252 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 57 



Most of the numbers, that is (2) and (3), m the tonalamatl are 

 presented in a horizontal row across the page or pages ' of the manu- 

 script, the red alternatmg wdth the black. In some instances, how- 

 ever, the numbers appear in a vertical colunm or pair of columns, 

 though in this case also the same alternation in color is to be ob- 

 served. More rarely the numbers are scattered over the page indis- 

 crimmately, seemingly without fixed order or arrangement. 



It will be noticed in each of the tonalamatls given in the following 

 examples that the record is greatly abbreviated or skeletonized. In 

 the first place, we see no month signs, and consequently the days 

 recorded are not shown to have had any fixed positions in the year. 

 Furthermore, since the year positions of the days are not fixed, any 

 day could recur at intervals of everv' 260 days, or, in other words, 

 any tonalamatl with the divisions peculiar to it could be used in 

 endless repetition throughout time, commencmg anew every 260 

 days, regardless of the positions of these days in succeeding years. 

 Nor is tliis omission the only abbreviation noticed in the presentation 

 of the tonalamatl. Although every tonalamatl contained 260 days, 

 only the days commencing its divisions and subdivisions appear in 

 the record, and even these are represented in an abbreviated form. 

 For example, instead of repeating the numerical coefficients \\ith each 

 of the day signs in (1), the coefficient was written once above the 

 column of day signs, and ui this i)Osition was regarded as belong- 

 ing to each of the different day signs in turn. It follows from this 

 fact that all the main di\dsions of the tonalamatl begin with days the 

 coefficients of which are the same. Concerning the beginning days 

 of the subdivisions, a still greater abbreviation is to be noted. The 

 day signs are not shown at all, and only their numerical coefficients 

 appear in the record. The economy of space resulting from the 

 above abbreviations in writing the days will appear veiy clearly in 

 the texts to follow. 



In reading tonalamatls the first point to be determined is the name 

 of the day with which the tonalamatl began. This will be found thus: 



Rule 1. To find the beginning day of a tonalamatl, prefix the fu-st 

 red number, which wiU usually be found immediately above the col- 

 umn of the day signs, to the uppermost ^ day sign in the column. 



From this day as a starting point, the first black number in the text 

 is to be counted forward; and the coefficient of the day reached will 

 be the second rod number in the text. As stated above, the day 

 signs of the beginning days of the subdivisions are always omitted. 

 From the second red number, which, as we have seen, is the coeffi- 



1 The codices are folded like a screen or fan, and when opened form a continuous strip sometimes several 

 yards in length. As will appear later, in many cases one tonalamatl runs across several pages of the 

 manuscript. 



2If there should be two or moro cokimns of day signs the topmost sign of the left-hand column is to he 

 read first. 



