399 



numerous divisions and subdivisions, are traced 

 with mathematical precision ; the more minutely 

 the detail of this sculpture is examined, the 

 greater taste we find in the repetition of the same 

 forms, that attention to order and feeling of sym- 

 metry, which among half civilized nations is a 

 substitute for the feeling of the beautiful. 



In the centre of the stone is sculptured the 

 celebrated sign nahui ollin Tonatiuh (the Sun in 

 his four motions), of which we have already 

 spoken. The Sun is surrounded by eight tri- 

 angular radii ; which are also found in the ritual 

 calendar tonalamatl, in historical paintings, and 

 wherever there is a representation of the Sun, 

 Tonatiuh*. The number eight alludes to the 

 division of the day and the night into eight parts-f. 

 The god Tonatiuh is figured opening his large 

 mouth, armed with teeth ; this "yawning mouth, 

 and protruded tongue, remind us of the figure of 

 a divinity of Hindostan, the image of Kala, Time. 

 According to a passage of the Bhagvat-Gheeta, 

 Cala " swallows the worlds, opening a fiery 

 mouth, exhibiting a row of dreadful teeth, and 

 protruding an enormous tongue;};." Tonatiuh, 

 placed among the signs of the days, measuring 



* PI. 15, n. 4, (Cod, Borg. Veletr., fol. 49). 

 f See p. 282. 



t Wilkins's Translation. See also the Hindu Pantheon, 

 art. Kala. 



