MORLBY] INTEODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEEOGLYPHS 161 



At this point there are several checks which the student may apply 

 to his result in order to test the accuracy of his calculations; for 

 instance, in the present example if 115, the difference between 365 

 and 250 (115 + 250 = 365) is counted forward from position 13 Ceh, po- 

 sition 8 Cumhu will be reached if our calculations were correct. This 

 is true because there are only 365 positions in the year, and having 

 reached 13 Ceh in counting forward 250 from 8 Cumhu, counting the 

 remaining 115 days forward from day reached by 250, that is, 13 Ceh, 

 we should reach our starting point (8 Cumhu) again. Another good 

 check in the present case would be to coimt backward 250 from 

 13 Ceh; if our calculations have been correct, the starting point 

 8 Cumhu will be reached. Still another check, which may be applied 

 is the following: From Table VII it is clear that the da}^ sign Ahau 

 can occupy only positions 3, 8, 13, or 18 in the divisions of the year;^ 

 hence, if in the above case the coefficient of Ceh had been any other 

 number but one of these four, our calculations would have been 

 incorrect. 



We come now to the final step (see step 5, p. 151), the actual finding 

 of the glyphs in our text which represent the two parts of the ter- 

 minal date — the day and its corresponding position in the year. If 

 we have made no arithmetical errors in calculations and if the text 

 itself presents no irregular and unusual features, the terminal date 

 recorded should agree wdth the terminal date obtained by calculation. 



It was explained on page 152 that the two parts of an Initial- 

 series terminal date are usually separated from each other by several 

 intervening glyphs, and further that, although the day part follows 

 immediately the last period glyph of the number (the kin glyph), 

 the month part is not recorded until after the close of the Supplemen- 

 tary Series, usually a matter of six or seven glyphs. Returning to 

 our text (pi. 6, A), we find that the kins are recorded in A5, therefore 

 the day part of the terminal date should appear in B5. The glyph 

 in B5 quite clearly records the day 4 Ahau by means of 4 dots prefixed 

 to the sign sho\\Ti in figure 16, e'-g' , wliich is the form for the day 

 name Ahau, thereby agreeing with the value of the day part of the 

 termmal date as determined by calculation. So far then we have read 

 our text correctly. Following along the next six or seven glyphs, 

 A6-Cla, which record the Supplementary Series,^ we reach m Cla 

 a sign similar to the forms shown in figure 65. This glyph, which 

 always has a coefficient of 9 or 10, was designated on page 152 the 

 month-sign ''indicator," since it usually immediately precedes the 

 month sign in Initial-series terminal dates. In Cla it has the coeffi- 

 cient 9 (4 dots and 1 bar) and is followed in Clb by the month part 



1 It should be remembered in this connection, as explained on pp. 47, 55, that the positions in the divi- 

 sions of the year which the Maya called a, 8, 13, and 18 correspond in our method of naming the positions 

 of the days in the months to the 4th, 9th, 14th, and 19th positions, respectively. 



2 As stated in footnote 1, p. 152, the meaning of the Supplementary Series has not yet been worked out. 



43508°— Bull. 57—15 11 



