ANIMAL FIGURES IN THE MAYA CODICES 357 



In the Maya manuscripts the jaguar appears in a number 

 of connections. Its mythological character is shown in 

 Dresden 8a (PL 35, fig. 5), where it is pictured as the tonala- 

 matl figure. The day reached here in the reckoning is /a:, 

 and this corresponds to the Nahua Oceolotl, which means 

 jaguar. In Dresden 26, in the pages showing the ceremonies 

 of the years, the jaguar is carried on the back of the priest, 

 evidently representing one of the year bearers {Ti cuch haab), 

 Balam, the name of the jaguar, is the title given to the four 

 Bacabs or Chacs, the gods of the four cardinal points. In 

 Tro-Cortesianus 64a, two jaguar heads are noted as the end 

 of curious bands of Caban signs over a flaming pot. The 

 second one is shown as dead. A jaguar head is employed 

 in two places in the Tro-Cortesianus, 34a and 36a, as a head- 

 dress for a god who is in the act of sowing corn. This animal 

 appears very infrequently in the pages of the Tro-Cortesianus 

 given over to the hunting scenes, 41c, 40c, 43b, and, even 

 here, it never appears in the same way as the deer and peccary, 

 as an animal for sacrifice. 



The jaguar as a predacious beast is noted in Tro-Corte- 

 sianus 28b (PI. 35, fig. 8), where it is attacking god F in a 

 similar way as the vultures in the preceding picture. The 

 jaguar appears in Tro-Cortesianus 30b (PL 35, fig. 10) seated 

 on the right hand of the goddess from whose breasts water 

 is flowing. The figure in Tro-Cortesianus 12b between the 

 various offerings may be a jaguar or a dog, more probably 

 from its connection with an offering, the dog. A curious 

 modification of the jaguar may be shown in Tro-Cortesianus 

 20a (PL 34, fig. 2), where a god is seated on the gaping jaws 

 of some animal whose identity is uncertain. It may be a 

 serpent, although the black-tipped tail from which the head 

 appears to come certainly suggests the jaguar. 



There are several carved glyphs in stone that probably 

 represent jaguars. Two of these (PL 28, fig. 4; PL 35, fig. 9) 

 have the characteristic round spots, but others are unmarked, 

 and suggest the jaguar by their general character only (PL 35, 

 fig. 6). This latter may, of course, represent the puma quite 



