significance and to mean “the figurative centre whence all maintenance proceeded and flowed in all directions, throughout the land.” The Borgian Codex furnishes representations of identical meaning. On page 4 a human body, the centre of which forms a large red disc, is stretched across the double tau-shaped tlachtli which obviously represents the four quarters, being painted with their four symbolic colors. It is particularly noteworthy that the limbs of the central figure are represented as wearing the green skin of a lizard, while its face is enclosed in the open jaws of the reptile. It should also be noted here that whilst the Nahuatl names are cuetz-palin and topitzin, the Maya term for lizard is mech or ix-mech. On the same page a similar, but smaller, figure is depicted on a background representing the nocturnal heaven. On the following page the figure of a dead woman is stretched on a red disc whilst a priest is drilling the fire-stick into a circular symbol, with four balls, which is the well-known symbol for chalchiuitl=jade. As the name of the female water goddess is Chalchiutlycue, this detail is significant and will be referred to later on. It is noteworthy that on both pages 5 and 6 the performance of the above rite is accompanied by the image of the goddess of the earth and underworld, represented with a death’s head, and with her hair strewn with stars. Her body is that of a green lizard, and she carries ears and blossoms of maize and holds a blue garment on which the chalchihuitl symbol figures. In connection with representatives of the human form outstretched in sacrifice, on whose body the rite of kindling the sacred fire or of extracting the heart is being performed, it seems evident that, under the dominion of the fundamental ideas I have been discussing, the native sages regarded and utilized the human form as an image of the Middle and Four Quarters. It is well known that the number 20 was termed “one count” and connected with the number of fingers and toes, distributed equally on his four extremities. The human victim thus formed a living swastika or cross and became not only the consecrated image of the supreme, creative, central divinity who controlled the Four Quarters, but also an image of the central government with its supreme ruler; whilst the four chiefs of the Quarters were symbolized by the four limbs. Each of these terminated in a symbolized group consisting of a hand, maitl, with a thumb (=touey mapilli or vei mapilli, literally, the great finger, or our great finger) and four fingers (mapilli); or of a great toe, touei xopil or topec-xopil (literally, our great toe, or our lord toe) and of four toes=xopilli. [Illustration.] Figure 29.