"Numerous attendants of both sexes waited at the banquets. The balls were scented with perfumes, and the courts strewed with odoriferous herbs and flowers, which were distributed in profusion among the guests as they arrived. Cotton napkins and ewers of water were placed before them as they took their seats at the board. Tobacco was then offered, in pipes, mixed with aromatic substances, or in the form of cigars inserted in tubes of tortoise-shell or silver. It is a curious fact that the Aztecs also took the dried tobacco leaf in the pulverized form of snuff.
"The table was well supplied with substantial meats, especially game, among which the most conspicuous was the turkey. Also, there were found very delicious vegetables and fruits of every variety native to the continent. Their palate was still further regaled by confections and pastry, for which their maize-flower and sugar furnished them ample materials. The meats were kept warm with chafing-dishes. The table was ornamented with vases of silver and sometimes gold of delicate workmanship. The favorite beverage was chocolatl, flavored with vanilla and different spices. The fermented juice of the maguey, with a mixture of sweets and acids, supplied various agreeable drinks of different degrees of strength."
It is not necessary to describe their great public works, their floating gardens, their aqueducts, bridges, forts, temples,
COMMON FORM OF ARCH, CENTRAL AMERICA.
palaces, and gigantic pyramids, all ornamented with wonderful statuary.
SECTION OF THE TREASURE-HOUSE OF ATREUS AT MYCENAE
We find a strong resemblance between the form of arch used in the architecture of Central America and that of the oldest buildings of Greece. The Palenque arch is made by the gradual overlapping of the strata of the building, as shown in the accompanying cut from Baldwin's "Ancient America," page 100. It was the custom of these ancient architects to fill in the arch itself with masonry, as shown in the picture
ARCH OF LAS MONJAS, PALENQUE, CENTRAL AMERICA
on page 355 of the Arch of Las Monjas, Palenque. If now we look at the representation of the "Treasure-house of Atreus" at Mycenæ, on page 354—one of the oldest structures in Greece—we find precisely the same form of arch, filled in in the same way.
Rosengarten ("Architectural Styles," p. 59) says: