54 OTHER TIME .SERIES. [e™ol^ogy 



We coucliule, tlierefore, that the c)iiiy satisfactory proof from tlie cod- 

 •ices iu regard to tlie calendar system used therein is to be found in series 

 which, like tliat on plates 4G-50 of the Dresden codex, give the months 

 and days of the month. Nevertheless it can readily be seen how the dates 

 given iu the other series may become fixed and determinate as regards 

 their practical use if they were intended for this purpose. Eeferring 

 again to that portion of the series on })lates 53-o8 of the Dresden 

 codex, given above, the third column, in which the days are 6 Muluc, 

 7 Oc, 8 Chuen, may be selected. Let us sui)pose the priest wishes to 

 determine at what time in the year the ceremony or observance 

 referred to by this column and the written characters above is to take 

 place. Of course he knows the name and number of the passing j^ear. 

 Let us suppose it is 2 Ben. By turning to his calendar or by counting 

 the days he soon ascertains that 6 Muluc, 7 Oc, and 8 Chuen can fall, 

 in this year, only on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth days 

 of the third month, Zip, and sixteenth month, Pax. 



It is apparent, therefore, that if intended for any practical use, the 

 time of year in which any of the dates of the series will fall can readily 

 be determined for the passing year. There are, however, several of 

 the numeral series of the Dresden codex which must have been 

 inserted for other than a i^ractical purjiose in the sense indicated. In 

 fact, some of them appear, so far as our knowledge yet extends, to have 

 been given rather as exhibitions of the scribe's mathematical attain- 

 ments than otherwise. Perhaps, however, Dr. Forstemann may be 

 right in supposing they refer to the time periods of heavenly bodies. 



As the chief object of this paper is accomplished iu presenting the evi- 

 dence that the various series of the codices can be traced according to 

 the usual Maya calendar with the simple change of one day in begin- 

 uing the list, and that the series on plates 4G-50 of the Dresden codex 

 can be explained only in accordance with that calendar, it is unneces- 

 sary to enter at jiresent into a discussion of the objects and uses of 

 these time periods. It is probable that these (questions will not receive 

 entirely satisfactory ansAvers except through the interpretation of the 

 written characters. The same is probably true of the signification of 

 the day and month names which has recently occupied the attention 

 of Dr. Edward Seler and Dr. D. G. Brinton. 



Although they have added to our knowledge of the relation of the 

 various calendars to one another, and have shown that probably most, 

 if not all, of the corresponding day names are intended to express sub- 

 stantially the same ideas, yet the uncertainty which hangs about most 

 of the definitions given is not likely to be dispelled until further 

 advancement has been made in deciphering the written characters or 

 further information has been obtained in regard to the origin and devel- 

 opment of the calendar. 



