judging by the blue hair, blue ear-circle, the bound serpent on the head, and the similarity in the form of the mouth, anklets, and wristlets, I am disposed to believe it is, notwithstanding the material differences in other respects. The mouth of the latter, the peculiar form of which is more distinctly shown than in the former, reminds us very strongly of that of the symbol of the Mexican day Ehecatl, "wind," as given in the various Codices. I am disposed to think that the figure in Plate XXV represents her as the storm-brewing goddess, while that in Plate XXVII shows her as the giver of beneficial and fructifying rains. In the former the eye simply shows the lightning flash, while in the latter it is surrounded by the curved Tlaloc sign, or what is supposed to be the sign of the Tlaloc eye, though certainly not limited to this deity.
The figure in the lower division of Plate XXIV is evidently intended to express the same idea as that in the lower division of XXV; but I am at a loss to decide what deity is denoted. A god with four hands, as here shown, is an anomaly in Mexican and Central American mythology. I have failed to find any such represented in the Codices, though I have looked through them somewhat carefully for this purpose. Nor have I found any mention of such an one in any of the works I have at hand.
Prof Edward S. Holden thinks he sees four hands to the figure on the Leyden Stone, but I must confess I have been unable to find more than two which appear to belong to the principal personage. He is of the opinion that the figure on our plate is intended to represent the Mexican god of war, Huitzilopochtli[1] It is possible that this surmise is correct, as it agrees in several important respects with the dark figure in the upper division of Plate XXV, which I think beyond doubt represents this deity.
As the reader will find the characteristics and symbols, and also a very reasonable and probably correct interpretation of these given at length by Bancroft in his Native Races, I will omit the mention of them here. I only add that here we see the feathers, the shield, the snake belt, the arrows and spear, and everything, even to the attitude, that betokens a warlike deity. The accompanying serpent, which here clearly denotes a cloud, is not wanting; the rain pours down in fearful torrents, and on each side is the
- ↑ "Studies of American Picture Writing"; in Annnal Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.
