337 



the solar zodiac was primitively a lunar zodiac, 

 each full moon being nearly two nacshatras and 

 a quarter, or 13° 20' distant from that preced- 

 ing. It is thus that the most ancient astronomy 

 of nations is connected with the motions of the 

 moon only. If it happen, that the twelve signs 

 of the zodiac bear names that differ totally 

 from those of the nacshatras, we must not hence 

 conclude, that the stars themselves were distri- 

 buted after a double division. In eastern Asia, 

 the zodiac of twelve signs was, for a long time, 

 only an abstract division*, while the zodiac of 

 twenty-seven or twenty-eight nacshatras was 

 alone a real stellar zodiac. I have been led to 

 insist on the intimate connexion that exists be- 

 tween the two divisions of the ecliptic, to show, 

 that both may have given birth to the signs of 

 the Mexican zodiac. 



Let us examine first the analogy between the 

 denominations of the Mexican days, and the 

 signs of the Thibetan, Chinese, Tartarian, and 

 Mongul zodiac. This analogy is striking in 

 the eight hieroglyphics called atl, cipactli, 

 ocelotl, tochtli, cohuatl, quauhtli, ozomatli, and 

 itzcuintll. 



Atl, water, is often indicated by a hierogly- 

 phic, the parallel and undulating lines of which 

 remind us of the sign we employ to denote 



* Bailly, Ast. Ind. p. 5; Ast. mod. torn. 3, p. 301. 

 VOL, XIII. Z 



