Shell-Tnunpets and their Distribution. 57 



of the neck of the same god. Dieseldorff excavated at 

 Chama, Guatemala, several pieces of pottery with painted 

 or incised representations of the Shell God.^^ At Chitchen 

 Itza, sculptured figures on buildings often have a shell 

 attached to the body. Spinden™ informs us that " in 

 the lower right hand corner of the Foliated Cross at 

 Talenque is a shell in which is partially concealed the 

 Long-nosed God. From the hands of this god issues a 

 plant amid the leaves of which is a face resembling that 

 of the Maize God. The shell in this connection probably 

 appears as an indication of water" (see Fig. 2 on plate 

 facing p. 58). Tlaloc, the Mexican Rain God, is similarly 

 represented in Aztec codices, possibly signifying the dry- 

 ing up of the waters. 



Two interesting figures of the association of the Moon 

 God with the conch-shell are given in the Dresden Maya 

 manuscript.™ In one {Fig. I, plate facing p. 58), the 

 Roman-nosed God ( = D of Schellas) emerges from 

 the shell under the water, whilst the Long-nosed God 

 ( = B of Schellas), identified by some with Chac, the Rain 

 God of the four quarters and the equivalent of Tlaloc 

 of the Mexicans, is seen on the surface of the water 

 holding a fish in one hand. This figure seems to show 

 the close association of these two Maya gods. In 

 other representations we find these gods merging 

 the one into the other ; and in one case Chac, the 

 Rain God, appears as the Moon God. Dr. Elliot Smith 

 claims'"^ that the Maya Chac is the American form of the 



^"^ For figures see Spinden, op. ciL, p. 84, f. Io8b ; Seler, Zeit, fiiy 

 Ethnol., 42, p. 284, f. 1000. 

 "" Spinden, op. cit., p. 84. 



^'"' See Spinden, op. cit., p. 83, f. 108 c & d ; Forstemann, op. ciL, 

 p. 428, f. 105a ; Seler, Z. fur E., 42, p. 2S4, f. 998 and 999b. 



101 " Precolumbian Representations of the Elephant in America," 

 Nature, December 16, 1915. 



