Brinton.] -"^^ [Oct. 6, 



the Cakchiquels used as the generic word for deer the term 

 matzat, evidently fi*om the Nahuatl inazatl ; and perhaps the 

 Tzental moxic is merely a further corruption of the same. 



The Eighlh Day. 



I. Maya, lamat ; 2. Tzental, lambat ; 3. QuiclieCak., canel or kanel ; 4. 

 Zapotec, lapa or laba ; 5. Nahuatl, toehtli. 



The names of this day differ widel}' in meaning. The Nahu- 

 atl toehtli is the ordinary word for " rabbit," and Dr. Seler 

 attempts to trace an analogy by translating the Zap. Jnpa as 

 " the divided (nose)," referring to the rabbit, and then that the 

 Tzental lamhat and Maj'a lamat are corruptions of this word. 



This procedure is unnecessary. The Maya lamat is evidentl}' 

 a shortened form of the Tzental lamhat, which is composed of 

 lam, to sink into something soft (•' hundirse en cosa blanda," 

 like light loam), and hat, the grain, the seed, and the name refers 

 to the planting of the crops. 



The Quiche-Cak. kanel is the name of the Guardian of the 

 Sown Seed,* probabl}^ from kan, j^ellow, referring to the j-ellow 

 grains of maize. The Zapotec lapa, or laha means, a drop, 

 and a crown or garland ; here probabl^^ the latter, in reference 

 to the product of the fields. The rabbit, in Nahuatl, is the sym- 

 bol of ease and intoxication. 



There seems, therefore, a close analog}' between these terms. 



The Ninth Day. 



1. Maj^a, rmilue ; 2. Tzental, mulu or molo ; 3. Quiche-Cak., ioh ; 4. Za- 

 potec, niza or queza; 5. Nahuatl, all or (Pipil) quiahuitl. 



The Nahuatl names mean respectively " water " and " rain ;'" 

 the Zapotec are also the words for " water." Toh was the 

 Quiche name of the god of the thunder-storm, from tohil, to 

 sound loudly, to resound, and was thus associated with the 

 rains. The Tzental and Maya midu and muluc are from the 

 2"adical mul, to heap up, to pile up ; which evidently cannot refer 

 to the " gathering together of waters," as Dr. Seler suggests, 



* " Genius iler Anssaat ' ' of the natives of Ixtlavacan in Guatemala (Scherzer). On this 

 day the ancient Cakchiquels sacrificed to the gods of fertility and abundance. BoUlin 

 de la Sociedad Economica de Guatemala, Dec. 15, 1870. In the Popol Vuli, the goddess of 

 fertility is called Xganil. Another meaning of bat in Tzental is hoe (hacha para labrar 

 tierra, Lara, Vocabidario). 



