APPENDIX. 
m" 
rials employed are immense stones of a porphyr ideal shape—• 
Mortar is distinguishable in the seams. The edifice, however, 
is not so remarkable for its size as for its symmetry, the polish 
of the stones, and the great regularity of their cut The base 
of the pyramid is an exact square, each side being 25 metres* 
in length. The perpendicular height appears not to be more 
than from 16 to 20metres f This monument, like all the Mex¬ 
ican teocallis, is composed of several stages. Six are still dis¬ 
tinguishable, and a seventh appears to be concealed by the vege- 
tation with which the sides of the pyramid are covered. A great 
stair of 57 steps conducts to the truncated top of the teoeaili, 
where the human victims were sacrificed. On each side of the 
great stair is a small stair. The facing of the stories is adorned 
with hieroglyphics, in which serpents and crocodiles carved in 
relievo are discernible. Each story contains a great number of 
square niches symmetrically distributed. In the first story we 
reckon 24 on each side, in the second 20, and in the third 16 — 
The number of these niches in the body of the pyramid is 366, 
and there are 12 in the stair towards the east. The Abbe Mar¬ 
quez supposes that this number of 378 niches has some allusion 
to a calendar of the Mexicans ; and he even believes that in each 
of them one of the twenty figures was repeated, which, in the 
hieroglyphical language of the Toultecs, served as a symbol for 
marking the days of the common year, and the intercalated days 
at the end of the cycles. The year being composed of 18 months, 
of which each had 20 days, there would then be 360 days, to 
which, agreeably to the Egyptian practice, five complementary 
days were added, called nemontemi. The intercalation took 
place every 52 years, by adding 13 days to the cycle, which gives 
360 -f 5 -f 13=378, simple signs, or composed of the days of 
the civil calendar, which was called comjiohualilhuitl , or tonal- 
fiohuaili , to distinguish it from the comiikuitlajiohualliztli. or 
ritual calendar used by the priests for indicating the return of 
sacrifices. I shall not attempt here to examine the hypothesis 
* 82 feet. Trans. 
| From 52 to 65 feet. Trans ;* . .. 
