dex
(Kingsborough, vol. I, pl. 24), we find Xolotl, a deity wearing the
shell-symbol of Quetzalcoatl, directly named "the god of twins."

4 The full meaning which may have been attached to the eye-symbol in
both Nahuatl and Maya languages is set forth in the following notes
which I give merely for the suggestion they convey of a deep meaning
having been attached to the eye-symbol. The Nahuatl word for eye is
_ix-telolotli_, but in pictography it represented the phonetic value
of _ix_ only. It may, therefore, have been employed as a cursive
sign for face=_ixtli_ and the fact that it figures in the centre of
the symbol _ollin_, where a face sometimes occurs, confirms this
surmise. In the Maya language the word for eye is _ich_, which is
practically identical with the Nahuatl _ix_, and this enters into
the composition of the following words, the meanings of which are
worth considering in connection with the fact that the eye is shown
to have been employed to convey the meaning of star, in both
languages: Ix-machun=eternal, without beginning, ix-mayam=forever,
continuously, without interruption. ix-maxul=perpetual, without end.
The fact that each of these Maya words exhibits the prefix _ix_ and
that an eye is employed to express this sound and stands for star,
is certainly interesting, since it suggests that the natives
associated the idea of eternity with the stars.

5 This native belief is beautifully illustrated by the two "highly
artistic shell-gorgets representing winged human beings," which are
described and figured by Mr. Wm. H. Holmes, in Part II of his
instructive and extremely useful "Archaeological Studies among the
Ancient Cities of Mexico," which I have received just as this paper
is going to press. I am much pleased at the possibility of drawing
attention, by means of a footnote, to the interesting fact that in
one gorget the human head is figured with butterfly wings, whilst in
the other it is accompanied by conventionalized feathers and a
butterfly wing. There can be no doubt that both gorgets are attempts
to represent the resuscitated souls of departed warriors, according
to the native ideas concerning them. It is nevertheless very
remarkable to see actually that the ancient Mexicans employed the
butterfl