anything
ends), horns, or he who has horns, the devil; _xulbil_, jests,
tricks, deviltry. We see, therefore, that this word contains
doubtless a reference to something unholy, uncanny, demoniac. To
the Central Americans the bat was not merely a nocturnal animal.
The Popol-Vuh speaks of a Zo'tzi-ha, "bat house," one of the five
regions of the underworld. There dwells the Cama-zo'tz, "the
death-bat," the great beast that brings death to all who approach
it, and also bites off the head of Hunapu.

Instead of having to surmise this fancied relation, I think the
explanation is to be found in the fact that similarity in the form of
the glyph is indicative of a similarity in the sounds of the words
represented. Here the _ch_ becomes _x_ (sh).

Dr Seler also calls attention in this connection to the animal figures
in Dres. 36a and elsewhere, which are "represented as plunging down
from heaven with torches in their paws, and fire also issuing from the
tassel-like ends of their tails, which doubtless denote the lightning,
the death-dealing servant of the Chac." By the mention of this last
word--_chac_--Dr Seler has shown that correct reasoning by a different
line leads to precisely the same result as that which appeals to the
phonetic or ikonomatic character of the symbol. Here again the _ch_
sound appears as the chief element of the character. The rain or field
deities, the chacs, are usually represented in the codices as dog or
panther like animals; and _chuac_, "the tempest," and, according to
Henderson, _chac_ also, signifies lightning. But the relation of figures
and phonetic value includes also the animal; _chacbolay_, "a savage
tiger, a young lion" (Perez); _chacboay_, "a leopard" (Henderson);
_chacoh_, "a leopard;" _chacekel_, "a tiger, jaguar;" _chac-ikal_, "the
storm, the tempest." The similar figures in Tro. 32c probably symbolize
the dry burning season which parches and withers the corn. The word is
probably _choco_, _chocou_, or some related form.

THE FOURTH DAY

Maya, _kan_ or _kanan_; Tzental, _ghanan_; Quiche-Cakchiquel, _k'at_
(_k'ate_, _k'atic_, _gatu_); Zapotec, _guache_ or _gueche_; Nahuatl,
_cuetzpallin_.

The Maya symbol of this day is subject to but few and slight variations.
The principal forms are shown in plates LXIV, 57, to LXV, 3. That given
by Landa is presented in plate LXIV, 57. The forms in the codices are
shown in plates LXIV, 58; LXV, 1, 2, 3, tha