Uncircumcision

“ Hence the apostle, interpreting the words of Moses, says that the image in which man was made, and in which he must be remade, ανακαινουμενον, made anew, consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.
Verse 11
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew - In which new creation no inquiry is made what nation the persons belonged to, or from what ancestry they had sprung, whether in Judea or Greece.
Circumcision nor uncircumcision - Nor is their peculiar form of religion of any consideration, whether circumcised like the Jews, or uncircumcised like the heathens. ”

“ But this mediator (Moses) was only the mediator of the Jews, and so was only the mediator of one party, to whom belonged the blessings of Abraham, [135] , [136] . But God, who made the promise that in one should all the families of the earth be blessed, Is One; the God of the other party, the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, επειπερ εἱς ὁ Θεος, seeing he is One God, who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith, [137] . ”

“ Shorn of its natural protective covering, the muco-cutaneous covering of the glans soon becomes true dermoid tissue. Mr. J. Hutchinson (loc. cit.) speaks of 'every one who is acquainted with the effects of circumcision in rendering the delicate [Pg 39] mucous membrane of the glans hard and skin-like.' Contact with the clothing, &c., necessarily induces a chronic inflammatory condition of the part, followed commonly by contraction and condensation. We cannot with impunity rashly interfere with any of Nature's dispositions, however seemingly insignificant. ”

“ VI ABSENCE OF NECESSITY FOR CIRCUMCISION IN CASES OF CONGENITAL PHIMOSIS—THE RATIONAL TREATMENT OF THE LATTER.
From what has been already set forth, it is sufficiently evident that no male should be suffered to reach adult life with this congenital disability unrelieved; and that in the majority of instances radical treatment is requisite at a far earlier date. There can be no doubt that it is infinitely better for an infant to be subjected to circumcision, than to pass many months or years with the unpleasant or even dangerous symptoms previously detailed. ”

“ Simple dilatation, even if practicable, is not always sufficient, but should be combined with incisions of as limited a nature as possible. Mr. Furneaux Jordan's operation is then useful.
XI. In the event of disease, the operation of circumcision is not devoid of risk, and should be reserved as far as possible for extreme cases, in which removal of the whole prepuce is obviously a matter of necessity. [29]
XII. In healthy children the operation seems to be rarely fatal in this country. Many cases of death directly traceable to circumcision have, however, been reported on the Continent. ”

“ As a surgical operation, circumcision is commonly performed with so much impunity that many surgeons will probably not be disposed to admit the possibility of its being attended by any danger to life; and there can be no doubt that it is but seldom followed by a fatal result. ”

“ It is all very well to instruct the mother or the nurse to keep the parts within the prepuce clean, but they can not or will not do it. Complete and proper removal of the covering to the glans takes away all the cause of disturbance. Dr. Sayre takes a more pronounced position on this subject than the majority of those who have discussed his paper. An improper performance of a surgical procedure is no argument against the operation, but rather against the operator. For the reasons I have given, I am in favor of the radical application of the Mosaic rite of circumcision. ”

“ On bringing together the parts with sutures, the tension on them was so great as to cause ulceration, and to [Pg 40] leave behind a broad cicatrix, capable of exercising a contractile pressure on the under surface of the urethra; sufficient to impede micturition and to cause other discomfort.' [19]
Dr. Hyde (Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, June 26, 1890) has seen disastrous results from circumcision; and Dr. Willard (in Keating's Cyclopædia of the Diseases of Children) says that, after circumcision, hardening of the glans occurs; and the evils of contracted meatus, balanitis, &c. ”

“ In performing circumcision many surgeons hold the clamp or dressing forceps which protect the glans inclined obliquely downwards and forwards, so as to leave a portion of the prepuce in the neighbourhood of the frænum unremoved. As one of the main advantages claimed for the operation is the prevention of future infection by retention of morbid material in the preputial folds, such a practice would seem to indicate a lurking disbelief in the validity of this pretension. ”

“ If it be reasonable and right to excise the structure on these grounds, and if that proceeding be attended by such salutary effects; it is only logical not to do things by halves, but to make the excision as complete as possible. Thus Liston made his section near the frænum, 'so as to retain the skin on the glans, which is of advantage.' The use of the elastic ligature, and of the écraseurs, both ordinary and galvanic, for the performance of circumcision, are cruel and fantastic modes of effecting that object, which hardly need any expression of condemnation ”

“ Doubtless anything which might tend to enhance the chastity of many modern nations would be well worthy of serious consideration; with a view to its universal adoption. Strange to say, however, certain of those medical men who have investigated the question with opportunities of special experience, largely base their opposition to the practice of ritual circumcision upon the ground that removal of the foreskin in early life leads to premature sexual excitement, and a corresponding disposition to onanism. ”

“ Agnew believes in circumcision in the treatment of reflex troubles. He relates a case, in the second volume of his “Surgery,” of eczema extending over the abdomen, of over a year’s standing, cured in a child by circumcision; he operates by incision on the dorsum, in which he leaves nature to make away with the flaps, or he circumcises by the Bumstead method.
Van Buren and Keyes recommend both the incision on the dorsum and the operation of Ricord; where the mucous membrane alone is tight and constricted, they follow Cullerier’s method of either single or multiple incisions of the inner coat. ”

“ Slitting, or the inferior or superior incision, he thought, left too much of the prepuce, which, wherever there is a tendency to phimosis, should be entirely removed, “with a view of preserving the health and cleanliness of the parts in after life.” In the phimosis that is acquired by old men, he found dilatation with a two-bladed instrument to be sufficient, provided the indurated circle was made to yield. For the circumcision of adults he has invented an adjustable shield, something like the Jewish spatula, with which he protects the glans. ”

“ Circumcision is practiced in nearly every portion of the world, and by various races, sometimes being a civil as well as a religious custom. Its use in surgery is too well known to be discussed here. It might be mentioned, however, that Rake of Trinidad, has performed circumcision 16 times, usually for phimosis due to leprous tuberculation of the prepuce. Circumcision, as practiced on the clitoris in the female, is mentioned on page 308. ”

“ Therefore he says nay; it really refers to the circumciser, and only then if he came late on Sabbath, near twilight, and was told that it would be impossible to finish the operation before night, but persisted in performing it. If in consequence he left excrescences which make the circumcision invalid, he simply made a wound without performing a commandment, and thus he becomes amenable to Karath."
"Sucking out the blood." R. Papa said: "The circumciser who does not suck out the wound places the child in danger, and should be discharged from office." ”

“ It would seem as if the desire to avoid such an accident—provided persons knew the dangers that lurk in a prepuce—would induce many to submit to circumcision. That many more do not do so can only be attributed to the general human wish to escape a less present evil for a greater unknown one, being evidently deterred by the prospective pain that must be suffered immediately.
[247] There is a question that should interest man above that of the simple loss of penis. ”

“ All the arteries and veins of the penis run in the deep structures previously alluded to, so that circumcision, in an infant at any rate, can never wound a blood vessel. The Frænum is freely supplied with blood, and if cut will produce troublesome hæmorrhage, but a circumcision in no way interferes with this part. ”

“ That the fulness of the Gentiles is come in is another reason, if you will attend to it carefully, why the circumcision of the foreskin ought to cease. For it was not upon the Gentiles but upon the seed of Abraham that circumcision was enjoined, for this is the first Divine promise, Gen. xvii. 9. sqq. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after in their generations. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised, and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ”

“ Retained filth and smegma are far more likely to call a boy’s attention to his penis by their unrecognized irritative effects than washing can possibly do. His practice is in accordance with the belief that young children can be relieved by the simpler methods, such as dilatation; but he also observes that when a child has reached eight or ten years of age, and has never been able to expose the glans, contraction is almost certain to be present, and circumcision must be performed. In adults there is rarely any escape when the prepuce is tight. ”

“ If the circumcision has been properly and carefully performed, so that the whole of the mucous membrane and skin are kept back by the dressing, and the whole of the glans remains exposed, nothing further need be done but to replace some fresh gauze over the glans. On the following day the whole of the dressing should be removed, and gauze be re-applied around the penis leaving the end of the glans free. This dressing will fall off when the infant is in the bath, and may be renovated as often as necessary. ”

“ It is surely not needful to seek any recondite motive for the origin of the practice of circumcision. No one who has seen the superior cleanliness of a Hebrew penis can have avoided a very strong impression in favour of the removal of the foreskin. It constitutes a harbour for filth, and is a constant source of irritation. ”

“ Subjects of this disease are called Bleeders, and it usually only affects males. It runs in families, one or two members may be affected while the rest are free. The females in a family of “bleeders”, though they may not suffer themselves, transmit the disease to their children. In this condition the slightest injury will start profuse hæmorrhage. The use of a toothbrush may be sufficient to cause severe bleeding from the gums. If the family history of any child reveals the presence of this disease circumcision must not be performed. ”

“ The only preventive or remedy for this condition is circumcision.
Acquired phimosis has been mentioned as a result of inflammatory lotion, such as is connected with balano-posthitis; it sometimes happens that, the act of coitus being done forcibly, especially with public women, who [250] are apt to use very astringent and constricting washes, the prepuce becomes injured, with the result of producing a phimosis. One man will produce the same results through the means of some vaunted wash or dip which is supposed to act as a prophylactic to any venereal infection. ”

“ Female circumcision, however, is I believe the rule amongst some outlying tribes of Jews. The rite is the proper complement of male circumcision, evening the sensitiveness of the genitories by reducing it equally in both sexes: an uncircumcised woman has the venereal orgasm much sooner and oftener than a circumcised man, and frequent coitus would injure her health ”

“ Mutilations of the sex organs are performed by many primitive peoples for religious reasons. They occur much more rarely for the purpose of sex stimulation, as, e.g., the artificial lengthening of the small labia among the Hottentots and the negro women and the slitting of the penis among the Australians. The most frequent mutilation is the abscission of the foreskin of the penis. Circumcision of boys is widespread in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Among the Mohammedan tribes of Asia and the negroes of Northern and Middle Africa it is mostly performed with a razor. ”

“ The surgeon restrains hæmorrhage during the operation by tying a tape tightly around the root of the penis, or by compressing the organ in Clover's circumcision tourniquet, a most useful instrument, which can be slackened or tightened at any time. He next draws the elongated prepuce slightly forwards, until the portion of it which corresponds to the back of the glans is brought just in front of that structure. He then seizes the projecting prepuce immediately in front of the glans with a pair of narrow-bladed polypus-forceps, which he gives to an assistant, who must hold them tightly ”

“ Cullerier reports one case of partial circumcision [58] through the means of an accident happening to a painter. The man was at work on a ladder, with a small bucket of paint hooked into one of the rounds above him; through some means the bucket lost its hold and in falling struck the penis on its dorsum with such force that the prepuce was cut through on a parallel with the corona of the glans for fully two-thirds of its circumference, the glans slipping through the opening and gathering in a fleshy bunch underneath the frenum. ”