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Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



their cycle, which 'was a period of 52 years, which they named 

 Xiuhmolpilli, and signified the binding together of the years. 

 Sometimes they represented two consecutive circles; the one con- 

 tained the eighteen months ; the other, which circumscribed it, was 

 the cycle of the 52 years. They surrounded this cycle of years 

 with a serpent, that had four coils or inflections, one in each quad- 

 rant of the circle, commencing at the head, in the mouth of which 

 the extremity of the last inflection entered, denoting in this man- 

 ner that, where one cycle terminated, there another commenced. 

 In this form was the engraving that was drawn by Dr. Gemelli 

 Carreri in his book, or circle, of the world. Two of these periods 

 composed the grand cycle, or century, of 104 years, which they 

 called Ce huehiie tiliztli, that is, an "era," or an "age;" but this 

 age had no particular symbol in their picturegraphs, and they al- 

 ways divided it into two periods, or cycles, of 52 years. Each 

 one of these half centuries was divided into four tri-decades of 13 

 years, which were signified by each inflection of the circumscribing 

 serpent. 



5. With four symbols only, that were represented thirteen times, 

 they represented completely their cycle of years, or Xiuhmolpilli. 

 Their symbols were: Tecpatl, flint ; Calli, house; Tochtli, rabbit; 

 and Acatl, cane. But they were so disposed that, although there 

 were but four symbols distinguished by a particular representative, 

 yet no one would confuse one year with another in the cycle of 52 

 years, or Xiuhmolpilli, for they distinguished them by numerical 

 characters, which corresponded to each one of the symbols in the 

 order as they reckoned them, although in the whole reckoning the 

 same number was repeated four times. 



For example: They commenced to count the Mexican cycle, or 

 Xiuhmolpilli, by the symbol Tochtli, and with the number 1 ; that 

 which followed, Acatl, with the number two; afterward, Tecpatl, 

 with 3; and then, Calli, with 4; and continuing to use the same 

 four symbols in this order will give to Tochtli the number 5, to 

 Acatl 6, to Tecpatl 7, and to Calli 8; and thus the reckoning is 

 carried on through the cycle (or half a century), 52 years, but 

 without counting them all progressively from one to fifty-two, but 

 interrupting the count when one arrived at thirteen ; and in this 



