Briiitoii.] OlU [Oct. 6, 



lowing hira. The finiinal holds the same relation in the Maya 

 hieroglj'^phs.* 



The sign of the clog, therefore, denoted hardship and suffering. 



Nevertheless, by the concurrent testimony of Sahagun and 

 Duran, both this and the following day sign were deemed pecu- 

 liarly prosperous and fortunate. Children born on them would 

 arrive at positions of dignit}^ and importance and shed lustre on 

 their families. The notion would seem to be that such would 

 overcome all difficulties. 



D(nj 11.— The Monleii. 



The monkey, like the dog, was a domesticated animal among 

 some of the Nahuatl and adjacent tribes. Father Sahagun nar- 

 rates the artifices adopted to catch them while young for the 

 purpose of taming them.f There seems a purpose in placing 

 these two domestic animals side by side in the Calendar. Thej^ 

 were both highly auspicious signs, and indicated successful con- 

 test with obstacles. 



Day 12. — The Broom., Teeth or Points. 



The twisted brush of malUnalli grass or of the sharp itztlaitl 

 was probably the symbol intended by this sign, whether referred 

 to as " the thing twisted," or " the thing with many points." 



Its meaning is obvious. As that which is swept away is dirt 

 and dross, lost to sight and discarded, it has been recognized by 

 most of the old writers that the significance is the evanescence, 

 the transitory character, of earthly possessions. | 



Day IS.— TJie Reed or Corn stall: 



In Tzental and Ma^^a it is distinctly the dr}' and dead corn- 

 stalk, cagh-ben, which corresponds to the Nahuatl patron of the 

 day, the god of cold and dryness, Itztlacoliuhqui. § The sug- 



* See Dr. SehcUhas' observations and references in Zeitschriftfiir Ethnologie, 1892, pp. 

 119, 120. 



\Hisloria de Nucva Espniia, Lib. xi, cap. i, see. 5. 



X " Symbol der Vergiinglichkeit, Unhaltbarkeit, des Dahinsterbens." Seler, " Das Tona- 

 lamatl," in Comple- Rendu, of tlie Congressof Americanists, Eighth Session, p. 591 (Berlin, 

 1890). 



^Literally, " pinched or bent with cold," applied also to a peculiar headdress designat- 

 ing this. Sahagun, Hist, de Naeva Espana, Lib. ii, cap. xxx. I prefer the derivation of this 

 word from itztic, cold, as given by Sim6on, to the more remote one from itztli, obsidian, 

 offered by Seler. 



