moun lalooiis couiitr}^ till the month of June and 
July. If the priests had neglected tlie interca- 
lation, the festivals in which the gods were in- 
voked to grant a year abundant in rains would 
have gradually approached the time of the har- 
vest : the people would have perceived, that the 
order of the sacrifices was inverted ; and not 
having lunar months, they could not even, like 
the gods of Aristophanes accuse the Moon of 
throwing their calendar and religious worship 
into confusion. As to the denominations and 
hieroglyphics of the Mexican months, nothing 
indicates, that tliey have taken birth in a more 
northerly climate. The word qiiahidtlehua, it is 
true, calls to mind, that the trees are clothed 
with young leaves toward the end of February ; 
but this phenomenon, wdiich is not observed in 
the low regions of the torrid zone, is suitable to 
the mountainous region, situate between the 19th 
and 24th degrees of latitude, where the oaks, 
without shedding entirely their old leaves, begin 
to bud forth anew. 
We have hitherto spoken of the civil calendar 
called the Siiits rechoning, Tonalpokualli ; we 
shall now examine the ritual calendar, denoted 
by the names of the reckoning of the Moon, 
Metzlopohualli, and the reckoning of the festivals, 
CemilhuitlapoliualhUi, from tlapohiializtli, reck- 
Aristopli. NuhcSf v. 615. 
