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Article: From ritual to science: the medical transformation of circumcision in America.
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- September 22, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The mutilation of the genitals among the various savage tribes of the world presents a strange and unaccountable practice of human ideas, which one is not able to reconcile with any reasoning power. Why such customs should be in vogue none can tell at the present time; but we must suppose that at some period they had their significance, which in the course of ages has been lost, and the practice has been handed down from generation to generation.
J. Henry C. Simes, "Circumcision" (1890), p. 375
The operation of circumcision is one which may be performed for moral reasons; one which is demanded for hygienic purposes; one which is frequently necessary for ...