ssary. It has seemed best, however, to continue with its
publication inasmuch as its field is narrower and more space is devoted
to the Maya side of the question to the exclusion of the Mexican. Dr.
Seler, on the other hand, while by no means neglecting the Maya, has
spent more time in explaining the Mexican figures.

I

SYNOPTIC CONSIDERATION OF THE MEANING AND OCCURRENCE OF ANIMAL FORMS

Before taking up the different animals in the codices it may be well to
consider some of the more common ways in which the figures occur and
their connection with the surrounding figures.

MANNER OF REPRESENTATION. The entire body of the animal may be
represented realistically or the head alone may be shown. The animal
head is frequently attached to a human body. The animal may appear
conventionalized to a greater or less extent and the head in turn may
change in the same way until only a single characteristic of the animal
remains by which to identify it as, for example, the spots of the jaguar
or the feathering around the eye of the macaw. In the case of the
glyphs, a term employed to designate the regular and usually square
characters appearing in lines or columns throughout the codices and
inscriptions, we find both the realistic drawing and that where
conventionalism has come in.

THE TONALAMATL. The Maya codices are made up, for the most part, of the
records of the sacred period of two hundred and sixty days, a period
called in Nahuatl, _tonalamatl_, and other numerical calculations. The
_tonalamatl_ was used for purposes of divination in order to find out
whether good or bad fortune was in store for an individual. It is not
necessary at this place to go into the different means taken to record
this period of time or its methods of use. It may be well, however, to
explain the usual distribution of the pictures in the codices, including
those of animals, in connection with the representation of the
_tonalamatl_. A normal period is shown in Dresden 6c-7c. A column of
five day signs occurs in the middle of 6c with a single red dot over it.
To the right of this column stretches a horizontal line of numbers
consisting of alternate groups of black and red lines and dots. Under
each pair of red and black numbers there is usually a human form and
over each pair a group of four glyphs belonging to the figure below.
Schellhas (1904) has classified the various figures of gods appearing in
these vignettes of the _tonalamatl_ an