DAVID CERNA-ARITHMETIC OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. 
19 
four fingers of the hand, and that these, together with the thumb, formed 
the first count, or five. 
It will be remembered that, according to Gama and Orozco y Berra, 
macuilli signifies the closed hand, or fist, or No. 5, it being a compound 
word, made up of maitl hand, cui to take, and pilli, or simply lli, the 
appendices, the whole term meaning that the first units were counted by 
bending the fingers, one by one, upon the palm of the hand, until the fist 
was produced. But, if this were so, that is, if the word macuilli were 
meant to signify a closed hand or fist, it would, undoubtedly, be so rep¬ 
resented in the hieroglyphical writings of the Nahoas. And yet this is 
not the case. On the contrary, the No. 5 is represented by an open or 
stretched out hand. By a close observation it is found, that the names 
of Nos. 5, 10, 15, and 20 terminate with the particle tli or li, which may 
be translated by the which , that , which , or ivho. Referring especially to 
the No. 5, tli or li is the thumb which has made the count of the other 
fingers. Maitl , hand; cuilia , to take; tli or li, the which, that which, or 
who. Hence, ma-cuil-li , would mean he or it that takes the hand of an¬ 
other. When we shake hands, notice that it is mainly by the aid of the 
thumb that we hold the hand that is offered us. The four initial num¬ 
bers of the Nahoas were, then, called as follows: ce or cem, No. 1, the 
smallest finger or digit; ome , No. 2, the next finger, which is larger than 
the first; yei. No. 3, the largest or longest finger; nahui , No. 4, the reg¬ 
ular or average-sized finger; and macuilli , No. 5, the finger which takes 
the hand of another, or which counts the other fingers, and then by itself 
stands for No. 5, or the thumb. In the open hand, therefore, and not 
in the fist, we have the fundamental formula of the Nahoan numerical 
notation. 
For Nos. 6, 7, 8, and 9, the thumb again is called upon to act on the 
other fingers, by bringing them on the palm of the hand. Thus, for the 
No. 6 the word chicuace is employed. This word is derived from chico, 
in an opposing manner; val , towards oneself; and ce, No. 1; that is, 
chicuace, 6, means to bring toivards oneself the No. 1, to bend upon the hand 
the little or first finger. And so with the other words: chicome, 7, to bend 
upon the hand the second finger; cliicuei , 8, to bend upon the hand the 
third finger; and cliiconahui , 9, to bend upon the hand the fourth finger. 
When the four fingers are bent, and the thumb is placed over them, form¬ 
ing the fist, the hand is reduced to one-half of its original height, and 
hence, the No. 10 is designated by the word matlactli, from mail, hand, 
tlac-ol, half, and tli or li, the which, that which or who; that is, matlac¬ 
tli, 10, he or it that had reduced the hand to half of its original height by 
bending the fingers. If now the thumb separates the other four fingers, 
one by one, by simply raising them, the Nos. 11, 12, 13, and 14 are ob¬ 
tained: matlactlionce, matlactliomome, matlactliomei, and matlactlionnahui. 
