The American Continent has contributed some unique work executed by the Aztecs anterior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Among the existing glyptic relics of nations we find no examples of execution in stone-engraving more peculiar than what has been preserved of the work of the Aztecs or Mexicans, especially that done before the occupation by Pizarro. The character of their work is so crude and distinct that no close observer can for a moment be mistaken in detecting its origin. I have met with Aztec engraved stones among a miscellaneous collection offered to me for selection; there was that quality which enables a connoisseur to recognize the class of ornamentation doubtless worn by that people whom Prescott represented as decorated principally by gold, silver, and feathers. Large pieces, cameos of two and a half to three inches, have been found which were worn by the Incas as breast ornaments, and are always pierced, which shows that they were suspended from the neck. In fact, some of the most faithful representations of costume, head-dress, and weapons are in _basso-rilievo_ engraved stones in opaque white Alabaster and pale-green hard Nephrite. [Illustration] RETROSPECTIVE. We have much to enjoy as we survey the gems of the various epochs. The multifarious types that have been gathered in forty centuries meet our view, grouped in the tableau of engraved gems. Our attention is drawn with interest to each sentiment expressed, feature defined, or emotion portrayed. We study the diversified qualities--the fineness or freedom of touch, ingenious effects, delicate lines, choice attitudes, graceful forms, force, spirit, and tenderness--which characterize these monuments of patience. The engraved gems rescued from the torrent, ebbing and flowing with the fluctuating fortunes of ages, garnered by successive generations, enrich the traditional viaduct traversing the morass of many centuries. Some blocks are less beautiful than others in the structure, but from them we have founded our first footholds, and from them we mount to the work that embellishes the great Etruscan arches even when we revel on the finely pencilled coping-stones of the Greek and Roman epochs, or admire the ornate abutments of the Renaissance, we should revert with pleasure to the earlier, ruder contributions in the foundations, and we can find pleasure in viewing and studying every part. The builder’s stones are graven--the footway is of pictured pebbles, miniatures, amulets, and seals, reflecting lineaments and traces of the history of entombed generations. Their inscriptions reveal to us the impress of ancient, mediæval, and modern art. [Illustration] INDEX. Abraxas or Gnostics, 58-62, 102 Talismans, 58, 102 Agalmatolite, 123 Amethyst, 123 Amulets, 112 Animals and Birds, 112-115 Ant, the, as a talisman, the most minute, 113 Antique Pastes, 116-120 Apollo, 66 Aringa, the, a fish of the Adriatic Sea, 113