he yellow frond or silk of maize.

[Illustration: FIG. 39.[TN-11]]

Symbol, according to Dr. Schellhas, of the deity which he names "the
god with face crossed by lines," found in all the codices, but most
frequently in the Manuscript Troano and the Cortesian manuscript.
The deity is usually represented as in Fig. 387.

[Illustration: FIG. 387. The god with face crossed by lines.]

This is introduced here on the authority of Dr. Schellhas, although I
have considerable doubt as to the correctness of his conclusion.

He remarks in regard to it as follows:

Another characteristic and easily recognized deity, which, it is
true, is comparatively rare in the Dresden manuscript, but occurs
with extraordinary frequency in other codices, and whose sign it is
not hard to find, is the god whose face is crossed [surrounded] by
peculiar parallel lines, representations of whom are given in the
Cortesian Codex (p. 11, below) and Dresden Codex (p. 13, middle).
The deity is always male and is found in the Dresden Codex five
times, Cortesian Codex eighteen times, Manuscript Troano twenty
times, and Codex Peresianus five times.

The sign of this god, as was the case with the others and as seems
to be the general rule, consists merely of a representation of the
god's head, combined with a sign which probably represents an affix.
The sign is found wherever the deity is represented and is an exact
rendering of the god's head, so that there can be no doubt as to its
being the name hieroglyph. True variations are not found, the
hieroglyph being perfectly alike in all the manuscripts.

The nature of this deity is not easily determined, though it occurs
in the Codices Troano and Cortesianus with extraordinary frequency,
so that it would be seen that these two manuscripts, which evidently
belong together, treat principally of this deity. No analogous deity
is found in Aztec picture writing. * * * To all appearances we have
here a momentous figure of Maya mythology, of which, unfortunately,
we know nothing.

It is true that this symbol is found in almost every instance where the
figure of the god appears--in fact, with fewer exceptions than others in
reference to which there is probably little doubt. It is also true that
the symbol is an exact copy of the god's head; but on the other hand
there are strong reas