174 
I am ignorant of the phenomenon which in 
the commentary is often designated by these 
words : This year the star threw out smoke.” 
The volcano of Orizava bore the name of Citr- 
laltepetl mountain of the star ; and we may 
presume^ that the annals of the empire con- 
tained the different epochas of the eruptions of 
this volcano. Nevertheless, at p. 86 of the Le 
Tellier manuscript, it is expressly said: that 
the star which smoked, la estrella que humeava^ 
was Sitlal choloha, which the Spaniards call Ve- 
nus, and which was the object of a thousand 
fabulous tales,” Now, I ask, what optical illu- 
sion could give Venus the appearance of a star 
throwing out smoke ? Was it a kind of halo 
formed around the planet ? As the volcano of 
Orizava is placed to the east of the city of Cho- 
lula, and its fiery crater resembles during the 
night a rising star, the volcano and the morning 
star may in symbolic language perhaps have 
been confounded with each other. The name 
which Venus still bears among the natives of the 
Azteck race is that of TlazolteotL 
* Plate 56, fig. 2. 
