rORSTEMANN.] RECENT MAYA INVESTIGATIONS 539 



volume C);"), iiiimber 20, is also frequently met with here. It even 

 occurs in connection with ahau, with which it is otherwise rarely seen. 

 We likewise see here the frequent glvphs kan, ahau, imix, kin, and 

 others, in their usual and easily recognizable form. 



The frequently occurring day glyph Manik is worthy of note here. 

 According to Mr Seler it represents a hand grasping upward, which 

 is distinctly corrol)orated by the inscriptions of Chichen-Itza, for they 

 reproduce the liand very clearly, even with the thumb nail and that 

 of the forefinger (it is to be hoped that the illustrations do not give 

 more than the originals). I now also understaiid the Maya sign for 

 the west, which I no longer take for the sign of the east, as I did in 

 1886. Manik with kin represented below it shows how the sun has 

 descended from above. Reversed, kin with Ahau above, it means 

 the east, the beginning of the dominant sun. The south is similarly 

 symbolized by the sign yax (" strength ") with the scales above it, 

 while the north is represented by the polar star, god C. But what can 

 be meant where the day Manik on the upper part of plate xii is com- 

 bined three times with an 8? Does it signify an eighth day of the 

 week? A similar (piestion arises from the fact that we see the ninn- 

 ber 11 combined with the sign which indicates either the day Cauac 

 or one of the three months Yax, Zac, and Ceh, for the four cases are 

 all characterized by the symbol resembling a bunch of grapes 

 (honey?). The combination of 11 (Zac is the eleventh month) Avith 

 this glyph appears on the two plates xii and xix. Curiously enough 

 the sign Ahau with Ben-Ik above it follows it in both cases. 



Unfortunately, in Chichen-Itza the stela3 seem to be as completely 

 lacking as Maudslay has reported them numerous in Copan and Qui- 

 rigua; for that reason the interesting exact dates which are expressed 

 by means of large numbers are also wanting here. I have likewise 

 been unable to find an example of the usual calendar dates, which 

 consist of two numbers and two glyj)hs, and wdiicli are found not only 

 in the manuscripts, but are A'ery numerous elscAvhere; for example, 

 on the Cross of Palenque. 



With this we leave the work of Maudslay, with the hope that he 

 may vigorously prosecute his researches, and also that his work may 

 come into more extended use than has hitherto been the case. 



I must now mention the Verhandlungen dei' Berliner Gesellschaft 

 fiir Anthropologie, of the regular session of December 21, 1895. Here 

 my friend Doctor Schellhas, as he has done before more than once, pre- 

 sents three essays by our mutual friend Dieseldortf at Coban (Ouate- 

 mala) : (1) A Relief from Chipolem, (2) Cukulcan, and (3) The Vase 

 of Chama. The three essays all show how successfully ^Ir Diesel- 

 dorff continues to conduct his researches and how satisfactorily the 

 material at his command has increased (as well as the scientific col- 



