Brinton.l -j"0 [Oet. G, 



to know, to understand, to be able through knowledge. In this 

 sense it exactly corresponds to the Maya men, which means to 

 understand, to be able to do (men: entender algo, hacer algo, 

 Dice. MotuT). Hence, in this latter tongue, ah-men means the 

 man of knowledge, the wise one, the master of wisdom.* The 

 bird, as the symbol of wisdom and knowledge, was familiar to 

 the mystical lore of these peoples. 



The Sixteenth Day. 



1. Maya, cib; 2. Tzental, chabin ; 3. Quiche-Cak., aJimak ; 4. Zapotec, 

 guilloo, or loo ; 5. Nahuatl, cozcaquauhtli, or (Pipil) tecolotl, or (Mez- 

 titlan) ieotl itonal, or temetlatl. 



The Nahuatl names of this day mean : cozcaquauhtli (from 

 quauhtli, eagle ; cozcatl, necklace), the ringed vulture, Sarcoram- 

 phus papa, or " royal zopilote " of the ornithologists, a hand- 

 some bird with a ring of red feathers around its neck ; fecolofl,. 

 the owl ; teotl itonal, the da}' god, or the sun god; temetlatl, the 

 pestle or corn-crusher. The Zapotec, which Cordova gives also 

 in the forms pillaloo, peoloo, etc., is likely to be for ba-loo, crow 

 or raven. The Quiche ahmak means " the master of evil," which 

 appears to be a reference to the owl, which was esteemed a bird 

 of evil omen and bad fortune by these peoples f — a metaphori- 

 cal rendering therefore of the Pipil tecolotl. 



The Maya cib is assigned b}^ Pio Perez the meaning " wax," 

 or " copal gum," and is derived by Dr. Seler from cii, something 

 that smells or tastes good, as spice or incense. I believe it to 

 be merely another form of tzib, to paint (tzibal, cosa pintada de 

 muchos colores), and that it refers to the brilliant neck and head 

 feathers of the ringed vulture. 



The Tzental radical chab means honey, wax, a bee, a late meal, 

 to fast, syrup, to end or cease, to remain, mourning, funeral 

 rites. It is not easy to select from such an abundance. In the 



* As the Zapotec benni eld na, " man of knowledge." Another meaning of Zap. r'laa is 

 " hand." 



t For examples see my Essays of an Americanist, pp. 114, 169. The Nahuatl tlaca-tecoIoU, 

 "man-owl," meant a necromancer, one who worked injury. See Sahagun, Hist, de Nu- 

 eva Espana, Lib. iv, cap. xi. Dr. Seler translates ah-mak by " dcr die Augenaufrisst," but 

 in this he has mistaken the word mak, evil, for mah (arrebatar, Villacaiias, Vocabulario, 

 MS.). But I observe that Dr. StoU gives as the Chontal word for zopilote, njmaa {Zur 

 Ethnograptiie Ouatemalas, p. 'A). The adjective mak, bad, is a compound of ma lek, not 

 good. 



