XXX PROCEEDINGS. 



attitude of the body the upper end of the tibia ought, of 

 course, to look directly upwards, in order to receive the weight 

 of the body in the position of mechanical advantage. Again, 

 the lower end of the tibia normally distributes the weight 

 of the body to the foot bj?- bearing vertically upon the upper 

 surface of the astragalus. The effect of the squatting posture, 

 however,. is to thrust the front edge of the lower end of the 

 tibia hard against the neck of the astragalus, thus producing 

 a squatting facet on that part of the bone. The posture as- 

 sumed bj' the indi\ddual during life can thus literally leave 

 its indelible mark on the skeleton, and therefore even a close 

 study of such apparently uninteresting things as bones can 

 provide us with some instructive facts regarding the habits 

 and mode of li^dng adopted by their owner. These squatting 

 facets were so excessively pronounced in some of the skeletons 

 that I am inclined to think that these individuals had freely 

 indulged in luxury and indolent habits. 



One can learn much about the psychology of the Ancient 

 Egyptians by studying the method of disposal of their dead. 

 No subject has been discussed more freely than the reason 

 why such very special means were taken to preserve the bodj^ 

 from decay. The whole question is still of a very controversial 

 nature, but the opinion which apparently possesses most 

 weight nowadays is that each person possessed a spiritual 

 double or Ka, the hieroglyph symbol for which is a very 

 curious one. It is represented by a figure showing the arms 

 raised above the head in the attitude of prayer or appeal, 

 possibly for the future welfare of the deceased. The Ka was 

 at liberty to leave the body of the deceased at death and 

 might therefore possibly become reincarnated in another 

 human being or even in an animal. In order to obviate 

 the latter risk, which would have been manifestly serious, 

 the body was preserved so that its Ka could return to it 

 at any time of its own free will. For this purpose various 

 inducements or^attractions were provided for the Ka in the 



