215 



This tradition of the five ages must have been 

 known to the Chaldeans, if we might be per- 

 mitted to adopt the conjecture of Dante*, that 

 the colossal figure, seen by Nebuchadnezzar-^ in 

 his dream, referred to this opinion. It was com- 

 posed of five distinct, and separate kinds of mat- 

 ter : gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay. 



I have one more observation to make to you of 

 as little importance as the preceding, respecting 

 the manner in which the Aztecks traced their 

 hieroglyphics. You remark (page 34), that, to 

 facilitate the reading of these figures, and to 

 comprehend them, they sometimes placed at the 

 end of a line the first signs, or rather the first 

 characters, of the hieroglyphic phrase of the fol- 

 lowing line ; and that by these means these first 

 signs are repeated. You compare, on the testi- 

 mony of Mr. Zoega, this method with that of the 

 Egyptians ; who, according to him, made use of 

 the same mode in their hieroglyphic writing. I 

 cannot help observing to you, that my researches 

 have not convinced me of this analogy. If you 

 have no other authority than the passage in p. 464 

 of the profound work of the Danish antiquary 

 on the obelisks, I must confess, that I give quite 

 another meaning to his expressions ; and I must 

 add, that my manner of understanding them 



* Inferno, o. 14. 

 + Daniel, c. 2. 



