t with the eye (LXV, 3) being
the usual form given in Peresianus; LXV, 4 represents it as found on the
right slab of the Palenque tablet.

The significations of the Maya word _kan_ are various, as "yellow,"
"rope," "hamac," etc, and, according to Dr Brinton, the Tzental _ghanan_
is the same word under a slightly different form. However, he contends
that the original sense is to be found in the Cakchiquel word _k'an_, as
given by Guzman (in a manuscript work in his possession), who says it is
the name applied to the female iguana, or tree lizard. This, it is true,
brings the signification into close correspondence with that of the
Nahuatl term, but it is more than probable that the Maya and Tzental
terms were in use before the application mentioned by Guzman was made by
the Cakchiquel. It is noticeable, however, that in the list from
Taylor's "Te-Ika-a-Maui," presented in the appendix, "lizards" are given
as symbolic of one of the New Zealand days.

[Illustration: PL. LXV COPIES OF GLYPHS FROM THE CODICES]

This interpretation, however, savors too much of an effort to bring the
signification into harmony with the Mexican name. Moreover, it is
difficult to explain the use of the Maya symbol on this theory, as it is
undoubtedly frequently employed to denote the grain of maize. For
example, it represents the seed from which a corn plant is springing, as
on Tro. 29b (see plate LXIV, 32); and one figure in the same division
represents a bird plucking it up, while another shows some small
quadruped seizing it. It is also frequently represented in all the
codices as on a platter or vessel placed as an offering to some
deity, and is often given a yellowish tint in these places. That the
plant which arises from the symbol in these instances is the maize stalk
is admitted by Drs Schellhas and Seler, although they do not seem to
recognize the fact that the symbol represents the grain of maize which
gives birth to the stalk. However, Dr Seler, in his subsequent paper
above referred to, concludes that it refers to the seed, dropping his
former interpretation. Both seem to recognize the whole glyph as a
symbol of the stalk. Concerning this, Dr Seler says:

Indeed, we see in Cod. Mendoza the maize shoot employed to express
the word _acatl_, "reed." I believe that the character _kan_
repeats the Mexican idea, the maize stalk. This explains for us the
reason why the character _kan_, as above pointed out, always