256 DAY SYMBOLS OF THE MAYA YEAR [ETH. ANN. 16 
being a prominent element of both cib and caban. It also has been 
shown that it is not out of place in the woman glyph, under the suppo- 
sition that this is also phonetic, as chup or chupal is the Maya name for 
woman,and the change from ) to p isnot uncommon. It is found in sey- 
eral places as that out of which plants are growing, as LXVII, 16, from 
Tro. 32b. which appears to represent some leguminous plant supported 
by a stake driven into the ground. It is that on which persons are 
sitting Indian fashion, and on which others are lying; again, it is that 
out of which a serpent is arising. <As “earth,” “ground,” will furnish 
an entirely satisfactory explanation in all these cases, there is no appar- 
ent reason why it should not be accepted. As cab has “earth” as one 
of its leading significations, we not only find therein a connection with 
the day name, but also an indication of phoneticism. 
In Cort. 30a is the figure shown at LXv11, 17. The animal represented, 
notwithstanding the quadruped head, is conceded to be intended for 
the serpent. The shading around the vessel, a blotch of which is on 
the serpent’s nose, I take for the clay or paste out of which the vessel 
is being formed, or to be formed. In the division immediately below is 
a representation of what appears to be some step in the manufacture of 
vessels. May this not be correctly interpreted by kancab, “la terra roja 
o amarilla,” or ‘red clay?” Henderson gives cancan as an equivalent 
term of kankan. As I have not seen a copy of the colored edition of 
this codex, I can not say whether this interpretation is borne out by 
the color of the shading. If this interpretation be correct, the serpent 
figure must be used symbolically or as a true rebus. 
In Tro. 9*¢ an individual is represented lifting what is supposed to 
be honey or honeycomb out of a box-shape object on which is the 
caban symbol. This symbol is presumed to indieate the contents— 
“honey.” If this supposition be correct, then, as cab is the Maya name 
for “honey,” we have in this coincidence in sound and glyph another 
indication of phoneticism. Support is given to this interpretation by 
the fact that this is found in what is known as the “bee section,” and 
that on the upper division of the same plate the same figure, with the 
caban symbol upon it, is seen in the hands of an individual who holds 
it to a bee. 
As the character when used otherwise than a day symbol is frequently, 
perhaps most generally, drawn with a suftix, as shown in LXV, 18, I sug- 
gest that it is possible it is a conventional method of representing earth 
or soil. By reference to the Borgian Codex, plate 11, also 19a and 61b, 
it will be seen that where earth is introduced into the picture it is indi- 
cated by heavy and wavy lines, as shown in Lxvit, 19. This bears a 
very strong resemblance to the suffix of Lxvu, 18. The corkscrew or root 
figure is added as appropriate, as an element, in forming an earth figure. 
Such, I am inelined to believe, is the origin of the symbol which, when 
used to indicate anything else than earth, is used phonetically or 
ikonomatically. The figure shown in Lxvu, 20, from Dres. 30a, which 
Seler calls a serpent, is merely the representation of a clay image and 
