It is important to remember that the real meaning of respiration was quite unknown until modern science revealed the part played by oxygen.
[69] The enormous complexity and intricacy of the interrelation between the functions of the "heart," and the "breath" is revealed in Chinese philosophy (see de Groot, op. cit. Chapter VII. inter alia).
[70] Second Annual Philosophical Lecture, Henriette Hertz Trust, Proceedings of the British Academy, Vol. VII, 26 Jan., 1916.
[71] The Egyptian ka, however, was a more complex entity than this comparison suggests.
[72] Breasted, op. cit. pp. 44 and 45.
[73] Op. cit. pp. 45 and 46.
[74] Ibid. p. 28.
[75] W. J. Perry has collected the evidence preserved in a remarkable series of Indonesian legends in his recent book, "The Megalithic Culture of Indonesia". But the fullest exposition of the whole subject is provided in the Chinese literature summarized by de Groot (op. cit.).
[76] See, however, the reservations in the subsequent pages.
[77] The thorough analysis of the beliefs of any people makes this abundantly clear. De Groot's monograph is an admirable illustration of this (op. cit. Chapter VII.). Both in Egypt and China the conceptions of the significance of the shadow are later and altogether subsidiary.