some regions the constellation was called " the wagon ""; that 

 the Mexicans called it " scorpion " because it had the shape of that 

 animal; and that it bore this name in many parts of the world. 

 This last remark of Father Sahagun seems to indicate that he iden- 

 tified it with Scorpio, of ancient astronomy. This would imply one 

 of the most remarkable comcidences in the nomenclature. I do not 

 consider this supposition admissible, since Scorpio of the ancients was 

 situated far to the south — from 20° to 40° south latitude. 



Xonecuilli, or citlalxonecuilli, the curved S-shaped constellation, 

 is clearly described by Tezozomoc as the Southern Cross. Its form 

 can be recognized ajjproximately in the design /, from the Sahagun 

 manuscript, if Centaurus and the two stars lying to the east of the 

 latter are added. Sahagun calls it the " constellation which stands 

 in the mouth of the trumpet " (las estrellas que estan en la boca de la 

 bocina). According to the lexicon it appears that the constellation 

 of the Little Bear was called " trumpet " (bocina) in Spanish. Saha- 

 gun, however, can hardly have meant this, for it follows from the 

 whole arrangement, which he also adopted, that a constellation of 

 the southern sky is here referred to. 



These four or five constellations were of importance to the Mexi- 

 cans and were observed by them because they marked for them the 

 four cardinal points, and the plans of their temples and cities had 

 to be regulated by these points. A great number of religious rites 

 were also determined by the four points of the compass. 



There were also some stars that attracted the attention of the Mex- 

 icans on account of their brilliancy and their movements, to which 

 they ascribed mysterious influences on the universe and mankind. 

 These stars were worshipped as divine forces, and hence their appear- 

 ance and movements were observed with great care. Such was the 

 planet Venus, which the Mexicans called citlalpol, or uei citlalin, 

 that is, '' the great star ", and Tlauizcalpan tecutli, " lord of the 

 dawn ", and whose alternate appearance as morning and evening star 

 was well known to them. 



The Augustinian monk Padre Jeronimo Roman y Zamora relates 

 of the Mexican tribes settled on the borders of the Zapotec and Mix- 

 tec country that they paid great reverence to the morning star and 

 kept an accurate record of its appearance. Y tan gran cuenta tenian 

 con el dia que aparecia y quando se ascondia que nunca erravan (" So 

 accurately did they keep the record of the days when it appeared 

 and disappeared that they never made a mistake"). The like is 

 said in a chapter devoted to this planet in a manuscript that belonged 

 to the deceased Don Joaquin Garcia Tcazbalceta, which was inserted 

 at the end of the first part of Padre Motolinia's Historia, and which 



