[64: It is also worth considering whether the extension of this idea may
not have been responsible for originating the practice of cremation--as
a device for transferring, not merely the animating incense and the
supplications of the living, but also the body of the deceased to the
sky-world. This, of course, did not happen in Egypt, but in some other
country which adopted the Egyptian practice of incense-burning, but was
not hampered by the religious conservatism that guarded the sacredness
of the corpse.]

[65: "The Ascent of Olympus," 1917.]

[66: For a collection of stories relating to human beings, generally
women, dwelling in trees, see Hartland's "Legend of Perseus".]

[67: The fact that the fir and cypress are "hardy and long-lived" is not
the reason for their being accredited with these life-prolonging
qualities. But once the latter virtues had become attributed to them the
fact that the trees were "hardy and long-lived" may have been used to
bolster up the belief by a process of rationalization.]

The Breath of Life.

Although the pouring of libations and the burning of incense played so
prominent a part in the ritual of animating the statue or the mummy, the
most important incident in the ceremony was the "opening of the mouth,"
which was regarded as giving it the breath of life.

Elsewhere[68] I have suggested that the conception of the heart and
blood as the vehicles of life, feeling, volition, and knowledge may have
been extremely ancient. It is not known when or under what circumstances
the idea of the breath being the "life" was first entertained. The fact
that in certain primitive systems of philosophy the breath was supposed
to have something to do with the heart suggests that these beliefs may
be a constituent element of the ancient heart-theory. In some of the
rock-pictures in America, Australia, and elsewhere the air-passages are
represented leading to the heart. But there can be little doubt that the
practice of mummification gave greater definiteness to the ideas
regarding the "heart" and "breath," which eventually led to a
differentiation between their supposed functions.[69] As the heart and
the blood were obviously present in the dead body they could no longer
be regarded as the "life". The breath was clearly the "element" the lack
of which rendered the body inanimate. It was therefore regarded as
necessary to set the heart working. The heart then came to be looked
upon as the seat of k