Briiuon.j -^O^ [Oct. 6, 



potec guache, translated b}' Seler as frog or toad, is more than 

 likely to be a variant of gurache, or gorache^ iguana (see Vocabv- 

 lario Castellan o-Zapoteco, s. v. Lagarto). 



This leaves the Cakchiquel kat or qat to be explained. 

 Ximenes says it is cat, a net for carrying maize, but means liz- 

 ard. Seherzer states that the present translation of the word 

 among the Quiches is kat, fire. The connection probably was 

 symbolic, the iguana being the type of fullness or food, which 

 the net full of maize ears also typified. Precisel^^ parallel to 

 this is the name for this day in the Nahuatl of Meztitlan, xilotl, 

 an ear of corn. 



The Fifth Day. 



1. Maya, cldc chan ; 2. Tzeutal, ahagh ; 3. Quiche-Cak., can; 4. Zapo- 

 tec, ci, or ziie, or guii ; 5. Nahuatl, cohuatl. 



Pio Perez otfers no explanation of the Maya chic chan, while 

 Dr. Seler says that " undoubtedly '' it means " a sign marked or 

 taken." To give this sense it would have to be read check, a 

 sign or mark ; ch^aan, something taken or carried awa3\ There 

 is much less diflBculty in construing it as chich, strong or great, 

 and chan, the generic Tzental term for serpent. The Cak. can 

 also means sei'pent, especially the viper, Guzman giving raxa 

 can, the green viper ; k^ana qanti, the yellow viper, and other 

 compounds. The Nahuatl cohuatl is the generic term for ser- 

 pent in that tongue.* 



The Tzental ahagh is a different word. It means in that dia- 

 lect and in Cakchiquel, luck, fate, fortune (dicha 6 ventura, Xi- 

 menes, Vocabulario, MS.). This is identical Avith the Zapotec 

 ci or zii, and gut (xi-gui, hado 6 ventura; hi-zi, agorar; gui, ga- 

 nancia ; runni-bizii, agorar 6 creer en el canto de las aves b 

 culebra. Vocob. Castellano-Zapoteco). As in this last example 

 the serpent is especially' noted as the animal whence portents 

 were derived, the close connection of the da3^-names is obvious. 



The Sixth Daij. 



1, Maya, mni ; 2. Tzental, tox ; 3. Quiche-Cak., camey ; 4. Zapotec, 

 lana ; 5. Nahuatl, miquiztU or tzontecomatl. 



The Maya cimi is from cimil, death, to die ; the Quiche-Cak. 

 camey means death, or, a corpse ; the Nahuatl miquiztU ^^ ^.QaXh. ; 



* Dr. Schellhas points out that the Maya sign for this day is derived from the head of a 

 snake {Zeitschri/t fiir Ethnologie, 1886, p. 20). 



