THOMAS) SIGNIFICATION OF THE NUMERAL SERIES 297 



Using this remaindei-, wliicli amounts to 1,181,440 days, siibtraetiug 

 from it 62 calendai" rounds or 1,176,760 days, which leaves a balance 

 of 4,680 days, and counting forward from 1 Ahau 18 Uo (the date 

 under tlie left column of the fourth division), we reach 1 Ahau 18 

 Kayab, the date under the final column in the lower left portion of 

 the plate. No doubt, therefore, is left that the coimt in this long 

 series is toward the left and forward in time, and that the 1 Ahau 18 

 Kayab under the final column is 3,744 years later in time than the 

 initial date, which is also 1 Ahau 18 Kayab. 



Counting forward from this terminal date the short series in the 

 extreme lower left-hand column (2,200 days), we reach 4 Ahau 8 

 Cumhu, the date in the corner below this short column. It is certain, 

 therefore, that 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu is the terminal date of the long 

 series on this plate. Is it the "normal date," the same 

 initial 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu from which the series of in- gripl 



scriptions are counted? To show that Goodman's cal- 

 culations agree exactlj' with this result, we have only 

 to count back on his chronological tables from 4 Ahau 

 8 Cumhu, the first day of his o4th great cycle, the 9 

 cycles, !i katuns and 16 ahaus of the final large col- 

 umn and the 6 ahaus of the short column. This will 

 reach 2 Ahau 1-3 Pop, the first day of the 18th ahau 

 of the 9th katuu of the 3rd cycle of his 5.3rd great 

 cycle. Counting back from this the two months of 

 the short column we reach 1 Ahau 18 Kayab, the 

 initial day of the long series of the codex plate. 



This fact will tend to throw a strong doubt on the 

 theorv of Goodman and Seler in regard to the siunifi- 

 cation of the series. Moreover, if we turn to plate ofT) 



Lxx of the codex we see high numbers, some reach- °VGjf 



ing to 8 and others to 9 cycles, one being as high as ^"' ""' <-'"i"°in 



„„ „,-,-,,,, from plate XLiii, 



9-19-11-13-0. These are followed by a short sub- Dresden codes. 

 sidiary series ending with 4 Ahan 8 Cumhu. Here, 

 then, this "normal date" comes after the long series of 3,937 years, 

 and if Seler's idea that the 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu in the texts of plates LXi 

 and LXix is to be connected with the high series in the serpent 

 figure be correct, then it must stand at the commencement of a period 

 extending back from the terminal date some 33,900 years. 



As an example clearly illustrating the statements in the jjreceding 

 pa7-agraph occurs on plate XLiii of the Dresden codex, I shall notice 

 it here before passing from the iDoint under discussion. This consists 

 of a single column shown in figure 166. At the head of the column is 

 the day 3 Laniat; immediately below is a figure with a turned-up 

 nose, probably a conventionalized tapir head, which, as it occupies 

 the same relative position as the great cycle symbol in the inserip- 



