343 
markable, that, according to Le Gentil, among 
the Hindoos, though this people was unacquaint- 
ed with the series of signs which begins with the 
rat, the place of the Ram is sometimes occupied 
by a marron dog. In the same manner, among 
the Mexicans, itzcuintli denotes the wild dog ; 
for that which is tame is called techichi. Mexico 
formerly swarmed with carnivorous quadrupeds* 
of a species between the wolf and the dog, which 
Hernandes has but imperfectly described. The 
race of these animals, known by the names of 
xoloitzcuintliy itzeuintepotzotliy and tepeitzcuhitlij 
is perhaps not yet entirely destroyed ; but pro- 
bably withdrawn into the most desert and soli- 
tary forests. In the part of the country through 
which I passed, I have never heard any mention 
of a marron dog. Le Gentil and Bailly were 
mistaken, when they asserted, that the word 
mecha^ which denotes our ram, signifies a marron 
dog. This word of the Sanscrit language is the 
ordinary name of the ram, it is employed ^ in a 
very poetical manner by an Indian author, who 
describes the combat of two warriors, saying, 
that by their heads they were two mecha 
(rams) ; by their arms, two elephants ; by their 
feet, two noble coursers.” 
* See my Tableaux de la Nature, Tom. 1, p, 117. 
f Le Gentil, Voyage, Tom. 1, p. 247. 
t Observation de Mr. de Chezy." 
