﻿16 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



their dwelling separate — a species of convent, with the name of 

 Tetlacmancal Mecac, all of which the authors quoted assert, al- 

 though Hernandez equivocally names the goddess Chantico. There- 

 fore there can scarce be any doubt that the bones that were discov- 

 ered were those of this animal, to which, on account of some spec- 

 ial attribute, of which we are ignorant, they offered up adoration, 

 and classed it among the number of their gods. 



I. 



Methods of dividing time used by the Mexicans and other nations of 



New Spain. 



1. Since the Toltec nation (from whom the Mexicans are de- 

 scended) in their ancient country, called Huehuetlapallan, counted 

 their year and reformed their calendar, the division of time into 

 constant and uniform periods remained established without any 

 substantial variation, although in the manner of reckoning them 

 there may be some differences, according as circumstances com- 

 bined, relative to the migrations, the rites, the religious and polit- 

 ical acts of the nations, which, in successive times, came to populate 

 the lands of Anahuac. The Mexicans, who were the last who hap- 

 pened to establish themselves, did not forget the customs they 

 had received from their ancestors, which were observed in 

 Aztlan, their country, but having emigrated from it, they were 

 forced to vary their reckoning for reasons which we have already 

 stated, but they always maintained their dates constant, varying 

 only their cycle. 



2. They divided the natural day into four principal parts, which 

 were, from the rising of the sun until midday, from midday until 

 sunset, from that time until midnight, from that time until the 

 next sunrise. Hence they called the beginning of the day Yquiza 

 Tonatiuh; the middle of the day, Nepantla Tonatiuh ; the sunset, 

 Onaqui Tonatiuh, and midnight, Tohual Nepantla; subdividing, 

 also, each of these intervals into two parts, which correspond ap- 

 proximately to 9 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, 9 at night, 

 and 3 before dawn, when they supposed the sun to be equidistant 

 from the points of rising and midday, and from midday to setting, 

 and from this to midnight, and from this to the rising of the sun 



