244 DAY SYMBOLS OF THE MAYA YEAR [ETH. ANN. 16 
is not positively certain, but the presence of the numeral 11 with the 
symbol, and in some instances the dotted lines on the body of the deity, 
indicate that the two are identical. Whether this deity glyph bears 
any relation to the day symbol is, however, doubtful. The only names 
of Maya deities I find with bulue (“‘eleven”) as a prefix are Ahbulue 
Balam and Bulue-Ahau (?). The first, which signifies “‘He of the 
Eleven Tigers,” was one of the idols made at the festival of the new 
year Cauac. On one of the four plates of the Dresden Codex repre- 
senting the festivals of the new year (26a) we observe that the image 
carried by the chae is a tiger-like animal marked with dotted lines, 
Whether this is to be connected with the deity above mentioned is 
doubtful. The other name, Bulue-Ahau, mentioned by Landa, is the 
name of one of the signs of the Katun given in his figure of the cycle, 
and, although he uses the word ‘‘idol,” does not appear to refer to any 
particular deity. 
In regard to the names of the first three calendars, Dr Seler remarks 
as follows: 
E, ye signifies ‘the edge,” ‘‘sharpness,” “the noteh;” eb, ebil, ebal, yebal, ‘a row 
of notches,” ‘flight of steps,” ‘‘stairs.’ In Quiche-Cakechiquel e signifies ‘the 
tooth,” ‘the edge;” ce is the plural form in Cakchiquel of the word, as eeb of the 
Quiche; ewob is also a plural form in the Tzental, as I think, froma singular eu-ee. The 
name must denote the same thing in all the languages, i. e., ‘a row of teeth,” “flight 
of steps” —a signification which harmonizes excellently with many Mexican forms of 
the character [plate Lxv1, 12] as well as with the Meztitlan name of it (itlan, ‘‘his 
tooth”). 
Dr Brinton says that “in Maya eb is the plural of e, which means 
‘points’ or ‘ends,’ like those of pins or thorns, and plainly was intended 
to designate the broom by reference to its numerous points. From the 
same idea, rows of teeth received the same name. The Tzental and 
Quiche names e and ewobh—the latter a plural—were from the same radi- 
cal and had the same signification.” He says the Nahuatl and Zapotee 
names both signify the brush or broom of twisted twigs, or stiff grass 
used for cleaning and dusting, and also this grass itself. Thus he 
brings the names of the five calendars intoharmony. This explanation 
corresponds with that given by Clavigero of the Mexican term, which 
he says is the name of a certain plant of which brooms were made. 
I am inclined to believe the symbol in this instance is a mere picto- 
graph intended to represent the tip of some lanceolate leaf, the dots 
denoting the hairs along the edge. The tips cf the “treed grass,” as 
shown in the symbolic representation of Zacatla (“‘ Nombres Geograficos” 
by Penatfiel; plate Lxv1, 13), would give precisely the dot-bordered tooth 
in the symbol. It is to be observed, however, that the Mexican symbol 
for this day, the usual form of which is shown in LXVI, 14, is essentially 
different and has joined with the green blades the skeleton underjaw. 
In some instances, as at Malinaltepec (‘‘ Nombres Geograficos”), the 
entire skull is added. A more elaborate form of the symbol, from the 
Borgian Codex plate 26, is given in Lxv1,15. Here the skeleton jaw is 
