New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-01-26
DIR. HAWKES. CLOSING LECTURE.

ment of the principal points of evidence which he
had before presented, end most eloquent ana
effective argument drawn from them in support
of the authenticity and perfect accuracy of the
Mosaic Record AS the subject is one of general
and deep importance, we shall present as full and
clear an abstract Of this excellent Discourse as
our limits will allow
Before entering upon the subject more especially
designed for consideration this evening, DR.. Hawks
said be wished first to speak of most striking
sembance in an important department of Science
in ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the ancient system of this
and that OF the Eastern Hemisphere. The subiect,
ne said, presented considerable dificutyfor it was
not easy to eucidate pspular assembly questions
which mainly depended upon aostruse mathematical
calculation, and whose details fitted rather for
Professor Is room thsn a Lecture Hall. He would
endeavor however to call the attention of those who
heard him to a few points Of general resemblance,
which he thought would clearly indicate a common
origin with the astronomical system Of Egypt.
And, frat, be wished to explain the Mexican
method OF computing time. The Mexican civil
year anciently consisted Of 365 days-and was d.
vided into eighteen months, and each month into
twenty days. This division would give but $50 days
to the year; the remaining FIVE days they therefore
called empty or useless days, and added to the
last month Of the eighteen. But tropical year is
about six hours longer than 365 days. therefore,
in every fourth year dry would BY their arrange
ment, have been lost. The Mrxicans were vel!
aware Of this fact but instead Of making up the
deficiency every fourth year, az we do, they dis
regarded it entirely till the whole CYCLE composed
of SO years, was completed; and then they inter
calated ID dsys-whch supplied the deficiency and
made the cycle complete.
Each Of the eighteen months into which their
year was divided had its own proper name-de
rived from some animal, some object in nature or
and each of these names had its own peculiar
alphabetically the figure of the animal
or other object from which it was derived. Each
of these months was divided into weeks of fve
days, and the fifth set apart as market-day.'
The Mexicans marked the progress Of years, not
as we do, by centuries, but by cycles of SO years.
Each of these cycles was divided into four parts,
called 7Yclpiui, and each of these Tlal pilE into
periods of 10 years. To express the differen,
years OF this cycle, they resorted to most in
gesous continuance, which has recently been dis
covered and explained. Tkey first took four
figures hieroglyphics--as for instance, bird
for the first, reed for the second, flint for the
third, and for the fourth house. These they
represented by the figures of each but, for the
sake of clearness, we will apply to them their
names, and call the four periods Tocht, Aca,l,
Techpall and Calli-the Mexican names for the
objects we have indicated. For each cycle of SO
years they had, then, four divisions with thirteen
years in each, to which they gave an arrangement
best explained by The table here presented:
Tochu.. IAcs!l ...,4I Teehpa a Cali. 40
Trthpati S 8 Cali. ...t Tochli ..2s SAcat...42
4 Call. q 4 rccb IL Acat ....3C 4Techpati 4S
5Tochui $ 5 Aesl ....h 5rechpausl 5calli. ....44
Acau q Techpatl ~ Gait. s. 6Iach' ..45
Calli.... s rochi ~ Acal 81 sTechpatl47
9 Toch,i s. Aca - rvchpa SIS sCalli.. ...+s
10 Ac lie 10 recpa 2SIl Calf. rocbd 80
ltTechpa,l I'd IL Calh III Toch,i ST llAca.
j. CALI 2 l2 rochli Is Acatl .Ss l2Techpat5i
IS Techth Isl IS Acai ...26lS Techpa So IS Call...s2
(The numerals befsre the names denote the di-
visions of the Tlalpil those after them the divisions
Of The cycle, into years In the ancient usage, they
were indicated by dots.) 1t will readily DO seen
that the arrangement here adopted is such that no
name can occur more than once soith The same
numeral or numbcr of dots. Thus If a Mexican
lsdian, wishing to mark the date OF any event,
should say that it occurred on the first Iochtls,
will be seen at glance that 1t was on the hr5t
wear of the cycle--for Though the name Ioch,h
occurs thirteen times during the cycle, 1t IL never
found in any other place in connection with the
same numeral. 1t IN event occurred on the serenfh
Cali. a glance vii! show that it mus, have been in
the Goth wear of the cycle. The elecsnh 1ochtt
indicates the 37h year, and the thirteenth Caih:
the SD or last of the cycle. In this ingenious way
did the Mexieans indicate the division of their
cycle into wears But how, it may be asked, did
thew distinguish between this cycle and any other!
Baron HuMEoLpv has ascertained what, beyond all
soub, was their method of designating the different
cycles il was BY appending to the h'eros'yphic
certain number of dots Thus if we should ind
etsh. dots before the sign Acatl and Jour after H.
we should know at once that the period designated
WAS the eighth year in the third TlalPilh OF the
fourth cycIe-or the rtyfourih year ct the
fourth cycle-which is the l9Oth year from Inc
commencement of the era from which they dated.
This scheme shows very exact knowledge OF
the length of The tropical year. 1t is now kaown
that the exac, length of this year is 800 days, .
hours, rs minutes and As seconds: and as II Is
made perfectly evden, that the Mexcans reckonSd
Its length al sos days, hours. 46 minutes and
seconds, i, will be seen that they differed Only Two
minutes and 80 seconds from our own calculations.
We thus have evidence that there was more science,
and especially more astronomical knowledse,smong
the ancien, iuhabtan,s of this Continent than IS
generally supposed They understood the true
causes Of Ecipses as well as we do: and this is
made ey,aest by their own writing. Several pic
lures have been found in which the Earth is repre-
sensed as projecting its disc upon the Moon-thus