174 



I am ignorant of the phenomenon*, which in 

 the commentary is often designated by these 

 words : " This year the star threw out smoke." 

 The volcano of Orizava bore the name of Cit- 

 laltepetl mountain of the star ; and we may 

 presume, that the annals of the empire con- 

 tained the different epochas of the eruptions of 

 this volcano. Nevertheless, at p. 86 of the Le 

 Tellier manuscript, it is expressly said : " that 

 the star which smoked, la estrella que humeava, 

 was Sitlal choloha, which the Spaniards call Ve- 

 nus, and which was the object of a thousand 

 fabulous tales." Now, I ask, what optical illu- 

 sion could give Venus the appearance of a star 

 throwing out smoke ? Was it a kind of halo 

 formed around the planet ? As the volcano of 

 Orizava is placed to the east of the city of Cho- 

 lula, and its fiery crater resembles during the 

 night a rising star, the volcano and the morning 

 star may in symbolic language perhaps have 

 been confounded with each other. The name 

 which Venus still bears among the natives of the 

 Azteck race is that of Tlazolteotl. 



* Plate 56, fig. 2. 



