The Barbarity of Circumcision as a Remedy for Congenital Abnormality
By Herbert Snow
()
About this ebook
Related to The Barbarity of Circumcision as a Remedy for Congenital Abnormality
Related ebooks
The Barbarity of Circumcision as a Remedy for Congenital Abnormality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDates and Dynasties Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Egyptian Origin of Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCremation of the Dead: Its History and Bearings Upon Public Health Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConversos of the Americas: Emergence & Descent of the Converted Jews of Spain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Egyptian Conception of Immortality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Eyewitness Gospel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLegends of the Jews: All four volumes in a single file Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScarabs: The History, Manufacture and Symbolism of the Scarabæus in Ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Sardinia, Etruria, etc Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life of Jesus Critically Examined Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExodus Commentary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBantu Beliefs and Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Expositor's Bible: Judges and Ruth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Blood Covenant: A Primitive Rite and its Bearings on Scripture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMillenarianism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSemitic Magic: Its Origins and Development Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Commentary On Exodus Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From the Cross to the Church: The Emergence of the Church from the Chaos of the Crucifixion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus after the Crucifixion: From Jerusalem to Rennes-le-Château Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For The Love of Aten Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhallic Worship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLegends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tales of the Walrus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Black People in America from 1619 to 1880: Account of African Americans as Slaves, as Soldiers and as Citizens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Genesis of Humanity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Land Like Your Own: Traditions of Israel and Their Reception Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Classics For You
Little Women (Seasons Edition -- Winter) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master & Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sense and Sensibility (Centaur Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights (with an Introduction by Mary Augusta Ward) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebecca Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Animal Farm: A Fairy Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As I Lay Dying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn French! Apprends l'Anglais! THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY: In French and English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Count of Monte-Cristo English and French Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jungle: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Barbarity of Circumcision as a Remedy for Congenital Abnormality
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Barbarity of Circumcision as a Remedy for Congenital Abnormality - Herbert Snow
Herbert Snow
The Barbarity of Circumcision as a Remedy for Congenital Abnormality
EAN 8596547376606
DigiCat, 2022
Contact: DigiCat@okpublishing.info
Table of Contents
I CIRCUMCISION AS A RELIGIOUS RITE.
II NATURE OF CONGENITAL PHIMOSIS—PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE PREPUCE.
III DANGERS AND RESULTS OF CONGENITAL PHIMOSIS—ACQUIRED PHIMOSIS.
IV CUTTING OPERATIONS FOR THE RELIEF OF CONGENITAL PHIMOSIS; THEIR SUPPOSED ADVANTAGES.
V DISADVANTAGES AND DANGERS OF CIRCUMCISION.
VI ABSENCE OF NECESSITY FOR CIRCUMCISION IN CASES OF CONGENITAL PHIMOSIS—THE RATIONAL TREATMENT OF THE LATTER.
VII SUMMARY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
By
HERBERT SNOW, M.D.
Lond.
&c.
SURGEON TO THE CANCER HOSPITAL
LONDON
J. & A. CHURCHILL
11 NEW BURLINGTON STREET
1890
PREFATORY NOTE
Table of Contents
To state that the object of this little work is to 'put down Circumcision' under the circumstances indicated, would, besides savouring of unpardonable arrogance, irresistibly suggest analogy to the example of a too famous alderman, who was determined to 'put down Suicide.'
If, however, the facts and arguments therein set forth contribute in some small measure towards the abolition of an antiquated practice involving the infliction of very considerable suffering upon helpless infants; and sanctioned, on extremely questionable grounds, by men of eminent authority; the following pages will not have been written in vain.
More evil is wrought by want of thought,
Than comes from want of heart.
Gloucester Place, Portman Square
:
October 1890.
THE
BARBARITY OF CIRCUMCISION
AS A
REMEDY FOR CONGENITAL ABNORMALITY.
I CIRCUMCISION AS A RELIGIOUS RITE.
Table of Contents
The earliest historical or quasi-historical notice of circumcision is to be found in Genesis xvii.; where Jahve enjoins upon Abraham the personal performance of this mutilation, as a sign of the covenant henceforward to subsist between them. Abraham, his son Ishmael, and all his male slaves forthwith underwent the prescribed operation; which thence-forward remained obligatory upon their posterity, though not without transient periods of desuetude. It was suffered to lapse during the passage of the Israelites through the wilderness, and was subsequently revived by Joshua (v. 5); again in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, when some of the Jews seem to have submitted to a plastic operation in order to obliterate its effects.[1]
The compulsory performance of circumcision was re-enacted for the last time by Mattathias, in the age of the Maccabees; and the law to this effect has remained in force until the present day.[2]
The terms in which the Deity addresses his commands to Abraham presuppose an already existing familiarity with the ritual ceremony on the part of the latter. Accordingly we find that it previously prevailed among the Colchians, Æthiopians, and ancient Egyptians of both the Upper and Lower Provinces (Gardner Wilkinson). Among the latter it appears to have become restricted, by the dawn of the historical period, to the priestly caste, and to those who desired initiation into the sacred mysteries. In the temple of Chunsu at Karnak is a delineation of the rite as performed on two young children, probably sons of Rameses II., the founder of the building. It was apparently connected with the worship of Ra, the Sun God; and a seeming allusion to it in this connection is to be found in chapter xvii. of the 'Book of the Dead.' Notices of circumcision also appear in ancient Phœnician mythology.
There can be no question of its very great antiquity, or of its wide prevalence among ancient nations. Traditional descent from a primæval Stone Age is betrayed by casual notices in Holy Writ. Thus, in Exodus iv. 25, a sharp stone is the instrument of mutilation; and in Joshua v. 2, the marginal rendering is 'knives of flints.'[3]
The Hivites, the Canaanites (Phœnician), and many if not most of the nations with whom the Israelites were brought into contact after settlement in the Promised Land, appear to have practised circumcision at some period in their history. In the Old Testament we accordingly find the designation of 'the uncircumcised' specially reserved for the Philistines, and applied to these as a term of opprobrium.
The list of peoples by whom the circumcision of males has been, or is still, an established custom is sufficiently long. Among such races at the present day, 'an almost unbroken line may be traced from China to the Cape of Good Hope,' and unless perhaps in