SIGNIFICATION OF THE CHARACTERS. 



353 



It iy jn'obiibly a conventional 



essary in the work to be performed, 

 sign, and not a phonetic charactei'. 



(?) In all probability one of the symbols used to denote the act of 

 walking or taking steps. Found but seldom in this particular form, 

 though each portion occurs frequently alone or in other combina- 

 tions. 



A remarkable series of figures and written characters ruiiS through 

 the lower division of Plates 65 to 69 of the Dresden Codex, apparently 

 devoted entirely to the representation of incidents in the life of the 

 culture hero Kukulcan, or deity mentioned on a subsequent page as 

 the "long nosed god" or "god with the snake-like tongue," or to 

 ceremonies to be performed in honor of this deity. Over the figure 

 lines of writti'U cliai'actcrs. as slunvn in Fig. 3r8, which 



division of Plate fin, Dresden Codi 



is a copy of the lower division of Plate 65. These, as is readily seen, 

 are in groups, one group of six compound characters over each figui-e 

 of the god. There are thirteen figures of the god and thirteen of 

 these groups of characters in the series. The characters of a. grouji. 

 as may be seen by reference to the figure, are arranged in the follow- 

 ing manner: 



