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near islets, on which the temple of Mexitli was 

 built, reminded the Mexicans, that his ancestors 

 had tied the years four times ; or that, since the 

 sacrifice of Tlalixoo, four times fifty-two years 

 had passed away, when the city of Tenochtitlan 

 was founded on the lake of Tezcuco. These 

 rounds consequently indicated, that this remark- 

 able event had taken place after the year 1299, 

 and before the year 1351. Let us now examine 

 the ingenious but very complicated methods, of 

 which these people made use to denote the year 

 and the day of a cycle of fifty-two years. 



This method, as we shall presently explain, is 

 identic with that made use of by the Hindoos, 

 the Thibetans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and 

 the Asiatic people of the Tartar race ; who also 

 distinguished the months and the years by the 

 correspondence of several periodical series *, the 

 number of the terms of which is not the same. 

 The Mexicans employ, for the cycle of years, 

 the four following signs, which have the 

 names of 



Tochtli - - a rabbit or hare, 



Acatl - - - a cane, 



Tecpatl - - a flint, or silex,' 



Colli - - - a house. 

 We find these four hieroglyphics in several of 

 the preceding plates. For the figure of the rab- 



* Series Periodiques. 



