173 
comets which appeared near the south pole, or 
those which P. Pingr6 * indicates as having been 
seen alike in Europe and China. It is remark- 
able, that the hieroglyphic, which denotes an 
eclipse of the Sun 'f, is composed of the disks of 
the Moon and the Sun, one of which projects it- 
self on the other. This symbol is a proof of the 
exactitude of the notions respecting the causes 
of eclipses ; it reminds us of the allegorical dance 
of the Mexican priests, which represents the 
Moon devouring the Sun. The eclipses of the 
latter luminary, corresponding to the years Mat- 
lactli Tecpatl^ Nahui Tecpatl^ and Ome Acatl^ 
are those of the 26th of February, 1476 ; the 
Sth of August, 1496 ; the 13th of January, 
1507 ; and the 8th of May, 1510: which served 
as so many fixed points for the Mexican chrono- 
logy. The Art of verifying Dates makes no 
mention of any eclipse of the Sun in the course 
of 1531 ; while our annals indicate one for Mat- 
lactli Ome Acatl^ which corresponds to this year 
of our era. The eclipse of 1476 enabled the 
Mexican historians to fix the period of the vic- 
tory, which the king Axajacatl gained over the 
Matlatzincks ; and it is that, on which Mr. Gama 
made so great a number of calculations J. 
* Cometographie, vol, 1, p. 478 and 486. 
f PI. 56, fig. 7. See vol. xiii, p. 401. 
t Gama, Descripcion de los PiedraSf p. 85—89 ; Torque™ 
mada, vol. 1, lib. ii, cap. 59 : Boturini, § 8, No. 13, 
