thwards. The
fact that the juice of the agave or maguey was collected from the core of
the plant seems to be at the bottom of its adoption as the sacred and
ceremonial "drink of life," which was, subsequently, carefully prepared
and fermented. The idea that a tree enclosed male and female elements
seems to have been also a strong one and would, in course of time,
doubtlessly have led to the conception of superhuman beings in human form,
dwelling in trees. What is more, the adoption by each tribe of a
particular sort of tree, a custom amply proven, would naturally lead to a
species of tree-cult or veneration which, amongst the uninitiated, might
lead to a form of worship of the tree itself.

[Illustration.]

Figure 53.

The ceremonial presentation of single leaves of the same kinds as those
represented on the trees, as in fig. 53, no. 6, proves that underlying
these picture-writings there is far more meaning than has heretofore been
suspected or recognized. It is not possible for me to present here all the
material I have collected on this subject which will be set forth in a
future monograph. I will, however, direct attention to the peculiar
treatment in fig. 53, no. 1, of the tree trunk which is enlarged and forms
a quadriform figure. In no. 4, the trunk enlarges to the shape of a head;
in no. 2 the tree grows from a human head and two young shoots issue from
each side of the trunk, seemingly indicating a fresh growth in tribal
life. In no. 5, we have an example of a human figure lying at the base of
a tree and a fifth leaf growing in the centre of the treetop. Directing
attention to the evident care taken in representing an equal number of
branches pointing upwards and downwards I would cite here an extremely
interesting representation of a tree in the Borgian Codex. In this case
the trunk issues from a conventionally drawn heart, figured in the centre
of the symbol for sky or heaven. As the Nahuatl for heart is yul-lotl,
from the verb yuli=to live, to resuscitate, the idea is distinctly
conveyed that the tree was that of life=yuli and proceeded from the
celestial centre of life, Polaris or the Heart of Heaven, a native title
for the Supreme Being.(47)

In the Telleriano-Remensis MS., a "tree of Paradise," so termed in the
text, is figured, and there are, in other Codices, various examples of
trees encircled with serpents, where it is obvious that this