[198] For these addresses see Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 174-83.
[199] 'Se llegan algunas mujeres como parteras, y otras como testigos para ver si el parto es supuesto ó natural; y al tiempo del nacer no permiten que la criatura llegue á la tierra con la vida; é antes que se la cortenle hacen ciertas señales en el corpezuelo.' Zuazo, Carta, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 363-4.
[200] Cihuapipiltin, or Ciuapipilti. A long description of the burial rites upon these occasions in Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 186-91. These will, however, be described in a future chapter.
[201] Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 130, and Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 84, who seems to have copied from him, are the authorities for this, but the custom could not have been very general, for it is said that in Tlascala the mother assigned a breast to each of the twins.
[202] The principal authority on the matter of pregnancy and childbirth, and the one whom I have thus far followed, is Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 160-92.
[203] Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 86, differs from Sahagun in these prayers or invocations; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 445, Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., p. 36, and Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 560, follow Clavigero more or less closely.
[204] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 199-200; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 445-6.
[205] The Teochichimec husband undertook the office of midwife when the birth took place on the road. He heated the back of his wife with fire, threw water over her in lieu of a bath, and gave her two or three kicks in the back after the delivery, in order to promote the issue of superfluous blood. The new-born babe was placed in a wicker basket, and thrown over the back of the mother, who proceeded on her journey. Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 191-203; also Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 445-6; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 86; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., pp. 560; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 551-2, 673, etc. The utensils which served at the birth of the child were, according to Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. clxxix., offered at the fountain or river where the mother washed herself.
[206] By Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. iv., pp. 282-328, and Duran, Hist. Indias, MS., tom. iii., cap. ii., the signs of the calendar and their subdivisions are described at length. Each sign had thirteen sub-signs, representing the same number of days, by whom its good or bad import was moderated to a certain extent. Under certain signs the child was liable to become a drunkard, under another a jester, under a third a warrior, and so on. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 560, and Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 552, state that the sign which had been most frequent at this period during the past thirteen years was also considered by the astrologer.
[207] Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 215-7; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 449.