HOLDEN.] THE MAYA HIEROGLYPHS. 245 
I must leave the matter in its present state. I think I am justified in 
my confidence that suitable methods of procedure have been laid down, 
and that certain important results have already been reached. 
I do not believe that the conclusions stated will be changed, but I am 
confident that a rich reward will be found by any competent person who 
will continue the study of these stones. The proper names now known 
will serve as points of departure, and it is probable that some research 
will give us the signs for verbs or adjectives connected with them. 
It is an immense step to have rid ourselves of the phonetic or alpha- 
betic idea, and to have found the manner in which the Maya mind 
represented attributes and ideas. Their method was that of all nations 
at the origin of written language; that is, pure picture-writing. At 
Copan this is found in its earliest state; at Palenque it was already 
highly conventionalized. The step from the Palenque character to that 
used in the Kabah inscription is apparently not greater than the step 
from the latter to the various manuscripts. An important research 
would be the application of the methods so ably applied by Dr. ALLEN 
to tracing the evolution of the latter characters from their earlier forms. 
In this way it will be possible to extend our present knowledge mate- 
rially. 
