262 DAY SYMBOLS OF THE MAYA YEAR [ETH. ANN. 16 
The character shown in LXvt, 52, from Tro, 35¢, may possibly be 
correctly rendered by bakah (baakal), “to roll round about, to go round 
about,” alluding to the flight of the vulture figured below the text. 
This supposition appears to be strengthened by the probable interpre- 
tation of the symbol immediately below it (LX VII, 53), malaalahah, 
‘without repeated buffetings.” The character given in LXVIII, 3, from 
Tro. 31a, may be interpreted pak, “to sow seed, to plant,” and that 
shown in LXVIII, 4, from the second division of the same plate, indicates 
the same word, as the transposition of the parts of a symbol does not 
always indicate achange of signification. Possibly, however, its equiv- 
alent may be capak, ‘‘to reseed or sow seed the second time,” or kapak, 
“to place in a trench or hole.” As the persons figured below the text 
appear to be planting seed by dibbling them in with a stick, this would 
seem to be an appropriate rendering. Dr Seler appears to have entirely 
misunderstood these figures, as he thinks they represent the deities 
pouring out water. I have in a previous part of this paper given 
some reasons for believing that these plates refer to the planting and 
cultivation of corn. 
These examples will suftice at this point. 
It is difficult to decide as to the origin of the glyph. However, I am 
inclined to believe it has grown out of a conventional symbol for wood, 
possibly drawn from the little knots and marks seen on the inside sur- 
face of split wood. This may be wide of the true explanation, but all 
the indications I can find point in this direction. As ‘ wood” (le7a) in 
Zotzil (I do not know what it is in Tzental) is ci—equal to ki or qi— 
we obtain the guttural sound which appears to be the chief element of 
the symbol. In its use it appears to shade off from the hard to the soft 
sound. 
The Zapotec name ape, which, according to Dr Brinton, may prop- 
erly be translated by “lightning,” or “the lightning flash,” is much 
like the name for “fire” which prevails throughout Oceanica. Com- 
mencing with the Malay api, we trace it through the Oceanic islands 
in such forms as api, lap, yap, nap, yaf; to New Zealand kapura; Tonga 
and Samoan afi, aud Hawaiian ahi. 
In the Zapotee words laari-api-niza and ri-api-laha, translated *relam- 
page, relampaguear,” we find precisely the original form of the Oceanic 
word for “fire.” 
THE TWENTIETH DAY 
Maya, ahau; Tzental, ughwal; Quiche-Cakchiquel, hunahpu; Zapotec, lao or loo; 
Nahuatl, xochitl. 
The symbol for this day, except where evidently imperfectly drawn, 
is subject to but few and slight changes, that given by Landa corre- 
sponding to the form found in the codices. 
The usual and correct form is shown in LXVIM, 5-7; slight variations 
are seen in LXVIlI,Sand 9, Dr Seler figures several other varieties, but 
