History of circumcision, from the earliest times to the present : Moral and physical reasons for its performance / By P. C. Remondino.

  • Remondino, P. C. (Peter Charles), 1846-1926.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of circumcision, from the earliest times to the present : Moral and physical reasons for its performance / By P. C. Remondino. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    In ancient Egypt the performance of circumcision was at one time limited to the priesthood, who, in ad- dition to the cleanliness that this operation imparted to that class, added the shaving of the whole bodj as a means of farther purification. The nobilit}', royalty, and the higher warrior class seem to have adopted cir- cumcision as well, either as a hygienic precaution or as an aristocratic prerogative and insignia. Among the Greeks we find a like practice, and we are told that in the times of Pythagoras the Greek philosophers were also circumcised, although we find no mention that the operation went beyond the intellectual class. In the United States, France, and in England, there is a class which also observe circumcision as a hygienic precau- tion, where, from my personal observation, I have found that circumcision is thoroughly practiced in every male member of many of the families of the class,—this being the phj^sician class. In general conversation with phj^sicians on this subject, it has really been surprising to see the large number who have had themselves cir- cumcised, either through the advice of some college pro- fessor while attending lectures or as a result of their