211
In what order are the hieroglyphs read? 221
The card catalogue of hieroglyphs 223
Comparison of plates I and IV (Copan) 224
Are the hieroglyphs of Copan and Palenque identical? 227
Huitzilopochtli, Mexican god of war, etc. 229
Tlaloc, or his Maya representative 237
Cukulean or Quetzalcoatl 239
Comparison of the signs of the Maya months 243

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 48.--The Palenquean Group of the Cross 221
49.--Statue at Copan 224
50.--Statue at Copan 225
51.--Synonymous Hieroglyphs from Copan and Palenque 227
52.--Yucatec Stone 229
53.--Huitzilopochtli (front) 232
54.--Huitzilopochtli (side) 232
55.--Huitzilopochtli (back) 232
56.--Miclantecutli 232
57.--Adoratorio 233
58.--The Maya War-God 234
59.--The Maya Rain-God 234
60.--Tablet at Palenque 234

STUDIES IN CENTRAL AMERICAN PICTURE-WRITING.

BY EDWARD S. HOLDEN.

I.

Since 1876 I have been familiar with the works of Mr. JOHN L. STEPHENS
on the antiquities of Yucatan, and from time to time I have read works
on kindred subjects with ever increasing interest and curiosity in
regard to the meaning of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the stones and
tablets of Copan, Palenque, and other ruins of Central America. In
August, 1880, I determined to see how far the principles which are
successful when applied to ordinary cipher-writing would carry one in
the inscriptions of Yucatan. The difference between an ordinary
cipher-message and these inscriptions is not so marked as might at first
sight appear. The underlying principles of deciphering are quite the
same in the two cases.

The chief difficulty in the Yucatec inscriptions is our lack of any
definite knowledge of the nature of the records of the abori