301 
near islets^ on which the temple of Mexitli was 
built, reminded the Mexicans, that his ancestors 
had tied the years four times ; or that, since the 
sacrifice of Tlalixoo, four times fifty-two years 
had passed away, when the city of Tenochtitlan 
was founded on the lake of Tezcuco. These 
rounds consequently indicated, that this remark- 
able event had taken place after the year 1299, 
and before the year 1351. Let us now examine 
the ingenious but very complicated methods, of 
which these people made use to denote the year 
and the day of a cycle of fifty-two years. 
This method, as we shall presently explain, is 
identic with that made use of by the Hindoos, 
the Thibetans, the Chinese^ the Japanese, and 
the Asiatic people of the Tartar race ; who also 
distinguished the months and the years by the 
correspondence of several periodical series the 
number of the terms of which is not the same. 
The Mexicans employ, for the cycle of years, 
the four following signs, which have the 
names of 
Tochtii - - a rabbit or hare, 
Acatl - - - a cane, 
Tecpatl - - a flint, or silex,’ 
Cain - - - a house. 
We find these four hieroglyphics in several of 
the preceding plates. For the figure of the rab- 
Series Periodiques. 
