62 ABOEIGINAL WRITING IN MEXICO. ETC. 



Letters and Syllahles. 



1. ^ — A form resembling the upper part of H ; always in connection with 

 a lower part exhibiting several variations : 



Form a; occurs in R4, Tt, T15, TJiG, Vs, W4. In Ss and Ti the space 

 enclosed by the inner ring of the lower part is hatched. Placed horizontally, 

 showing a single or double band, in Fo, Si7(?), Rt (?), Si. 



Formb; in Sie, U12, Vg , Vie, Xs. 



Forjn G ; occurring only in a horizontal position : Vn, So (?). 



Form d; somewhat like the preceding one, with the upper portion duplicated, 

 in V15. The upper parts, however, are rather leaf-shaped. A similar form in 

 R12. 



Form e, in which the bands are replaced by concentric circles, in Tii, T13, 

 Tie ; somewhat different in Wn, Xi7. 



2. — Landa gives as a sign for X an imperfect figure of a hand with fingers 

 pointing downward. The hand, almost invariably pointing to the right and 

 exhibiting two concentric ri ngs near the wrist, occurs on the Palenquean tablet 

 as a part of a glyph in At, Bii, C3, D4, Ft, Lg, Os, R4, R12, Si, T7, Tis, 

 U6,Ui6, Vn (?), Ws, Wi7. — As there is but little resemblance between Landa's 

 sign and the hands sculptured on the tablet, I hardly would venture to suggest 

 that both were intended to convey the same meaning. 



3. d) C/— Two forms resembling Landa's CU, in Bs (large, partly 

 hatched), Cs, Ct, Fe, U2, U4, Us, U9, Uii(?), Vi4, W2, X12, Xu. 



4. ^j)^ — This combination, not unlike the syllable KIT, occurs in Tq and 



V2. 



5. ^ — A figure bearing a distant resemblance to HA. M. de Charencey, 

 in his attempt to translate the glyph above the figure of the child (after Del 

 Rio's design. Fig. 6), makes it serve for H. It occurs in Ss, S7, Su, Sis, V4, 

 Vo , Xt, and less distinctly in several other glyphs. 



Among the characters of the Yucatec alphabet are two figures of heads, one 

 of them evidently human and expressing PP, according to Landa ; the other, 

 more distinctly traced, emits breath from the mouth, and is said to represent a 

 form of the letter X. Heads of men, and also of animals, occur frequently on 



