306 ANIMAL FIGURES IN THE MAYA CODICES 



anthropoid cast to the figure. The shght projections along the 

 sides of the body in PI. 4, fig. 2, probably do not represent the 

 legs. In another drawing (Tro-Cortesianus 44b) these are also 

 present but further reduced so as not to exceed the heavy fringe 

 of spines surrounding the body. In PL 4, fig. 1 , the fringe alone 

 appears. The formidable nature of the scorpion is of course 

 due to the poisonous sting at the tip of the attenuated abdomen 

 or ''tail." In the Maya pictures this portion is usually shown 

 as a grasping organ. Thus in fig. 1 it is similar to the chela and 

 holds a cord by which a deer has been caught. In fig. 2 the 

 "tail" is terminated by a hand. The same thing is seen in Tro- 

 Cortesianus 44b where the hand seizes a cord by which a deer 

 is snared. The scorpion is represented in the drawings with a 

 conventionaUzed face that is very characteristic. The facial 

 disc is divided into three parts by a median area of straight or 

 irregular lateral boundaries ending anteriorly in two in-turned 

 scrolls suggesting the alae of the nose. A circular eye is pres- 

 ent in each of the lateral divisions of the face while from the 

 oral region projects a forked tongue. 



It is of course hazardous to attempt a specific identification 

 of these figures but, as pointed out by Stempell (1908, p. 739), 

 there are two large scorpions in Yucatan {Centruroides margari- 

 tatus and C. gracilis) which are probably the species pictured in 

 the codices. 



The representations of the scorpion in the Tro-Cortesianus 

 are almost always associated with scenes of the hunt. 

 As the deer is caught in a trap so Forstemann considers that 

 PL 4, fig. 1, shows a trap with five appHances, the ''tail" one 

 alone being effective. Brinton (1895, p. 75) notes that the 

 Mayas apphed the term sinaan ek, "scorpion stars" to a certain 

 constellation and suggests that it was derived from the Span- 

 iards. There is certainly some association between the scorpion 

 and water as, in Tro-Cortesianus 7a, the fore and hind legs of 

 the animal enclose a body of water. The scorpion "tail" alone 

 appears in Tro-Cortesianus 31a and 82a as the tail of a god. Its 

 significance is difficult to make out. Destruction is indicated 

 by the scorpion in the Aubin manuscript as suggested by Seler 

 (1900-1901, p. 71). 



