,transcriber's ,note  ,a number of      
typographical errors have been          
maintained in this version of this book4
 ,they have been marked with a ,,tn-1   
which refers to a description in the    
complete list found at the end of the   
text4  ,the following codes are used for
 characters not available in the        
character set used for this book3       
dagger     double dagger       ,,the    
,,books ,,of ,,chilan ,,balam1    ,the  
,prophetic and ,historic ,records   of  
the ,mayas of ,yucatan4    ,by ,,daniel 
,g4 ,,brinton1 ,m4 ,d4                  
,,vice-,,president ,,of ,,the           
,,numismatic ,,and ,,antiquarian        
,,society ,,of   ,,philadelphia2        
,,member ,,of ,,the ,,american          
,,philosophical   ,,society2 ,,the      
,,american ,,antiquarian ,,society2     
,d,l,,gu ,,of ,,the ,,institution       
,,ethnographique1   ,,etc41 ,,etc4      
,illustration    ,,edward ,,stern       
,,co41   ,,philadelphia4     ,,prefatory
 ,,note4   ,the substance of the present

 pamphlet was presented as an address to
 the ,numismatic and ,antiquarian       
,society of ,philadelphia1 at its       
meeting in ,january1 #ahhb1 and was     
printed in the ,penn ,monthly1 ,march1  
#ahhb4 ,as the subject is one quite new 
in the field of ,american archology and 
linguistics1 it is believed that a      
republication in the present form will  
be welcomed by students of these        
branches4     ,,the ,,books ,,of        
,,chilan ,,balam4#e-99   ,civilization  
in ancient ,america rose to its highest 
level among the ,mayas of ,yucatan4 ,not
 to speak of the architectural monuments
 which still remain to attest this1 we  
have the evidence of the earliest       
missionaries to the fact that they      
alone1 of all the natives of the ,new   
,world1 possessed a literature written  
in letters and characters1 preserved in 
volumes neatly bound1 the paper         
manufactured from the bark of a tree and
 sized with a durable white varnish4#e- 
,a few of these books still remain1     

preserved to us by accident in the great
 ,european libraries2 but most of them  
were destroyed by the monks4 ,their     
contents were found to relate chiefly to
 the pagan ritual1 to traditions of the 
heathen times1 to astrological          
superstitions1 and the like4 ,hence1    
they were considered deleterious1 and   
were burned wherever discovered4  ,this 
annihilation of their sacred books      
affected the natives most keenly1 as we 
are pointedly informed by ,bishop       
,landa1 himself one of the most ruthless
 of ,vandals in this respect4#e- ,but   
already some of the more intelligent had
 learned the ,spanish alphabet1 and the 
missionaries had added a sufficient     
number of signs to it to express with   
tolerable accuracy the phonetics of the 
,maya tongue4 ,relying on their         
memories1 and1 no doubt1 aided by some  
manuscripts secretly preserved1 many    
natives set to work to write out in this
 new alphabet the contents of their     
ancient records4 ,much was added which  

had been brought in by the ,europeans1  
and much omitted which had become       
unintelligible or obsolete since the    
,conquest2 while1 of course1 the        
different writers1 varying in skill and 
knowledge1 produced works of very       
various merit4  ,nevertheless1 each of  
these books bore the same name4 ,in     
whatever village it was written1 or by  
whatever hand1 it always was1 and to-day
 still is1 called ,the ,book of ,chilan 
,balam4 ,to distinguish them apart1 the 
name of the village where a copy was    
found or written1 is added4 ,probably1  
in the last century1 almost every       
village had one1 which was treasured    
with superstitious veneration4 ,but the 
opposition of the padres to this kind of
 literature1 the decay of ancient       
sympathies1 and especially the long war 
of races1 which since #ahdg has         
desolated so much of the peninsula1 have
 destroyed most of them4 ,there remain1 
however1 either portions or descriptions
 of not less than sixteen of these      

curious records4 ,they are known from   
the names of the villages respectively  
as the ,book of ,chilan ,balam of       
,nabula1 of ,chumayel1 of ,kua1 of      
,mani1 of ,oxkutzcab1 of ,ixil1 of      
,tihosuco1 of ,tixcocob1 etc41 these    
being the names of various native towns 
in the peninsula4  ,when ,i add that not
 a single one of these has ever been    
printed1 or even entirely translated    
into any ,european tongue1 it will be   
evident to every archologist and        
linguist what a rich and unexplored mine
 of information about this interesting  
people they may present4 ,it is my      
intention in this article merely to     
touch upon a few salient points to      
illustrate this1 leaving a thorough     
discussion of their origin and contents 
to the future editor who will bring them
 to the knowledge of the learned world4 
,turning first to the meaning of the    
name ,chilan ,balam1 it is not difficult
 to find its derivation4 ,chilan1 says  
,bishop ,landa1 the second bishop of    

,yucatan1 whose description of the      
native customs is an invaluable source  
to us1 was the name of their priests1   
whose duty it was to teach the sciences1
 to appoint holy days1 to treat the     
sick1 to offer sacrifices1 and          
especially to utter the oracles of the  
gods4 ,they were so highly honored by   
the people that usually they were       
carried on litters on the shoulders of  
the devotees4#g-99 ,strictly speaking1  
in ,maya chilan means interpreter1      
mouth-piece1 from chij1 the mouth1 and  
in this ordinary sense frequently occurs
 in other writings4 ,the word1          
balam--literally1 tiger1--was also      
applied to a class of priests1 and is   
still in use among the natives of       
,yucatan as the designation of the      
protective spirits of fields and towns1 
as ,i have shown at length in a recent  
study of the word as it occurs in the   
the native myths of ,guatemala4#g-      
,chilan ,balam1 therefore1 is not a     
proper name1 but a title1 and in ancient

 times designated the priest who        
announced the will of the gods and      
explained the sacred oracles4 ,this     
accounts for the universality of the    
name and the sacredness of its          
associations4  ,the dates of the books  
which have come down to us are various4 
,one of them1 ,the ,book of ,chilan     
,balam of ,mani1 was undoubtedly        
composed not later than #aeie1 as is    
proved by internal evidence4 ,various   
passages in the works of ,landa1        
,lizana1 ,sanchez ,aguilar and          
,cogolludo--all early historians of     
,yucatan1--prove that many of these     
native manuscripts existed in the       
sixteenth century4 ,several rescripts   
date from the seventeenth century1--most
 from the latter half of the eighteenth4
  ,the names of the writers are         
generally not given1 probably because   
the books1 as we have them1 are all     
copies of older manuscripts1 with merely
 the occasional addition of current     
items of note by the copyist2 as1 for   

instance1 a malignant epidemic which    
prevailed in the peninsula in #afgc is  
mentioned as a present occurrence by the
 copyist of ,the ,book of ,chilan ,balam
 of ,nabula4  ,i come now to the        
contents of these curious works4 ,what  
they contain may conveniently be        
classified under four headings3         
,astrological and prophetic matters2    
,ancient chronology and history2        
,medical recipes and directions2  ,later
 history and ,christian teachings4  ,the
 last-mentioned consist of translations 
of the ,doctrina1 ,bible stories1       
narratives of events after the          
,conquest1 etc41 which ,i shall dismiss 
as of least interest4  ,the astrology   
appears partly to be reminiscences of   
that of their ancient heathendom1 partly
 that borrowed from the ,european       
almanacs of the century #aeej-afej4     
,these1 as is well known1 were crammed  
with predictions and divinations4 ,a    
careful analysis1 based on a comparison 
with the ,spanish almanacs of that time 

would doubtless reveal how much was     
taken from them1 and it would be fair to
 presume that the remainder was a       
survival of ancient native theories4    
,but there are not wanting actual       
prophecies of a much more striking      
character4 ,these were attributed to the
 ancient priests and to a date long     
preceding the advent of ,christianity4  
,some of them have been printed in      
translations in the ,historias of       
,lizana and ,cogolludo1 and of some the 
originals were published by the late    
,abb ,brasseur de ,bourbourg1 in the    
second volume of the reports of the     
,mission ,scientifique au ,mexique et   
dans l',amrique ,centrale4 ,their       
authenticity has been met with          
considerable skepticism by ,waitz and   
others1 particularly as they seem to    
predict the arrival of the ,christians  
from the ,east and the introduction of  
the worship of the cross4  ,it appears  
to me that this incredulity is uncalled 
for4 ,it is known that at the close of  

each of their larger divisions of time  
7the so-called katuns17 a chilan1 or    
inspired diviner1 uttered a prediction  
of the character of the year or epoch   
which was about to begin4 ,like other   
would-be prophets1 he had doubtless     
learned that it is wiser to predict evil
 than good1 inasmuch as the             
probabilities of evil in this worried   
world of ours outweigh those of good2   
and when the evil comes his words are   
remembered to his credit1 while1 if1    
perchance1 his gloomy forecasts are not 
realized1 no one will bear him a grudge 
that he has been at fault4 ,the temper  
of this people was1 moreover1 gloomy1   
and it suited them to hear of threatened
 danger and destruction by foreign foes4
 ,but1 alas6 for them4 ,the worst that  
the boding words of the oracle foretold 
was as nothing to the dire event which  
overtook them1--the destruction of their
 nation1 their temples and their        
freedom1 'neath the iron heel of the    
,spanish conqueror4 ,as the wise ,goethe

 says3      ,seltsam ist ,prophetenlied1
     ,doch mehr seltsam was geschieht4  
,as to the supposed reference to the    
cross and its worship1 it may be        
remarked that the native word translated
 cross1 by the missionaries1 simply     
means a piece of wood set upright1 and  
may well have had a different and       
special signification in the old days4  
,by way of a specimen of these          
prophecies1 ,i quote one from ,the ,book
 of ,chilan ,balam of ,chumayel1 saying 
at once that for the translation ,i have
 depended upon a comparison of the      
,spanish version of ,lizana1 who was    
blindly prejudiced1 and that in ,french 
of the ,abb ,brasseur de ,bourbourg1 who
 knew next to nothing about ,maya1 with 
the original4 ,it will be easily        
understood1 therefore1 that it is rather
 a paraphrase than a literal rendering4 
,the original is in short1 aphoristic   
sentences1 and was1 no doubt1 chanted   
with a rude rhythm3      ,what time the 
sun shall brightest shine1     ,tearful 

will be the eyes of the king4     ,four 
ages yet shall be inscribed1     ,then  
shall come the holy priest1 the holy    
god4     ,with grief ,i speak what now  
,i see4     ,watch well the road1 ye    
dwellers in ,itza4     ,the master of   
the earth shall come to us4     ,thus   
prophesies ,nahau ,pech1 the seer1      
,in the days of the fourth age1     ,at 
the time of its beginning4  ,such are   
the obscure and ominous words of the    
ancient oracle4 ,if the date is         
authentic1 it would be about #adhj--the 
fourth age in the ,maya system of       
computing time being a period of either 
twenty or twenty-four years at the close
 of the fifteenth century4  ,it is1     
however1 of little importance whether   
these are accurate copies of the ancient
 prophecies2 they remain1 at least1     
faithful imitations of them1 composed in
 the same spirit and form which the     
native priests were wont to employ4 ,a  
number are given much longer than the   
above1 and containing various curious   

references to ancient usages4  ,another 
value they have in common with all the  
rest of the text of these books1 and it 
is one which will be properly           
appreciated by any student of languages4
 ,they are1 by common consent of all    
competent authorities1 the genuine      
productions of native minds1 cast in the
 idiomatic forms of the native tongue by
 those born to its use4 ,no matter how  
fluent a foreigner becomes in a language
 not his own1 he can never use it as    
does one who has been familiar with it  
from childhood4 ,this general maxim is  
ten-fold true when we apply it to a     
,european learning an ,american         
language4 ,the flow of thought1 as      
exhibited in these two linguistic       
families1 is in such different          
directions that no amount of practice   
can render one equally accurate in both4
 ,hence the importance of studying a    
tongue as it is employed by natives2 and
 hence the very high estimate ,i place  
on these ,books of ,chilan ,balam as    

linguistic material1--an estimate much  
increased by the great rarity of        
independent compositions in their own   
tongues by members of the native races  
of this continent4  ,i now approach what
 ,i consider the peculiar value of these
 records1 apart from the linguistic     
mould in which they are cast2 and that  
is the light they throw upon the        
chronological system and ancient history
 of the ,mayas4 ,to a limited extent1   
this has already been brought before the
 public4 ,the late ,don ,pio ,perez gave
 to ,mr4 ,stephens1 when in ,yucatan1 an
 essay on the method of computing time  
among the ancient ,mayas1 and also a    
brief synopsis of ,maya history1        
apparently going back to the third or   
fourth century of the ,christian era4   
,both were published by ,mr4 ,stephens  
in the appendix to his ,travels in      
,yucatan1 and have appeared repeatedly  
since in ,english1 ,spanish and         
,french4#aj-99 ,they have1 up to the    
present1 constituted almost our sole    

sources of information on these         
interesting points4 ,don ,pio ,perez was
 rather vague as to whence he derived   
his knowledge4 ,he refers to ancient    
manuscripts1 old authorities1 and the   
like2 but1 as the ,abb ,brasseur de     
,bourbourg justly complains1 he rarely  
quotes their words1 and gives no        
descriptions as to what they were or how
 he gained access to them4#aa-99 ,in    
fact1 the whole of ,seor ,perez's       
information was derived from these      
,books of ,chilan ,balam2 and1 without  
wishing at all to detract from his      
reputation as an antiquary and a ,maya  
scholar1 ,i am obliged to say that he   
has dealt with them as scholars so often
 do with their authorities2 that is1    
having framed his theories1 he quoted   
what he found in their favor and        
neglected to refer to what he observed  
was against them4  ,thus1 it is a       
cardinal question in ,yucatecan         
archology as to whether the epoch or age
 by which the great cycle 7the ahau     

katun17 was reckoned1 embraced twenty or
 twenty-four years4 ,contrary to all the
 ,spanish authorities1 ,perez declared  
for twenty-four years1 supporting       
himself by the manuscripts4 ,it is true 
there are three of the ,books of ,chilan
 ,balam--those of ,mani1 ,kua and       
,oxkutzcab1--which are distinctly in    
favor of twenty-four years2 but1 on the 
other hand1 there are four or five      
others which are clearly for the period 
of twenty years1 and of these ,don      
,perez said nothing1 although copies of 
more than one of them were in his       
library4 ,so of the epochs1 or katuns1  
of ,maya history2 there are three or    
more copies in these books which he does
 not seem to have compared with the one 
he furnished ,stephens4 ,his labor will 
have to be repeated according to the    
methods of modern criticism1 and with   
the additional material obtained since  
he wrote4  ,another valuable feature in 
these records is the hints they furnish 
of the hieroglyphic system of the       

,mayas4 ,almost our only authority      
heretofore has been the essay of ,landa4
 ,it has suffered somewhat in credit    
because we had no means of verifying his
 statements and comparing the characters
 he gives4 ,dr4 ,valentini has even gone
 so far as to attack some of his        
assertions as fabrications4 ,this is an 
amount of skepticism which exceeds both 
justice and probability4  ,illustration3
 ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,months1 ,,from    
,,the ,,book ,,of ,,chilan ,,balam ,,of 
,,chumayel4  ,the chronological portions
 of the ,books of ,chilan ,balam        
re,,tn-#a partly written with the       
ancient signs of the days1 months and   
epochs1 and they furnish us1 also1      
delineations of the wheels which the    
natives used for computing time4 ,the   
former are so important to the student  
of ,maya hieroglyphics1 that ,i have    
added photographic reproductions of them
 to this paper1 giving also             
representations of those of ,landa for  
comparison4 ,it will be observed that   

the signs of the days are distinctly    
similar in the majority of cases1 but   
that those of the months are hardly     
alike4  ,illustration3 ,,signs ,,of     
,,the ,,months1 ,,as ,,given ,,by       
,,bishop ,,landa4  ,the hieroglyphs of  
the days taken from the ,codex ,troano1 
an ancient ,maya book written before the
 ,conquest1 probably about #adjj1 are   
also added to illustrate the variations 
which occurred in the hands of different
 scribes4 ,those from the ,books of     
,chilan ,balam are copied from a        
manuscript known to ,maya scholars as   
the ,codice ,perez1 of undoubted        
authenticity and antiquity4#ad-99  ,the 
result of the comparison ,i thus        
institute is a triumphant refutation of 
the doubts and slurs which have been    
cast on ,bishop ,landa's work and       
vindicate for it a very high degree of  
accuracy4  ,the hieroglyphics for the   
months are quite complicated1 and in the
 ,books of ,chilan ,balam are rudely    
drawn2 but1 for all that1 two or three  

of them are evidently identical with    
those in the calendar preserved by      
,landa4 ,some years ago1 ,professor de  
,rosny expressed himself in great doubt 
as to the fidelity in the tracing of    
these hierogylphs,,tn-#b of the months1 
principally because he could not find   
them in the two codices at his          
command4#ad- ,as he observes1 they are  
composite signs1 and this goes to       
explain the discrepancy2 for it may be  
regarded as established that the ,maya  
script permitted the use of several     
signs for the same sound1 and the       
sculptor or scribe was not obliged to   
represent the same word always by the   
same figure4  ,in close relation to     
chronology is the system of numeration  
and the arithmetical signs4 ,these are  
discussed with considerable fulness1    
especially in the ,book of ,chilan      
,balam of ,kua4 ,the numerals are       
represented by exactly the same figures 
as we find in the ,maya manuscripts of  
the libraries of ,dresden1 ,pesth1      

,paris and ,madrid2 that is1 by points  
or dots up to five1 and the fives by    
single straight lines1 which may be     
indiscriminately drawn vertically or    
horizontally4 ,the same book contains a 
table of multiplication in ,spanish and 
,maya which settles some disputed points
 in the use of the vigesimal system by  
the ,mayas4  ,a curious chapter in      
several of the books1 especially those  
of ,kua and ,mani1 is that on the       
thirteen ahau katuns1 or epochs of the  
greater cycle of the ,mayas4 ,this cycle
 embraced thirteen periods1 which1 as ,i
 have before remarked1 are computed by  
some at twenty years each1 by others at 
twenty-four years each4 ,each of these  
katuns was presided over by a chief or  
king1 that being the meaning of the word
 ahau4 ,the books above-mentioned give  
both the name and the portrait1 drawn   
and colored by the rude hand of the     
native artist1 of each of these kings1  
and they suggest several interesting    
analogies4  ,they are1 in the first     

place1 identical1 with one exception1   
with those on an ancient native         
painting1 an engraving of which is given
 by ,father ,cogolludo in his ,history  
of ,yucatan1 and explained by him as the
 representation of an occurrence which  
took place after the ,spaniards arrived 
in the peninsula4 ,evidently1 the native
 in whose hands the worthy father found 
it1 fearing that he partook of the      
fanaticism which had led the            
missionaries to the destruction of so   
many records of the nation1 deceived him
 as to its purport1 and gave him an     
explanation which imported to the scroll
 the character of a harmless history4   
,the one exception is the last or       
thirteenth chief4 ,cogolludo appends to 
this the name of an ,indian who probably
 did fall a victim to his friendship to 
the ,spaniards4 ,this name1 as a sort of
 guarantee for the rest of his story1   
the native scribe inserted in place of  
the genuine one4 ,the peculiarity of the
 figure is that it has an arrow or      

dagger driven into its eye4 ,not only is
 this mentioned by ,cogolludo's         
informant1 but it is represented in the 
paintings in both the ,books of ,chilan 
,balam above noted1 and also1 by a      
fortunate coincidence1 in one of the    
calendar-pages of the ,codex ,troano1   
plate xxiii41 in a remarkable cartouche1
 which1 from a wholly independent course
 of reasoning1 was some time since      
identified by my esteemed correspondent1
 ,professor ,cyrus ,thomas1 of          
,illinois1 as a cartouche of one of the 
ahau katuns1 and probably of the last of
 them4 ,it gives me much pleasure to add
 such conclusive proof of the sagacity  
of his supposition4#ae-99  ,illustration
  ,illustration3 ,,signs ,,of ,,the     
,,days4  ,the first column on the right 
is from ,landa4 ,the second is from the 
,codex ,troano4 ,the remaining four are 
from the ,book of ,chilan ,balam of     
,kua4  ,there is other evidence to show 
that the engraving in ,cogolludo is a   
relic of the purest ancient ,maya       

symbolism1--one of the most interesting 
which have been preserved to us2 but to 
enter upon its explanation in this      
connection would be too far from my     
present topic4  ,a favorite theme with  
the writers of the ,books of ,chilan    
,balam was the cure of diseases4 ,bishop
 ,landa explains the chilanes as        
sorcerers and doctors1 and adds that one
 of their prominent duties was to       
diagnose diseases and point out their   
appropriate remedies4#ah-99 ,as we might
 expect1 therefore1 considerable        
prominence is given to the description  
of symptoms and suggestions for their   
alleviation4 ,bleeding and the          
administration of preparations of native
 plants are the usual prescriptions2 but
 there are others which have probably   
been borrowed from some domestic        
medicine-book of ,european origin4  ,the
 late ,don ,pio ,perez gave a great deal
 of attention to collecting these native
 recipes1 and his manuscripts were      
carefully examined by ,dr4 ,berendt1 who

 combined all the necessary knowledge1  
botanical1 linguistic and medical1 and  
who has left a large manuscript1        
entitled ,recetarios de ,indios1 which  
presents the subject fully4 ,he         
considers the scientific value of these 
remedies to be next to nothing1 and the 
language in which they are recorded to  
be distinctly inferior to that of the   
remainder of the ,books of ,chilan      
,balam4 ,hence1 he believes that this   
portion of the ancient records was      
supplanted some time in the last century
 by medical notions introduced from     
,european sources4 ,such1 in fact1 is   
the statement of the copyists of the    
books themselves1 as these recipes1     
etc41 are sometimes found in a separate 
volume1 entitled ,the ,book of the      
,jew1--,el ,libro del ,judio4 ,who this 
alleged ,jewish physician was1 who left 
so wide-spread and durable a renown     
among the ,yucatecan natives1 none of   
the archologists has been able to find  
out4#ah-  ,the language and style of    

most of these books are aphoristic1     
elliptical and obscure4 ,the ,maya      
language has naturally undergone        
considerable alteration since they were 
written2 therefore1 even to competent   
readers of ordinary ,maya1 they are not 
readily understood4 ,fortunately1       
however1 there are in existence         
excellent dictionaries of the ,maya of  
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1
 which1 were they published1 would be   
sufficient for this purpose4  ,a few    
persons in ,yucatan have appreciated the
 desirability of collecting and         
preserving these works4 ,don ,pio ,perez
 was the first to do so1 and of living  
,yucatecan scholars particular mention  
should be made of the ,rev4 ,canon ,don 
,crescencio ,carrillo y ,an cona1,,tn-#c
 who has written a good1 and ,i believe 
the only1 description of them which has 
yet appeared in print4#ai-99 ,they      
attracted the earnest attention of that 
eminent naturalist and ethnologist1 the 
late ,dr4 ,c4 ,hermann ,berendt1 and at 

a great expenditure of time and labor he
 visited various parts of ,yucatan1 and 
with remarkable skill made fac-simile   
copies of the most important and        
complete specimens which he could       
anywhere find4 ,this invaluable and     
unique collection has come into my hands
 since his death1 and it is this which  
has prompted me to make known their     
character and contents to those         
interested in such subjects4            
,,footnotes3  #e-99 ,read before the    
,numismatic and ,antiquarian ,society of
 ,philadelphia1 at its twenty-fourth    
annual meeting1 ,january #eth1 #ahhb4   
#e- ,of the numerous authorities which  
could be quoted on this point1 ,i shall 
give the words of but one1 ,father      
,alonso ,ponce1 the ,pope's             
,commissary-,general1 who travelled     
through ,yucatan in #aehf1 when many    
natives were still living who had been  
born before the ,conquest 7#aeda74      
,father ,ponce had travelled through    
,mexico1 and1 of course1 had learned    

about the ,aztec picture-writing1 which 
he distinctly contrasts with the writing
 of the ,mayas4 ,of the latter1 he says3
 ,son alabados de tres cosas entre todos
 los demas de la ,nueva ,espaa1 la una  
de que en su antiguedad tenian          
caracteres y letras1 con que escribian  
sus historias y las ceremonias y orden  
de los sacrificios de sus idolos y su   
calendario1 en libros hechos de corteza 
de cierto arbol1 los cuales eran unas   
tiras muy largas de quarta  tercia en   
ancho1 que se doblaban y recogian1 y    
venia  queder  manera de un libro       
encuardenada en cuartilla1 poco mas     
menos4 ,estas letras y caracteres no las
 entendian1 sino los sacerdotes de los  
idolos1 7que en aquella lengua se llaman
 'ahkines1'7 y algun indio principal4   
,despues las entendieron y supieron ler 
algunos frailos nuestros y aun las      
escribien4--7,relacion ,breve y         
,verdadera de ,algunas ,cosas de las    
,muchas que ,sucedieron al ,padre ,fray 
,alonso ,ponce1 ,comisario-,general en  

las ,provincias de la ,nueva ,espaa1    
page #cib74 ,i know no other author who 
makes the interesting statement that    
these characters were actually used by  
the missionaries to impart instruction  
to the natives2 but ,i learn through    
,mr4 ,gatschet1 of the ,bureau of       
,ethnology1 ,washington1 that a         
manuscript written in this manner by one
 of the early padres has recently been  
discovered4  #e- ,se les quemamos todos1
 he writes1 lo qual  maravilla sentian y
 les dava pena4--,relacion de las ,cosas
 de ,yucatan1 page #caf4  #g-99         
,relacion de las ,cosas de ,yucatan1    
page #afj4  #g- ,the ,names of the ,gods
 in the ,kiche ,myths of ,central       
,america4 ,proceedings of the ,american 
,philosophical ,society1 ,vol4 ,,xix41  
#ahha4 ,the terminal letter in both     
these words--chilan1 balam1--may be     
either n or m1 the change being one of  
dialect and local pronunciation4 ,i have
 followed the older authorities in      
writing ,chilan ,balam1 the modern      

preferring ,chilam ,balam4 ,seor ,eligio
 ,ancona1 in his recently published     
,historia de ,yucatan1 7,vol4 ,i41 page 
#bdj1 note1 ,merida1 #ahgh17 offers the 
absurd suggestion that the name balam   
was given to the native soothsayers by  
the early missionaries in ridicule1     
deriving it from the well-known         
personage in the ,old ,testament4 ,it is
 surprising that ,seor ,ancona1 writing 
in ,merida1 had never acquainted himself
 with the ,perez manuscripts1 nor with  
those in the possession of ,canon       
,carrillo4 ,indeed1 the most of his     
treatment of the ancient history of his 
country is disappointingly superficial4 
#aj-99 ,for example1 in the ,registro   
,yucateco1 ,tome ,,iii42 ,diccionario   
,universal de ,historia y ,geografia1   
,tome ,,viii4 7,mexico1 #ahee72         
,diccionario ,historico de ,yucatan1    
,tome ,i4 7,merida1 #ahff72 in the      
appendix to ,landa's ,cosas de ,yucatan 
7,paris1 #ahfd71 etc4 ,the epochs1 or   
katuns1 of ,maya history have been      

recently again analyzed by ,dr4 ,felipe 
,valentini1 in an essay in the ,german  
and ,english languages1 the latter in   
the ,proceedings of the ,american       
,antiquarian ,society1 #ahhj4  #aa-99   
,the ,abb's criticism occurs in the note
 to page #djf of his edition of ,landa's
 ,cosas de ,yucatan4  #ad-99 ,it is     
described at length by ,don ,crescencio 
,carrillo y ,ancona1 in his ,disertacion
 sobre la ,historia de la ,lengua ,maya 
7,merida1 #ahgj74  #ad- ,je dois dclarer
 que l'examen dans tous leurs dtails du 
',codex ,troano' et du ',codex          
,peresianus' m'invite de la faon la plus
 srieuse  n'accepter ces signes1 tout au
 moins au point de vue de l'exactitude  
de leur trac1 qu'avec une certaine      
rserve4--,leon de ,rosny's ,essai sur le
 ,dchiffrement de l',ecriture ,hiratique
 de l',amrique ,centrale1 page #ba      
7,paris1 #ahgf74 ,by the ,codex         
,peresianus1 he does not mean the       
,codice ,perez1 but the ,maya manuscript
 in the ,bibliothque,,tn-#d ,nationale4 

,the identity of the names is confusing 
and unfortunate4  #ae-99 ,the           
,manuscript ,troano1 published in ,the  
,american ,naturalist1 ,august1 #ahha1  
page #fdj4 ,this manuscript or codex was
 published in chromo-lithograph1 ,paris1
 #ahgi1 by the ,french ,government4     
#ah-99 ,declarar las necesidades y sus  
remedios4--,relation de las ,cosas de   
,yucatan1 page #afj4 ,like much of      
,landa's ,spanish1 this use of the word 
necesidad is colloquial1 and not        
classical4  #ah- ,a ,medicina           
,domestica1 under the name of ,don      
,ricardo ,ossado1 7alias1 el ,judio17   
was published at ,merida in #ahcd2 but  
this appears to have been merely a      
bookseller's device to aid the sale of  
the book by attributing it to the great 
unknown4  #ai-99 ,in his ,disertacion   
sobre la ,historia de la ,lengua ,maya  
,yucateca 7,merida1 #ahgj74             
,transcriber's ,note   ,the following   
misspellings and typographical errors   
were maintained4          ,page  ,error 

,,tn-#a   #aa   re should read are      
,,tn-#b   #ac   hierogylphs should read 
hieroglyphs   ,,tn-#c   #ai   ,an cona  
should read ,ancona   ,,tn-#d   fn4 #ad-
   ,bibliothque should read ,bibliothque