198 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY f bull. 28 



In the topmost row (on Sunday) there is a turkey, the Sunday roast, 

 instead of the fishes. For the better understandino- of the somewhat 

 crude drawing I have reproduced in h^ figure 44, the rather more 

 carefully drawn head from tlie Goupil-Boban atlas, j)late 27, wdiich 

 is there expressly mentioned in the text as " gallina cle la tierra ". 



Above these objects, Avhich I'epresent food for man and beast, are 

 various figures: Small flags which designate the numeral 20 and 

 groups of small circles, each of which means 1, and also larger circles, 

 which are either empty or C(mtain one or two small circles (plate xii). 



These large circles, which in the moi'e carefully drawn manuscript's 

 are always painted l)lue, signify money, silver coin, and in respect 

 to this there is indeed an unvarying style of designation observable. 

 The old Spanish coin was the peso, which was divisible into 8 reals, 

 known in Mexican as tomin. Half a real was a medio, and half of 

 that a quartillo. The Indians divided the latter once more. For this 

 smallest fractional coin there is no Spanish name, only the Mexican 

 tlaco, " half '\ The peso was sometimes represented in Mexican paint- 

 ings by the scale pan of a balance, answering to its name, " weight ", 

 (<?, figure 44), but usually by a blue circle with a cross on it, d^ 

 apparently from the stamp which at that time was impressed upon 

 silver money. It is very rarely that any other stamp occurs (see, for 

 instance, i\ from the Osuna codex, pages ?>0 [492] and 31 [493]). 

 Reals, or tomines, were designated by a blue circle, containing as 

 many small circles as there were reals to be represented. Usually 

 not more than four small circles were inscribed within one circle, that 

 is, 4 reals, equal to half a peso. Only, when the pesos were not 

 specially mentioned, but, as often happened, and in sj^ite of the new 

 dollar and centavo sj^stem still often happens, the sum was reckoned 

 in reals, then Ave find within the blue circle as many as eight small cir- 

 cles (see /). The medio, on the contrary, was designated by a real 

 cut in halves (see d). Thus e (Osuna codex) is explained in the 

 text as 1 peso ypan G tomines, 1 peso and (> reals; and d^ taken from 

 the same manuscript, as ompohualli pesos ypan 7 tomines ypau 

 medio, that is, twice 20 pesos, 7 reals, and 1 medio. 



In our fragment VII (plate xii) the price of the turkey (quaxolotb 

 guajolote) in the top row has the highest number of figures; for it is 

 marked 2 reals. All the rest are marked 1 real. For this reason the 

 large circles seem to be used here very often alone, Avithout tiie small 

 inner circles. According to the prices noted here, 2 bundles or loads 

 of zacate, 20 tortillas, and 8 fishes were sold, respectively, for 1 real. 

 The fishes can not, therefore, have been of any great size. 



Since, therefore, we find days set down on our fragment VII, and 

 within the days provisions and fodder with their prices, it is clear that 

 this fragment must be a bill. This is proved by the w^riting which I 



