560 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



The sixth day, Miihic (we are calling the clays according to 

 Landa, that is, according to the usage of northwestern Yucatan), 

 is called Toh in Kiche, after the god of thunderstorms (see Brinton, 

 Calendar of Central America and Mexico, 1893, page 27). 



The sixteenth day, Cauac, was called Ayotl, "tortoise" (Brinton, 

 Calendar, page 33) , by the Pipiles, an Aztec tribe, it is true, but living- 

 among Maya tribes, and among the Mayas the tortoise belongs to the 

 mythic animals, which rank in order with the actual gods. 



The seventeenth day, Ahau, is called in the Kiche and Cakchikel 

 Hunahpu, the one lord of power, from which the name for the day 

 Ahau (Brinton, Calendar, page 22) has obviously been derived. 



As patron of the eighteenth day, Imix, Ek-chuah, a black god, the 

 god of cacao planters, travelers, and merchants, is mentioned (see 

 Seler, Charakter der aztekischen und der Mayahandschriften, 1888, 

 pages 6 and 44; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Histoire des nations civili- 

 sees du Mexique et de I'Amerique centrale, volume 2 (1888), pages 43 

 and 44). 



Lastly, the twentieth day, Akbal, is called by the Tzentals Votan, 

 " the heart ", a well-known deity, corresponding to the Aztec Te- 

 [)eyollotl (Brinton, Calendar, page 24). 



The above are detached fragments of the system of the Maya day 

 gods. But we are now able to see our way more clearly to the recon- 

 struction of this system, inasmuch as the second revised edition of 

 Die Gottergestalten der Mayahandschriften, by Paul Schellhas, has 

 just been issued (Dresden codex, 1897, by Richard Bertling). In 

 this work the distinguished author as far as possible separates the 

 individual gods according to the pictures and the written designation. 

 Furnished with such aids, we will now proceed to join each one of the 

 20 days in their order {g to ««, figure 112) to the respective deities, 

 ignoring everything on the right and left of our path which does 

 not further this end. 



1. Kan, g. Brinton, Calendar, page 24, also gives Kanan, which 

 seems to me to be the more primitive form, for kan means yellow and 

 ripe, and kanan (derived from it) is probably the yellow maize kernel 

 after it has become ripe. The Tzental form for the day, Ghanan, 

 corresponds to this, for in the Tzental vocabulary of Pater Lara, ghan 

 is the maize ear (see Brinton's Primer, pages 62, 123). The Aztec 

 meaning of the day name does not concern us, but among the Nahuas 

 of Meztitlan the day is actually called Xilotl, "ear of corn" (see 

 Brinton, Calendar, page 25). 



Hence it is safe to assume that E is the deity belonging to this day, 

 in whose picture we plainly see the kan symbol, which is itself 

 nothing but a maize kernel, and the sprouting maize plant (see 

 Schellhas, Gottergestalten, page 19). 



