389 
solstice, which took place towards the end of 
Atemoztli ; and that the cycle finished in the 
month of December. All these circumstances 
agree in placing the intercalary days a short time 
after the winter solstice. The fear of seeing the 
star of day extinguished or disappear, the ideas 
of sorrow and of joy expressed at the secular fes- 
tival, refer rather to the period of the shortening 
of the days, than to that of the equinox. It is 
true, it was at the entrance of spring, that at 
Rome the pontiff took the new fire from the altar 
of Vesta; and that the Persians celebrated the 
great festivals of the Neurouz ; but the motives* 
of these festivals were different from those, that 
guided the Mexicans and the Egyptians in the 
solstitial festivals, and those in honor of Isis. 
I have explained the system of the intercala-^ 
tion, such as it is seen in the Mexican manu- 
scripts, such as it has been adopted by Siguenza, 
Clavigero, Carli, and long before them by 
Boulanger and Freret. According to this sys- 
tem, the length of the year is supposed to be 
365’25 days ; whence it results, that, from the 
reform of the calendar in 1091, to the arrival of 
the Spaniards, the Mexicans must have found 
themselves in an error of more than three days. 
Now the researches which Gama made on the 
* Dupuis, Origins des Cujites, lom. 1, p, I563 tom. 2, 
P. 2, p. 96 . 
