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In the same tribe men whose totem is the red
maize, think that if they ate red maize they would have running
sores all round their mouths. The Bush negroes of Surinam, who
practise totemism, believe that if they ate the _capia?_ (an animal
like a pig) it would give them leprosy; perhaps the _capia?_ is one
of their totems. The Syrians, in antiquity, who esteemed fish
sacred, thought that if they ate fish their bodies would break out
in ulcers, and their feet and stomach would swell up. The Chasas of
Orissa believe that if they were to injure their totemic animal they
would be attacked by leprosy and their line would die out. These
examples prove that the eating of a sacred animal is often believed
to produce leprosy or other skin-diseases; so far, therefore, they
support the view that the pig must have been sacred in Egypt, since
the effect of drinking its milk was believed to be leprosy.
Again, the rule that, after touching a pig, a man had to wash
himself and his clothes, also favours the view of the sanctity of
the pig.


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