Page:Appleton's Guide to Mexico.djvu/214

186 Sundays from 10. to 1 ., Tuesdays from 10 to 12 ., and Thursdays from 3 to 5

The court-yard is always open to visitors. The sacrificial stone (Piedra de los sacrificios) is the principal object of interest. It is 8 feet in diameter, 2¾ feet high, and 27 feet in circumference. It was found in the Plaza mayor on December 17, 1791. The number of human beings sacrificed on this celebrated stone is estimated at sixty thousand!

The manner of sacrifice was as follows: The victim was made to lie down, his feet and hands were held by four priests in gaudy attire, while a fifth pierced his breast with a razor of itztli, or volcanic glass. The latter then inserted his hand into the wound, and, tearing out the heart, threw it at the foot of the adjoining idol. The reader is referred to Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. i, pages 74-86, for a full description of human sacrifices. We have not space to describe the serpent-idols and other objects, the number of which is forty-seven. Small catalogues in Spanish are sold at the door. It may be said that the collections made by M. Charnay in Southern Mexico, through the liberality of Pierre Lorillard, Esq., of New York, are in the museum, although not on exhibition, with the exception of a few objects. It was the