8 



The Mexican Zodiac. 



on each side ; but in a gold calendar described by me 

 ;in the work alluded to, the number of towers in a row is 

 eight. These contrivances are believed to have indicated the 

 solstices and other celestial phenomena. To discover the days 

 of the equinox, they erected a stone column in an open 

 area in front of their temple. This column was in the 

 centre of a circle, and a line was drawn from east to west, 

 and when the noon-day shadow of the pillar crossed this 

 line at particular points, the equinoxes had arrived. 



In January, 1864, Mr. D. Forbes presented me with a 

 drawing of a small human figure in silver he had discovered 

 in an ancient tomb in Bolivia. 



The annexed woodcut represents 

 the upper portion of this figure, and 

 it will be seen that it is that of a 

 man observing some celestial object 

 through a hollow tube applied to the 

 left eye. This is the first undoubted 

 indication of a telescope tube being 

 used in the new world, and gives pro- 

 bability to the supposition that those 

 found in Grave Creek Mound were 

 designed for a similar purpose. 



