PLACENTA, THE. The ancient Egyptians made a statue of a deceased person for the " soul " to dwell in after death. They made the statue because they were not able to make an adequately life-like reproduction of the dead man's features upon the mummy itself or its wrappings. Then gradually the idea took shape that the life-substance could exist apart from the body as a "double " or " twin " (ka) which animated the statue. What was there to substantiate this curious idea of a double? An answer to this question has been suggested by Elliot Smith and others. " When an infant is born it is accompanied by the after-birth or placenta to which it is linked by the umbilical cord. The full comprehens ion of the significance of these structures is an achieve merit of modern science. To primitive man they were an incomprehensible marvel. But once he began to play with the idea that he had a double, a vital essence in his own shape which could leave the sleeping body and lead a separate existence, the placenta obviously provided tangible evidence of its reality. The considerations set forth by Blackman, supplementing those of Moret, Murray and Seligman, and others, have been claimed as linking the placenta with the ka " (G. Elliot Smith, Dr.,
1919). The ka is conceived as a double who is born along with the individual, and then as a kind of guardian angel who inhabits the statue of a deceased person. " This material conception of the ka as a double who is born with and closely linked to the individual is, as Blackman has emphasized, very suggestive of Baganda beliefs and rites connected with the placenta. At death the circumstances of the act of birth are reconstituted, and for this rebirth the placenta which played an essential part in the original process is restored to the deceased. May not the original meaning of the expres sion "he goes to his ka " be a literal description of this reunion with his placenta? The identification of the ka with the moon, the guardian of the dead man's welfare. may have enriched the symbolism." A Chinese work recommends the storing away of the placenta in a felicitous spot under the salutary influences of the sky or the moon in order that the child may be ensured a long ?He.