PAGES 31a to 32a, DRESDEN CODEX" 



As it seems that the mathematic sohition of the Dresden codex, 

 which I undertook with imperfect success eleven years ago, has been 

 Avholly left to me, I will here more closely consider the especially im- 

 portant passage that almost covers the upper third of pages 31 and 32. 

 This passage must have seemed to the writer of the manuscript to 

 have particular importance; otherwise he Avould not have repeated 

 three large numbers and three differences which occur there, on pages 

 62 and 63, where they are mixed with many other things. This repe- 

 tition affords us the welcome opportunity of correcting two clerical 

 errors in the third large number and in the third difference which 

 occur on page 31. I will make these corrections at once, in order not to 

 interrupt the exposition later. 



The writer set down the third large number with the numbers 10, 

 13, 3, 13, 2; but it should read 10, 13, 13, 3, 2; or, interpreted in 

 European numerals, 1,538,342. 



The third difference, standing directly under this number, he wrote 

 with 7, 2, then a black 14, and next a red 5. This was due to lack of 

 space; it should be 7, 2, 14, 19=51,419. 



Without these two corrections the surprising results which I am 

 about to communicate would be imijossible. 



Investigation should begin at the right, which is the rule in all pas- 

 sages relating to arithmetic series. 



On page 32, on the right, we see the glyphs of all the 20 days, in 

 the following order: 



Above each of the four colunms there is a XIII in red, which means 

 that each of the 20 days is to be considered as a thirteenth week day. 

 The 20 days, however, form a regular series only when, beginning at 

 the top on the right with the eleventh day, we pass to the fourth 

 day, and then proceed in the same way in the following rows, ending 

 with the twentieth day on the left below. Now, it ajjpears that there 

 are 91 days between day XIII 11 and day XIII 2, and the same is 



"Dresden, March 26, 1897. 



455 



