254 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 57 



111 plate 27 is figm-ed page 12 of the Dresden Codex. It wiU be 

 noted that this page is divided into three parts by red division lines ; 

 after the general practice these have been designated a, h, and c, a 

 being apphed to the upper part, b to the middle part, and c to the 

 lower part. Tlius "Dresden 12b" designates the middle part of 

 page 12 of the Dresden Codex, and ''Dresden 15c" the lower part of 

 page 15 of the same manuscript. Some of the pages of the codices 

 are divided into four parts, or again, into two, and some are not 

 divided at aU. The same description applies in all cases, the parts 

 being lettered from top to bottom in the same manner throughout. 



The first tonalamatl presented will be that shown in Dresden 12b 

 (see the middle division in pi. 27). The student wiU readily recog- 

 nize the tlu-ee essential parts mentioned on page 251 : (1) The column 

 of day signs, (2) the red numbers, and (3) the black numbers. Since 

 there are five day signs in the column at the left of the page, it is 

 evident that this tonalamatl has five main divisions. The first point 

 to estabUsh is the day with which this tonalamatl commenced. 

 According to rule 1 (p. 252) this wiU be found by prefixing the first red 

 number to the topmost day sign in the colmnn. The first red number 

 in Dresden 12b stands in the regular position (above the column of 

 day signs) , and is very clearly 1 , that is, one red dot. A comparison 

 of the topmost day sign in this column with the forms of the day signs 

 in figure 17 wiU show that the day sign here recorded is Ix (see fig. 

 17, t), and the opening day of this tonalamatl wiU be, therefore, 1 Ix. 

 The next step is to find the beginning days of the succeeding subdi- 

 visions of tlae first main division of the tonalamatl, which, as we have 

 just seen, commenced with the day 1 Ix. According to r(.de 2 (p. 

 253), the first black number — in this case 13, just to the right of and 

 slightly below the day sign Ix — is to be added to the red number 

 immediately preceding it — in this case 1 — in order to give the coeffi- 

 cient of the day beginning the next subdivision, aU 13s possible 

 being first deducted from the resulting number. Furthermore, this 

 coefficient ^\'ill be the red number next following the black number. 



Applying this rule to the present case, we have: 



1 (first red number) -f- 13 (next black number) = 14. Deducting all 

 the 13s possible, we have left 1 (14-13) as the coefficient of the 

 day beginning the next subdivision of the tonalamatl. This number 

 1 wiU be fomid as the red number immediately following the first 

 black number, 13. To find the corresponding day sign, we must 

 turn to rule 3 (p. 253) and count forward in Table I this same black 

 number, 13, from the preceding day sign, in this case Ix. The day 

 sign reached will be Manik. But since this day begins only a sub- 

 division in this tonalamatl, not one of the main divisions, its day 

 sign will not be recorded, and we have, therefore, the day 1 Manik, 



