SELER] VENUS PERIOD IN PICTURE WRITINGS 387 



It yet remains for us to form now a clear idea of the meaning of the 

 personages aaIio are represented on pages 46 to 50 of the Dresden man- 

 uscript with spear throwers and bundles of spears in their hands, tak- 

 ing the place of the deity of the morning star armed with a spear 

 thrower and a bundle of spears of the other manuscripts. They are 

 depicted likewise on the right half of the pages, but in the division 

 near the middle. Their hieroglyph is in the text above them, at the 

 beginning of the second line and directly over the hieroglyph of the 

 figures struck by the spear, and it is accompanied by the hieroglj-ph 

 of the morning star {c, figure 96), clearly signifying that these fig- 

 ures are to be considered the regents of the five consecutive Venus 

 periods. 



The regent of the first period is the black god whom I have repro- 

 duced in form and hieroglyph in e, figure 101." His picture is in the 

 tenth place (/, figure 101) in the series of the twenty divinities at the 

 beginning of the Dresden manuscript, and also occurs many times 

 elsewhere in the same manuscript, for example, in the middle and 

 loAver divisions of page 14 (r/ and A, figure 101) and on page 74, the 

 closing page. He occurs in the Troano codex, pages 33 and 34, with 

 a scorpion's tail. Here another black divinity appears to- be very 

 closely connected with him, who is usually distinguished from him 

 by the hierogWph and the formation of the face, but in the Troano 

 codex occurs in innnediate relationship with him and evidently in 

 kindred representations, and likewise has a scorpion's tail, Schellhas 

 designated these two figures in his list with the letters L and M. 



I will indulge in no speculations respecting the character and pos- 

 sible name of this divinit}^, but only express my personal view that 

 in this god we should recognize a form akin to the fire god of the 

 ancient Mexicans. We may assume, T think, that he is intended here 

 to denote the first cardinal point, or the east. 



I have reproduced the regent of the second period, with his hiero- 

 glj^ph, in ?'. This is a figure wdiich I have not met elsewhere in the 

 manuscripts and which is, therefore, Avanting in the Schellhas list. 

 It is safe to conclude that the hierglyph given in I is really the hiero- 

 glyphic designation of this particular god because it occupies the 

 same place as the known hieroglyph of the regent of the first period 

 and because it follows the hieroglyph of that regent on page 24. The 

 body of this god is painted red, and on the front of the trunk, which 

 faces the spectator, are drawn the vertebno and ribs of a skeleton. 

 The nose curves downw^ard like that of the rain god, Chac. The 

 other characteristics of that god, the long crooked tooth and the 

 nourish on the bridge of the nose, are lacking. It seems to me signifi- 

 cant that the string of precious stones, hanging over in front from 



" The hieroglyplis of the regents of the Venus periods are also set down on the epito- 

 mized p. 24, but only those of the regents of the first two periods. 



