368 



APPENDIX. 



years, arofe another admirable cycle of one thoufand 

 and forty years. The Mexicans combined the fmall pe- 

 riod of four years with the period above named week of 

 thirteen years ; thence reful ted their noted cycle or cen- 

 tury of fifty-two years ; and thus with the four figures, 

 indicating the period of four years, they had, as we have 

 from the dominical letters, a period, which, to fay the 

 truth, exceeded ours ; as it is of twenty-eight years, 

 and the Mexican of fifty-two ; this was perpetual, and 

 ours in Gregorian years is not fo. So much variety and 

 fimplicity of periods of weeks, months, years, and cy- 

 cles, cannot be unadmired ; and the more fo, as there 

 is immediately difcovered that particular relation which 

 thefe periods have to many diiTerent ends, which Botu- 

 rini points out by faying : " The Mexican Calendar 

 was of four fpecies ; that is, natural, for agriculture ; 

 chronological, for hiftory ; ritual, for feftivals ; and 

 aftronomical, for the courfe of the ftars ; and the 

 year was lunifolar (J)." This year, if we do not 

 put it at the end of three Mexican ages, after feveral 

 calculations I am not able to find it. 



Boturini determines by the Mexican paintings the year 

 of the confufion of tongues, and the years of the crea- 

 tion of the world ; which determination appears not to 

 be difficult, becaufe as the eclipfes are noted in the 

 Mexican paintings, there is not a doubt but the true 

 epoch of chronology may be obtained from them, as P, 

 Souciet obtains the Chinefe from the folar eclipfe which 

 he fixed in the year 2155, before the Chriftian era. An 

 eclipfe well circumflantiated, as P. Briga (e^ Romagnoli 

 proves at length, may afilfl us to fix the epoch of chro- 

 nology 



(d) A luna fignum dici fefti . . . Menfis fecundum nomen ejus eft. Eccl. xliii. 

 {e) Scientia Edipfium ex Europa in Siaas, Pars iii. c. a. fed. 10. 



