August 5, 1892,] 



SCIENCE. 



n 



of comfort and convenience of living:, there are none of the 

 seaside laboratories vphich are so fortunately situated as the 

 one at Pacific Grove. 



The views from the windows of the laboratory are singu 

 larly picturesque and attractive. On the east is seen the 

 long curve of Monterey Bay, bordered by white sand-dunes 

 covered with deep green chapparal, the dark pine trees of 

 Pacific Grove, and the rocky promontory of Point Alones 

 with its Chinese fishing camp in the foreground, and in the 

 distance the mountains which separate the valley of Monterey 

 from that of San Benito. On the west the irregular coast- 

 line is visible as far as the point of pines, and on the north 

 the broad sweep of the bay-shore is in sight as far as the 

 lighthouse of Santa Cruz. The Bay of Monterey, with its 

 surroundings of rock, forest, and mountain, is one of the 

 most picturesque in the world, and to the eye of the natur- 

 alist it has no equal, at least short of the coral-lined harbors 

 of the tropics. 



THE ANTENNA AND STING OF YIKILCAB AS COM- 

 PONENTS IN THE MAYA DA.Y-SIGNS. 



BY H. T. CRESSON, AM., M.D. 



Bee-Culture among the ancient Mayas seems to have 

 received considerable attention, and the apiarists, we are told, 

 liad patrons, — the Bacabs, — one oft whom, called Hobnil, 

 was in especial favor. It was in the month Tzoz that the 

 bee keepers began to prepare themselves for their celebration 

 in Tzec, and the four Chacs were at that time presented with 

 plates of incense, one for each Chac, the borders of which 

 were painted around with designs representing the honey- 

 comb. 



The species of bee which prepared the celebrated honey of 

 Estabentdm, from a white flower resembling our jessamine, 

 is like the common bee of Europe in shape and size, and 

 •differs from it only in having no sting; it is in fact the bee 

 of Yucatan and Chiapas, and the honey which was prepared, 

 -especially durins; the month when the EstabentCim bloomed, 

 was much souglit after in early times, and no doubt formed 

 an important article of commerce between the inhabitants of 

 Maiam and the island that is now called Cuba. Four or 

 five other species of bee are said to exist in Yucatan, but, 

 vrith a few exceptions, their productions are inferior to the 

 Isee common to that country and Chiapas. 



That the honey-bee was highly esteemed by the ancient 

 Mayas there is but little doubt; for we see this industrious 

 insect represented in various portions of the "Bee-Keeper's 

 Narrative" of the Codex Troano, while honey in the comb 

 is represented by the Maya scribe as square cakes of that 

 material (see Fig. 9, plate), carried in the hand of the "god 

 with the old man's face," — so named to distinguish him 

 from other gods who were represented in the same narra- 

 tive. Honey is represented by other hieroglyphs, one of 

 which, shown in Fig. 8 of the drawing, has an especial con- 

 nection with the antennas sign, and we will presently refer 

 to it. If our alphabet interprets with a reasonable degree 

 of exactitude, we suppose the god with the old man's face to 

 be Kukuitz, who appears in one of his various characters as 

 the patron of the bee-keepers. The phonetic components of 

 the hieroglyph which invariably accompanies this god, sug- 

 gest this interpretation. In front of the glyph we have 

 components of the day-signs Chuen and Akbal enclosed in 

 the dotted aspirate circle, while below it are Landa's aspirates 

 twice, and even in some cases thrice repeated. This gives 

 us "chu-chu " or " khu-khu." Within the glyph, surround- 



ing the eye, is the scroll which is always present in this 

 god's glyph, and to us suggests the phonetic value of ix or 

 itz. The c'M glyph is generally placed underneath what we 

 have assumed to be used as a determinative; the two round 

 glyphs on either side of the tooth-like projections inside of 

 the c\ glyph suggest that in this ease it is to be used as 

 Chu. I find tbis c*"! glyph appearing as cha, cha, c*"!, cho, 

 chu, a determinative being generally added to suggest which 

 is to be used, whether it be a — a — i — o — u. An example 

 of one of these supposed determinatives will be given further 

 on in this paper. 



The sting of the bee is used in the day-sign yk or ik (see 

 Fig. 7 of drawing), and appears quite frequently in glyph 

 form in the Troano, also in Landa's day-signs and those of 

 the Chilan Balaam of Kaua, and is attached to the body of 

 the ahaulil-cab, who so frequently appears in the Troano 

 with body erect as if ready to strike with her stinging appa- 

 ratus (Fig. 10 of drawing). It can readily be seen that this 

 sting is but a variant of that used in the day-sign ik (Fig. 7 

 of drawing). It can also be seen attached to the right-hand 

 side of the head-dress of the goddess Cab, second division of 

 plate 25, Codex Troano. The end of the bee's abdomen and 

 the stinging apparatus (Fig. 3 of drawing) is somewhat 

 square like those of the Codex Troano (Bee-Keeper's Narra- 



tive) ; but it is easily recognized as a variant of glyphs 

 7 and 10 of our drawing. The determinative ending 

 is placed just beyond the stinging apparatus, and is com- 

 posed of the i loop and kil; the dotted aspirate also appears, 

 and the hd glyph is the parallel line running out from the 

 il curve — '' ish kil-hS, " is thus expressed, an admirable 

 suggestion of " Ikilca " (6 is understood). 



The antennse of the bee appear in the day-sign Cauac; in 

 fact the signs yk (or ik). Cauac, and Caban, all have the sting 

 and antennae of the bee as components. This connection 

 will be more apparent by reference to Dr. D. G. Brinton's 

 study of the "Books of Chilan Balaam," pages 16 and 17. 

 The day-sign 13 Caban, in the Chilan Balaam of Kaua. has 

 the antenuffi of the bee for its components, and 2 Cauac and 

 5th ik have the antennse and sting, one more component 

 appearing in 2d Cauac than in 5th yk. These same signs iu 

 the Landa and Troano columns of Brinton's plates have the 

 honey signs, and the antennae and hive, all used as phonetic 

 components of the glyph, that of Landa and the Codex 

 Troano rendering the word ikilcab with great simplicity. It 

 is expressed thus, "x-il-cab," the dotted sh, or x aspirate, 

 being added to assist the reader in obtaining the correct in- 

 terpretation. The Cauac glyph also appears in the bas-re- 

 lief of Kukuitz, the left-hand slab alongside of the doorway, 

 Casa No. 3, Palenque. By placing a lens on a good photo- 

 graph of this masterpiece of the scribe sculptor's art, the an- 

 tennas of the bee can be seen attached to the honey-sign (Fig. 

 1 of the drawing shows this glyph), the autennse being at- 



