Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 1.djvu/139

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 * width=360 |In this perpetual almanac, each day in the year is designated by three characteristics derived from the combination of three series, viz.: That of the 20 days of the month, each of which has a distinct name and hieroglyphic, from Cipactli to Xochitl; and as these names are the same and in the same order in every month, the column in which they are set down answers for every month. The series of 13 days, designed by its proper numeral from 1 to 13. And the series of the 9 night companions, designated in this Table by the letters a, b,. . . .h, i, viz.:
 * width=360 |In this perpetual almanac, each day in the year is designated by three characteristics derived from the combination of three series, viz.: That of the 20 days of the month, each of which has a distinct name and hieroglyphic, from Cipactli to Xochitl; and as these names are the same and in the same order in every month, the column in which they are set down answers for every month. The series of 13 days, designed by its proper numeral from 1 to 13. And the series of the 9 night companions, designated in this Table by the letters a, b,. . . .h, i, viz.:


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Thus every day in the year is so distinguished that it can never be confounded with any other. The day 4 Ollin is the 17th day of both the first and the fourteenth month; but in the first instance it is distinguished by the letter h, and in the second by the letter g. If the characteristics of the 9th day of the 10th month be required, the Table shows that it is 7 Atl i; and thus also the 13th day of the 16th month (Quecholli) is shown to be 1 Acatl g, and the 313th of the year.

But it is only for the first year of the cycle (1 Tochtli) that the Mexican year corresponds with ours in the manner stated in the Table. For, on account of our intercalation of one day every bissextile year, the Mexican year receded, as compared with ours, one day every four years. This correction must therefore be made, whenever a comparison of the dates is wanted for any other than the first year of the cycle. The Mexican intercalation of 13 days at the end of the cycle of 52 years made again the first year of every cycle correspond with our year, in the manner stated in the Table.

Another correction is again necessary, when we have a Tescocan instead of a Mexican date. For the first year of the Mexican cycle was 1 Tochtli, and that of Tescoco was 1 Acatl; which caused a difference now of three, now of ten days in their calendars, which in every other respect were the same. Both corrections appear in the second Table.—Trans. Amer. Ethnol. Soc., vol. i, p. 114. Tables C¹ and C²