Moiu.RYl INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 189 



Tho Initial-series number itself appears in Bl-B.3. The cycle sign 

 is a grotesque bird, designated by Mr. Bowditcli a parrot, an identifi- 

 cation which the hooked beak and claws strongly suggest. The 

 essential element of the cycle sign, however, the clasped iiand, appears 

 only in the head of this bird, where tho student will readily find it. 

 Indeed, the head of this full-figure form is nothing more nor less than 

 a head-variant cycle glyph, and as such determines the meaning of 

 the whole figure. Compare this head with figure 25, d-f, or with any 

 of the other head-variant cycle forms figured in the preceding texts. 

 This grotesque ''cyfcle bird," perhaps the parrot, is bound to the back 

 of an anthropomorpliic figure, which we have every reason to suppose 

 records tlie cycle coefhcient. An examination of this figure will show 

 that it has not only tlie dots on tlie lower part of the clieek, but also 

 the beard, both of which are distinctive features of the head for 9. 

 Compare this liead witli figure 52, g-l, or with any other head variants 

 for the numeral 9 already figured. Bearing in mind that the heads 

 only present the determining characteristics of fuU-figure glyphs, the 

 student will easily identify Bl as recording 9 cycles. 



The katun and its coeflicient are represented m A2, the former by 

 a grotesque bird, tm eagle according to Mr. Bowditcli, and the latter 

 by another anthropomorphic figure. The period glyph shows no 

 essential element recognizable as such, and its identification as the 

 katun sign therefore rests on its position, immediately following the 

 cycle sign. The head of the full figure, which represents the katun 

 coefiicient, shows the essential element of the head for 5, the tun 

 headdress. It has also the fleshless lower jaw of the head for 10. 

 The combination of these two elements in one head, as we have seen, 

 indicates the numeral 15, and A2 therefore records 15 katuns. Com- 

 pare the head of this anthropomorphic figure with figure 53, h-e. 



The tun and its coefficient arc represented in B2. The former 

 again appears as a grotesque bird, though in this case of undeter- 

 mined nature. Its head, however, very clearly shows the essential 

 clement of the head-variant tun sign, the fleshless lower jaw. Com- 

 pare this form with figure 29, e-g, and the other li(uid-variant tun 

 signs alnnxdy illustrated. The head of the anthropomorpliic figure, 

 which denotes the tun coefficient, is just like the head of the anthro- 

 pomorphic figure in the preceding glyph (A2), except that in B2 the 

 head has no fleshless lower jaw. 



Since the head in A2 with the fleshless lower jaw and the tun 

 headdress represents the numeral 15, the head in B2 without the 

 former but with the latter represents the numeral 5. Compare the 

 head of the anthropomorphic figure in B2 witli figure 51, fir-s. It is 

 clear, therefore, that 5 tuns are recorded in B2. 



The uinal and its coefficient in A3 are equally clear. The period 

 glypli liere appears as a frog (Maya, uo), which, as W(; have seen else- 



