256 PHYSICAL INVESTIGATION. [PART I. 



parallels of Humboldt refer to the chronology of the ancient 

 Mexicans and some Indian peoples. The zodiacal signs of the 

 Mongols are arbitrarily selected names of animals, the same 

 as serve for designating the years : mouse, ox, leopard, 

 hare, crocodile, serpent, horse, sheep, ape, fowl, dog, swine. 

 The Mandshus, Japanese, and Tibetians have, instead of the 

 leopard, crocodile, and sheep, the signs tiger, dragon, and 

 goat. The days of the months of the Mexicans have partly 

 the same names, hare, serpent, ape, dog ; instead of the leo- 

 pard, crocodile, and fowl, they have the signs of the ocelot, 

 lizard, and eagle ; the other five animals of the first series 

 were unknown to them. Of the moon-calendar of the Hindoos, 

 seven signs are met with in Mexico, serpent, tube, razor, 

 sun-orbit, dog-tail, house. What may be inferred from these 

 facts is simply this, that an Asiatic origin of many elements 

 of civilization in Mexico, is not less probable than numerous 

 immigrations into North-western America from Asia, as we 

 shall prove in the sequel. On such grounds, no proof of the 

 descent of Americans from Asia can be inferred. But what 

 under other circumstances might be considered as trivial, 

 namely, that Coxcox, of the Mexican legerld, corresponds to 

 Noah and his ark, and that even the green twig in the beak of 

 the bird is not wanting, acquires in this case some importance, 

 combined as it is found there with the analogy of baptism 

 with water. Still these coincidences do not necessarily lead 

 us to a definite conclusion, though they afford indications which 

 deserve to be further investigated. 



When we merely find conformity of customs like the follow- 

 ing, genealogy by the female line ; burying the arms, and 

 other valuable property, with the deceased; cutting off the 

 flesh from the bones of corpses, and worship of the dead; 

 referring all diseases to evil spirits ; treatment by magic, pecu- 

 liarities which the Madagascans possess in common with 

 many American tribes, there is no necessity for inferring 

 either affinity or intercommunication. But when we find in 

 Madagascar a peculiar construction of bellows in use, formed 

 like a double pump, it may serve as a subsidiary argument that 

 the population of Madagascar is descended from the Malays, for 



