222 Hoiv Ancient America Wrote. 



scure. Nevertheless, it is more than probable that their fundamental 

 types were originally taken from nature, but altered in their course 

 through various and curious modifications into unintelligible characters. 



The important researches of Dr. Allen, rejjorted in the Proceedings 

 of the Am. Phil. Soc. (page 34), seem to throw a new light on this sub- 

 ject. The learned investigator has illustrated this process of change 

 by means of various types (the crotaloid curve, rattlesnake, human 

 face, etc.), reduced in one direction to their linear elements and in the 

 other developed into bizarre combinations. 



It is obvious that such a complete system could not be, like the Ke- 

 keewin, deciphered by mere ingenuity, though it was based on the 

 same fundamental principles. The idea in its totality was recorded by 

 groups of corresponding pictures, either representative or symbolical, 

 painted in full or in part, or sketched by a few hasty outlines, without 

 regard to the elementary parts of the sentence. For minor details 

 and precise definitions, determinative signs were added or particular 

 coloring resorted to. For instance, the dead were represented as hav- 

 ing the feet wrapped up; the living, by small tongues near the mouth, 

 and by having their feet at liberty. Males were painted reddish 

 brown, and females yellow. Spaniards were portrayed with red dresses, 

 blood with red, undulating lines. 



To the class of determinative signs the characters for the higher 

 numerals undoubtedly belonged. While the units were indicated by 

 dots or circles, the signs for the higher numbers were as arbitrary as 

 those in the Arabic system. A flag signified 20, crossed by a line 10 ; 

 a feather meant 400, and a bag of cocoa beans 8,000. The interven- 

 ing numerals were represented by corresponding divisions of the fun- 

 damental figure. Thus, 8,217 was written by two dots, three fourths 

 of a flag, half of a feather and a bag of cocoa.* 



The arithmetical signs once fixed, it remained to find apjDropriate 

 symbols for the computation of time. This purpose was attained in 

 two ways. The names of the months being similar in sound to either 

 material or immaterial objects, in the one case the real, in the other 

 the symbolical figure of the object was chosen as a suitable hieroglyph. 

 A reed, called agat, became the emblem for the month Acatl; a house 

 (kali) for the month Kalli; a skull for the month Miquizthj (meaning 

 death); an arrow head for Tecpatl (flint). In a like manner figures 

 of natural objects were selected to express such abstract notions as 

 had homophonous names. Thus momoztla (daily) was depicted by 

 two altars, pronounced inomoztli. The same rule applied to the rep- 



•:• Garaa, p. 130. 



