The reduction of units of the higher orders to units of the first order has been explained on pages 105-133, but in order to provide the student with this same information in a more condensed and accessible form, it is presented in the following tables, of which Table XIII is to be used for reducing numbers to their primary units in the inscriptions, and Table XIV for the same purpose in the codices. {135} TABLE XIII. VALUES OF HIGHER PERIODS IN TERMS OF LOWEST, IN INSCRIPTIONS 1 great cycle = [90]2,880,000 1 cycle 144,000 1 katun 7,200 1 tun 360 1 uinal 20 1 kin 1 TABLE XIV. VALUES OF HIGHER PERIODS IN TERMS OF LOWEST, IN CODICES 1 unit of the 6th place = 2,880,000 1 unit of the 5th place 144,000 1 unit of the 4th place 7,200 1 unit of the 3d place 360 1 unit of the 2d place 20 1 unit of the 1st place 1 It should be remembered, in using these tables, that each of the signs for the periods therein given has its own particular numerical value, and that this value in each case is a multiplicand which is to be multiplied by the numeral attached to it (not shown in Table XIII). For example, a 3 attached to the katun sign reduces to 21,600 units of the first order (3×7,200). Again, 5 attached to the uinal sign reduces to 100 units of the first order (5×20). In using Table XIV, however, it should be remembered that the position of a numeral multiplier determines at the same time that multiplier's multiplicand. Thus a 5 in the third place indicates that the 5's multiplicand is 360, the numerical value of the third place, and such a term reduces to 1,800 units of the first place (5×360=1,800). Again, a 10 in the fourth place indicates that the 10's multiplicand is 7,200, the numerical value corresponding to the fourth place, and such a term reduces to 72,000 units of the first place. Having reduced all the terms of a number to units of the 1st order, the next step in finding out its meaning is to discover the date from which it is counted. This operation gives rise to the _second step_. SECOND STEP IN SOLVING MAYA NUMBERS Find the date from which the number is counted: This is not always an easy matter, since the dates from which Maya numbers are counted are frequently not expressed in the texts; consequently, it is clear that no single rule can be formulated which will cover all cases. There are, however, two general rules which will be found to apply to the great majority of numbers in the texts: _Rule 1._ When the starting point or date is expressed, usually, though not invariably, it precedes[91] the number counted from it.