JuLy 8, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



25 



The human race is greatly handicapped by the presence 

 of a good number of people who strenuously object to being 

 disturbed. During a decade, generation, or century these 

 good but sometimes unpleasant people plant themselves 

 along certain lines in the domain of science or politics or 

 religion, proclaiming essentially that "here and here only is 

 the truth, and here we fix ourselves forever." After awhile 

 they somewhat unwillingly and with no very good grace 

 move forward into a new position, again honestly affirming 

 and believing that the end has been reached. A better 

 knowledge and a broader human sympathy would reveal to 

 them the hitherto unsuspected fact that truth may at the 

 same time be here and there. 



In the dissemination of this knowledge and the cultivation 

 of this sympathy, science should lead, not follow. No sci- 

 entific organization so young in years has done more along 

 these lines, especially by reason of its extensive membership 

 and the vigor and enthusiasm of its branches, than the so- 

 ciety over whose deliberations during the past year I have 

 been permitted to preside. 



For the honor thus bestowed I beg now to make my for- 

 mal and grateful acknowledgements. 



EEMAEKS UPON THE GRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE 

 ANCIENT MAYAS. 



BY HILBOBNE T. CRESSON, A.M., M.D. 



A Maya hieroglyph may be a single character by which a 

 meaning is expressed by the sound of the name of the thing 

 represented, or it may have a number of components that 

 convey by a similar method a series of ideas. The 'glyphs 

 of Kukuitz and of Cauac in the Codex Troano are examples, 

 and another is that over the figure of Kukulcan, or Ikilcab, 

 the so-called long-nosed god, of whom representations appear 

 so frequently in the different Maya codices. 



The figures of gods, with their headdresses and the objects 

 represented by the Maya scribes in the Codex Troano and 

 other manuscripts, may be composed of a series of hiero- 

 glyphic elements suggesting the names of gods and their 

 attributes or of some of the various characters which they 

 impersonate. An example of this is the head-dress of the 

 long-nosed god of the Codex Troano, which reads Ikilcab, 

 while his girdle expresses by phonetic elements the name 

 Kukuitz, who seems also to have been Kukulcan, Ikilcab or 

 Cauac, and Itzamna. It is not improbable that Kukuitz, 

 Kukulcan, Ikilcab, and Itzamna is the Hunakbu, or one 

 God spoken of in the Codex Troano and referred to on the 

 hieratic tablets, Casa No. 2, Palenque. 



I notice that in the photographs of the ancient cities of 

 Yucatan and other portions of Central America, that which 

 we have hitherto considered as architectural ornamentation 

 of Maya design is ikonomatic decoration, and a notable in- 

 stance is the name Chi-chen-itza on the palaces of that 

 ancient city, which are repeatedly recalled by Chi and itza, 

 and less frequently by repetitions of the word Chen. I make 

 this assertion subject to further alteration and improvement, 

 as I have not examined the buildings themselves, being 

 obliged to depend upon bad photographs and still worse 

 wood-cuts. 



The hieroglyphs and ikonomatic ornamentations of Pa- 

 lenque, Chi-chen-itza, Labna, Tikul, Lorillard City, and 

 Copan, judging by photographs taken at these places, seem 

 to be allied to one another, but those of Uxmal are more 

 archaic, with the exception of Copan. 



The plan I have adopted in my analysis of the various 

 components of a 'glyph, those standing for the sounds of the 

 names of the things represented, is based upon the idea that 

 the Maya script, both hieratic and demotic, is similar to the 

 higher grade of picture-writing suggested by M. Aubin, in 

 his analysis of the name Itz-co-atl, — represented by the con- 

 ventional sign for water, obsidian attachments to the shaft 

 of the arrow, and a vase or pot, — which by reference to his 

 work will more fully appear. 



Proceeding upon this plan, I endeavored to analyze Landa's 

 Key, and have found that the Maya scribe simply gave 

 'glyphs, whether simple or combined together, that carried 

 out Landa's pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet, by means 

 of characters which stood for the sounds of the names of 

 these letters. 



The hieroglyph of a tarantula or centipede, figured in the 

 Troano plates — a claw pinching a rope attached to the foot 

 of a deer-like animal, and also a hand attached to the same 

 insect-like figure in the act of pinching — suggested the vari- 

 ous curved 'glyphs of the verb CH (Maya, to bite), which 

 are, I believe, in connection with the parrot 'glyph. Moo, a 

 part of the primitive elements of the Maya alphabet. From 

 this I have obtained Cha, Cha (or Che), Chi, Cho, Chu, and 

 from the Moo (parrot) 'glyph has been obtained a, e, i, o, u. 

 This system has been applied successfully to the rendering 

 of the components of the day-signs of the Troano manuscript 

 and those of the Chilan Balaam of Kaua, using Dr. Brinton's 

 plates for the work — those published in his essay upon the 

 books of "Chilan Balaam," pages 16 and 17. 



In several cases certain 'glyphs, such as that of Ikilcab, 

 Cauac, and Itzamna, have suggested meanings so clearly 

 expressed that the words were easily found in the vacubu- 

 lary of the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, and had such a 

 strong resemblance to objects and 'glyphs carried by the 

 figures to which they belonged, that I venture to think the 

 alphabet which I have arranged will eventually work suc- 

 cessfully. It is based upon studies of the hieratic script 

 made while at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in 1875-76-77, and 

 work done on the Troano script in 1880; these researches 

 being thrown aside and recommenced since Jan. 1, 

 1892. 



Although Dr. Thomas and myself have proceeded in 

 methods totally different from each other, and have never 

 yet met to make comparisons, in quite a number of cases our 

 methods have shown like results. I have mailed Professor 

 D. G. Brinton, and the first named gentleman, proof of this 

 similarity of interpretation, and may also add that before I 

 received a copy of Professor Thomas's " Key " I had mailed, 

 and I venture to say both these gentlemen had received, my 

 analysis and arrangement of the Maya signs of orientation, 

 viz., Chikin, West; Lakin, East; Schaman, North; Nohol, 

 South. My arrangement of these signs corresponds to that 

 of de Eosny and Thomas. The first sign of orientation on 

 the list was determined by the C''i 'glyph. 



I mention the correspondence of my work with that of 

 Professor Thomas to show that this similarity of interpreta- 

 tion, referred to, cannot be the result of mere guess- 

 work. 



The aspirates and signs of repetition and the determinatives 

 of the Maya Graphic System are most important, and I give 

 them as Landa expresses it, and also by dotted lines in cir- 

 cles and curves. The phonetic value of the curve in the 

 Maya alphabet is one of its strongest elements. Most of the 

 characters in the key I have arranged are based on it and 

 other natui-al suggestions of animate and inanimate nature — 



