518 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 28 



for example, the first clay is called in Nahuatl Cipactli, undoubtedly a 

 kind of fish. Imix, or Imox, in the Maya language must have had 

 the same meaning, although the glyph seems to me to indicate the 

 female breast (" im ", breast, and " ix ", feminine suffix) . Does it, how- 

 ever, necessarily follow that the meaning was always so forgotten? 

 The Maya glyphs for Chicchan, Cimi, Ezanab, for example, indicate 

 clearly enough the serpent's skin, the death's-head, and the stone lance 

 point. However, without this aid of the glyphs, Brinton has dis- 

 covered much that is new and important, and it is only in consequence 

 of the brief space allotted me that I am obliged to deny myself the 

 pleasure of discussing it more in detail. Nor can I touch upon his 

 subtle observations concerning the so-called month names. But let 

 me remark here that a study of the glyphs would lead to and establish 





m 



Q m m) 



n 



9 



P 



u 



IV X y z 



Pig. 112. Day signs from the Maya codices. 



aa 



many thinsfs. For example, that the sixth month, Xul, actually 

 means " end " is directly proved by the instances in which its glyph 

 stands at the end of long periods of time, as it does seven times 

 among the calendar dates discovered by me in the Dresden manu- 

 script, page ()1 to the l)ottom of page (y2. and in many other places. 

 Moreover, it is remarkal^le that there have been no names handed 

 down to us for the actual lunar months, which must have been very 

 well known to these tribes, as I lune shown in volume 63, number 2, 

 of this journal. Still I think that I have now found at least the 

 glyphs for these months in the twelve or more different signs, com- 

 mon to both the manuscripts and the inscriptions, having affixed 

 above them n combination of the day signs Ben and Ik {a, figure 

 112), Ben being separated from the second Ik following it by 29 



