Page PLATE LXIV. Copies of glyphs from the codices 208 LXV. Copies of glyphs from the codices 226 LXVI. Copies of glyphs from the codices 242 LXVII. Copies of glyphs from the codices 252 LXVIII. Copies of glyphs from the codices 260 LXIX. Shell bearing Maya glyphs 262 DAY SYMBOLS OF THE MAYA YEAR BY CYRUS THOMAS INTRODUCTORY As the origin and signification of the day and month, names of the Maya calendar, and of the symbols used to represent these time periods, are now being discussed by students of Mexican and Central American paleography, I deem it advisable to present the result of my investigations in this line. The present paper, however, will be limited to the days only, as I have but little to add in regard to the month names or symbols. As the conclusion reached by Drs Seler and Brinton in regard to the order and sequence of the days of the month in the different calendars appears to be satisfactorily established, it will be accepted. As frequent allusion is made herein to the phoneticism or phonetic value of the written characters or hieroglyphs, it is proper that the writer's position on this point should be clearly understood. He does not claim that the Maya scribes had reached that advanced stage where they could indicate each letter-sound by a glyph or symbol. On the contrary, he thinks a symbol, probably derived in most cases from an older method of picture writing, was selected because the name or word it represented had as its chief phonetic element a certain consonant sound or syllable. If this consonant element were _b_, the symbol would be used where _b_ was the prominent consonant element of the word to be indicated, no reference, however, to its original signification being necessarily retained. Thus the symbol for _cab_, "earth," might be used in writing _Caban_, a day name, or _cabil_, "honey," because _cab_ is their chief phonetic element.