It follows hence that there are frequently many
inconveniences attending the transplanting a religion from one country
to any other.
"The hog," says M. de Boulainvilliers,
[38]
"must be very scarce in
Arabia, where there are almost no woods, and hardly anything fit for the
nourishment of these animals; besides, the saltness of the water and
food renders the people most susceptible of cutaneous disorders." This
local law could not be good in other countries,
[39]
where the hog is almost a universal, and in some sort a necessary, nourishment.
I shall here make a reflection. Sanctorius has observed that pork
transpires but little,
[40]
and that this kind of meat greatly binders
the transpiration of other food; he has found that this diminution
amounts to a third.
[41]
Besides, it is known that the want of
transpiration forms or increases the disorders of the skin. The feeding
on pork ought rather to be prohibited in climates where the people are
subject to these disorders, as in Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, and Libya.
