22 A STUDY OF THE MANUSCRIPT TROANO. 



usuall}' of five characters each — at the left of the compartments or spaces, 

 o ooo each column usually with a red numeral over it. For exam- 



ple, in the lowest division of V* the column consists of five 

 characters, as shown here (Fig. o), which denote the days 

 (reading from the top downward) Oc, Ik, Ix, Cimi, and 

 Ezanab. The red numeral at the top is 9. The black nu- 

 meral at the side in the space is three lines or 15. (In this 

 case there is but one of these black numerals in the space 

 or compartment, but usually there are several, and also 

 several red ones.) Now, I take for granted that placing the 

 red numeral at the top of the column is equivalent to apply- 

 ing it to each day in the column, thus: 9 Oc, 9 Ik, 9 Ix, 

 9 Cimi, and 9 Ezanab. There is also one red numeral — 

 Fig. 5. 13 — in the space, as shown in the annexed cut. 



Leaving this last out of consideration for the present, let us proceed 

 upon the supposition that the black numeral signifies the day of the month. 

 Examining our condensed calendar (Table V), we see that of the five days 

 Ezanab is the only one that ever falls on the 15th of the month. As this 

 will be found true of at least two columns out of every three throughout 

 the Manuscript it is apparent that these numerals are not used here for this 

 purpose; but even could all be found on the proper day of the month we 

 would still be without any fixed date. Take, for instance, Ezanab in this 

 case, which does fall on the 16th day of the month in the years commenc- 

 ing with Kan; the figure 9 in the fifteenth transverse line is found in the 

 second column. What month? In the year 1 Kan it is in the second 

 month, in the year 8 Kan it is in the first month, in the year 2 Kan it is in 

 the thirteenth month, and so on throughout the thirteen Kan years. Some 

 may contend that it was not the intention to fix the years, as this is possi- 

 bly the date of some feast or religious ceremony to be observed each yeai*. 

 I answer that, laying aside the insuperable objection already given, even 

 tliis supposition would be erroneous — first, because in the case before us 

 Ezanab falls on the 15th day of the month only once every four j'ears, and 

 with each year the month is changed. But it is unnecessary to discuss this 



