373 
year began in ttie winter solsticd^ like the year ol 
the Chinese^ it is natural enough, that, in the 
periodical series of the signs of the years, the 
first term should be tochtU, though in the series 
of the twenty signs of the days tochtli is preceded 
by callL 
We also know, from the notions which Si- 
guenza derived from the works of Ixtlilxochitl^ 
that the four folds of the serpent, and the four 
asterisms which belong to them, indicate the 
four seasons, the four elements, and the cardinal 
points. Earth was dedicated to the rabbit, and 
water to the cane ; and we have seen, in speak- 
ing of the signs of the night, that Tepeyollotli, 
one of the divinities who dwelt in caverns, and 
Cinteotl, the goddess of the harvests, accompany 
the diurnal signs rabbit and cane. The sense of 
these allegories is too clear to want explanation. 
The four signs of the equinoxes and solstices, 
chosen in a series of twenty signs, recall to mind 
also the four royal stars^ Aldebaran, Regulus, 
Antares, and Fomaihaut, celebrated throughout 
Asia, and presiding over the seasons Iti the 
New Continent, the indications of the cycle of 
fifty-two years form, as it were, the four seasons 
of the great year ; and the Mexican astrologers 
W’ere pleased in seeing one of the four equi- 
FiriiiicJiSj Lll). 0^ c. 1, 
