THE
BARBARITY OF CIRCUMCISION
AS A REMEDY FOR
CONGENITAL ABNORMALITY
By HERBERT SNOW, M.D. Lond. &c.
SURGEON TO THE CANCER HOSPITAL
LONDON
J. & A. CHURCHILL
11 NEW BURLINGTON STREET
1890
PREFATORY NOTE
To state that the object of this little work is to 'put downCircumcision' under the circumstances indicated, would, besidessavouring of unpardonable arrogance, irresistibly suggest analogy to theexample of a too famous alderman, who was determined to 'put downSuicide.'
If, however, the facts and arguments therein set forth contribute insome small measure towards the abolition of an antiquated practiceinvolving the infliction of very considerable suffering upon helplessinfants; and sanctioned, on extremely questionable grounds, by men ofeminent authority; the following pages will not have been written invain.
Gloucester Place, Portman Square:
October 1890.
THE
BARBARITY OF CIRCUMCISION
AS A
REMEDY FOR CONGENITAL ABNORMALITY.
I CIRCUMCISION AS A RELIGIOUS RITE.
The earliest historical or quasi-historical notice of circumcision is tobe found in Genesis xvii.; where Jahve enjoins upon Abraham the personalperformance of this mutilation, as a sign of the covenant henceforwardto subsist between them. Abraham, his son Ishmael, and all his maleslaves forthwith underwent the prescribed operation; whichthence-forward remained obligatory upon their posterity, though notwithout transient periods of desuetude. It was suffered to lapse duringthe passage of the Israelites through the wilderness, and wassubsequently revived by Joshua (v. 5); again in the reign of AntiochusEpiphanes, when some of the Jews seem to have submitted to a plasticoperation in order to obliterate its effects.[1]
The compulsory performance of circumcision was re-enacted for the lasttime by Mattathias, in the age of the Maccabees; and the law to thiseffect has remained in force until the present day.[2]
The terms in which the Deity addresses his commands to Abrahampresuppose an already existing familiarity with the ritual ceremony onthe part of the latter. Accordingly we find that it previously prevailedamong the Colchians, Æthiopians, and ancient Egyptians of both the Upperand Lower Provinces (Gardner Wilkinson). Among the latter it appears tohave become restricted, by the dawn of the historical period, to thepriestly caste, and to those who desired initiation into the sacredmysteries. In the temple of Chunsu at Karnak