361 



ment, made known by Bianchini in the begin- 

 ning of the last century, proves, that there ex- 

 isted in the East solar zodiacs, in which are 

 found the Tartarian asterisms of the Horse, the 

 Dog, the Hare, the Dragon, and the Bird, ar- 

 ranged so that the Dog answers to the Bull, and 

 not to the Ram of the Greek zodiac, while the 

 Dog and the Hare are separated not by four, but 

 only by two signs. Now if in Asia the same 

 nacshatras, and the same dodecatemorions, have 

 not always followed the same order in the dif- 

 ferent lunar and solar zodiacs, we must not be 

 surprised at the transposition of the signs ob- 

 served in the cycle of the hieroglyphics of the 

 day among the Mexicans. It is even possible, 

 that this transposition may be merely apparent, 

 and may appear real to us, because we can com- 

 pare the Tolteck and Mexican calendars only to 

 the cycles which we find at present among the 

 Tartars and the Thibetans. Perhaps other na- 

 tions of eastern Asia have communicated their 

 zodiac to those warlike hordes, which have in- 

 undated Mexico since the seventeenth century. 

 Perhaps in traversing the elevated plain of cen- 

 tral Asia, and examining more attentively the 

 remains of civilization preserved in little Buck- 

 haria, at Turfan, or near the ruins of Kara- 

 corum, the ancient capital of the empire of the 

 Monguls, travellers may some day discover the 



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