History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present Part 5

When the prize for the best essay on "_the power, wisdom, and goodness of G.o.d, as manifested in creation_"--a series of publications known as the Bridgewater Treatises--has been nearly every other time won by physicians, among whom we may mention Sir Charles Bell, Dr. John Kidd, Dr. Peter M. Roget, and Dr. William Prout,--not only won on their own merit, but in compet.i.tion with learned theologians and noted divines,--we may truly say that physicians are by no means atheists or agnostics, but that, on the contrary, they are the real exponents of a practical and intelligent religion, which they not only practice, but fully and intelligently comprehend.

CHAPTER XII.

HEBRAIC CIRc.u.mCISION.

The first mention that we meet concerning circ.u.mcision is in Genesis. It is the command of G.o.d to Abraham; in establis.h.i.+ng the covenant with him, He said to him: "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee: every man-child among you shall be circ.u.mcised. And ye shall circ.u.mcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you" (Gen. xvii, 10, 11). It was also ordained that this should be extended to servants belonging to Abraham and his seed, as well as to their own children; and that in case of children it should be done on the eighth day after birth.[54] This was appointed as an ordinance of perpetual obligation on the Hebraic family, and its neglect or omission entailed being cut off from the people (12, 14). In compliance with this ordinance, Abraham, although in his ninety-ninth year, circ.u.mcised himself and all his slaves, as well as his son Ishmael. Slaves by purchase were circ.u.mcised,[55] as were any strangers, who were also circ.u.mcised before being allowed to partake of the pa.s.sover or to become Jewish citizens.

It was to be observed by all heathens who became converted to the Jewish faith. During the wanderings in the wilderness circ.u.mcision was not practiced, but Joshua caused all to be circ.u.mcised before they entered the promised land.[56]

The old Hebrews strictly followed the injunction to circ.u.mcise on the eighth day, and of such importance in a religious sense was this rite in their estimation that even when the eighth day fell on the Sabbath the eighth day ordinance was observed. The ordinance, however, was not blindly arbitrary, as rules were laid down for exception. For instance, whenever a family had lost two children through circ.u.mcision it did not become obligatory on that family to circ.u.mcise the third child, who was however considered as ent.i.tled to all the benefits of the congregation or of the Hebraic religion, just the same as if he had been circ.u.mcised.

Again, Maimonides, or Moussa Ben Maimon, a celebrated physician and rabbi, born in Cordova in the year 1135 A.D., among his works on medicine, has left directions in regard to circ.u.mcision which have been the guides of the _mohels_. Among the Hebraic physicians it was considered that the child partook of the const.i.tutional strength or feebleness of the mother; hence the rule above mentioned, in regard to exemption to circ.u.mcision, only was in operation when the two who had formerly died belonged to the same mother as the third one, who would thereby be exempt; but if the two children had belonged to another woman, and this third child of the father was not from the same mother, the rule did not exempt. The third child of the mother who had previously lost two infants at the rite was, however, to be circ.u.mcised when arrived at adult age, provided no further counter-indication occurred. The opinion that the mother gave the const.i.tution to the child was promulgated by Maimonides and became general.

The eighth day is believed to refer to the eighth day after full term; thus, a child born prematurely is not supposed to be circ.u.mcised until eight days after it would have reached its full term, and only then if its general good condition is settled. Maimonides looked upon infantile jaundice, general debility, and marasmus as contra-indications to the performance of the rite; any erysipelatous inflammation, ophthalmia, anaemia, eruption of any kind, fever, tendency to convulsive movements--in fact, any observable departure from normal health should be allowed to pa.s.s before performing the rite. Aside from these general conditions that denoted that the operation was contra-indicated, the local condition of the organ itself also was to be examined, and if certain conditions existed the operation was to be put off. These conditions consisted in any irritation or red appearance of the prepuce, due to either inflammation or to the irritative action of the sebaceous matter underneath the prepuce, the acrid nature of these secretions being at times sufficiently virulent to produce an ulceration, even in the newborn.[57]

Among the Hebrews themselves there are those who do not look upon circ.u.mcision in a favorable light, but on something that has served its time in its own day, and within the past year a proselyte has been accepted into one of the New York synagogues without previous or subsequent circ.u.mcision, these reformed Jews looking upon adult circ.u.mcision as too painful an operation to be gone through, as they claim, unnecessarily. It must be said, however, that these persons look upon circ.u.mcision purely in a sacramental light, and simply as an arbitrary ordinance of G.o.d in the remote ages of antiquity, but which in the present century has not enough practical significance to warrant its performance on the occasion of an adult joining the congregation. These persons look upon it, as has been said, in a purely theological light, and ignore any and all considerations of hygiene in connection with it, claiming that if it is a simple matter of hygiene, then it is not a sacrament, and that, if it is sacramental, then the subject of hygiene has nothing whatever to do with it. The force of their reasoning and logic is very obscure and clouded, to say the least. The covenant either exists or it does not; to do away with one ordinance in any arbitrary manner is to gradually begin to crumble down the whole fabric of Judaism; for when exceptions are begun, one tenet as well as another is liable to topple over. If the rite is a sacrament, then it should be performed on all, and a proselyte should not be admitted without being circ.u.mcised, and, if a hygienic measure only, the same rule holds. These Jews evidently ignore the rationalism that governed the promulgation of the Mosaic law, and its recognition of the inseparability of the moral from the physical nature of man.

Montaigne has left us a description of the performance of the rite, as witnessed by him in the city of Rome in the sixteenth century. He relates it as follows: "On the thirtieth of January was witnessed one of the most ancient ceremonies of religion practiced by mankind, this being the circ.u.mcision of the Jews. This is performed at the dwelling, the most commodious chamber being chosen for the occasion. At this particular time, by reason of the incommodity of the house, the rite was performed at the door of the domicile. The G.o.dfather sat himself on a table, with a pillow on his lap. The G.o.dmother then brought the child, after which she retired. The G.o.dfather then undressed the child's lower part so as to expose his person, while the operator and his a.s.sistant began to chant hymns. This operation lasts at least a quarter of an hour. The operator may or may not be a rabbi, as it is considered a great blessing to perform this operation; so that it follows that many are found who are anxious to exercise their faculty in this regard, there being a tradition that those who have circ.u.mcised a certain number do not suffer putrefaction in their mouth, nor does their mouth become food for worms after death; so that it often happens that they make presents of value to the child for the privilege of operating upon it.

On the same table on which the G.o.dfather is seated all the required instruments and apparatus are placed, while an a.s.sistant stands by with a flask of wine and a gla.s.s. A warming-pan full of coals is on the floor, at which the operator warms his hands. The child being now ready, with its head toward the G.o.dfather, the operator, seizing the member, draws the foreskin toward him with one hand, while with the fingers of the other he pushes back the glans; he then places a silver instrument, which fixes the skin, and which at the same time holds back the glans so that the knife may not cut it. The foreskin is then cut off and buried in the little basin of soil that forms one of the appurtenances to the operation. The operator then tears with his nails the skin which lies on the glans, which he turns back over the body of the member. This seems the hardest and most painful part of the operation, which, however, does not seem dangerous, as in four or five days the wound has healed. The crying of the child resembles that of an infant undergoing baptism. No sooner is the glans uncovered than the operator takes a mouthful of wine; he then places the glans in his mouth and sucks the blood out of it; this he repeats three times. This done, he applies a powder of dragons' blood, with which he covers up all the wound, the parts being then done up in expressly-cut bandages. He is then given a gla.s.s of wine, over which he says some prayers; of this he takes a mouthful, and, after moistening his fingers in the same, he applies the wine three times to the child's mouth. The wine is then sent to the mother and the women, who are in some other apartment, who all take a sip. An a.s.sistant then takes a silver instrument, pierced with little holes like a small strainer, which he first applies to the nose of the officiating minister, then to that of the child, and afterward to the nose of the G.o.dfather."[58] The above description of the performance of the rite in the sixteenth century answers to the method of its performance as was witnessed some years ago in France.

In the "Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia" of Drs.

McClintock and Strong the following description of the rite, as taking place in our modern synagogues, is given:--

"The ceremony of circ.u.mcision, as practiced by the Jews in our own times, is thus: If the eighth day happens to be on the Sabbath, the ceremony must be performed on that day, notwithstanding its sanct.i.ty.

When a male child is born the G.o.dfather is chosen from amongst his relatives or near friends; and if the party is not in circ.u.mstances to bear the expenses, which are considerable (for after the ceremony is performed a breakfast is provided, even amongst the poor, in a luxurious manner), it is usual for the poor to get one amongst the richer, who accepts the office, and becomes a G.o.dfather. There are also societies formed amongst them for the purpose of defraying the expenses, and every Jew receives the benefit if his child is born in wedlock.

"The ceremony is performed in the following manner, in general: The circ.u.mciser being provided with a very sharp instrument called the circ.u.mcising-knife, plasters, c.u.mmin-seeds to dress the wound, proper bandages, etc., the child is brought to the door of the synagogue by the G.o.dmother, when the G.o.dfather receives it from her and carries it into the synagogue, where a large chair with two seats is placed; the one is for the G.o.dfather to sit upon, the other is called the seat of Elijah the Prophet, who is called the angel or messenger of the covenant. As soon as the G.o.dfather enters with the child, the congregation say, 'Blessed is he that cometh to be circ.u.mcised, and enter into the covenant on the eighth day.' The G.o.dfather being seated, and the child placed on a cus.h.i.+on in his lap, the circ.u.mciser performs the operation, and, holding the child in his arms, takes a gla.s.s of wine into his right hand, and says as follows: 'Blessed be Thou, O Lord our G.o.d, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine! Blessed art Thou, O Lord our G.o.d! who hath sanctified His beloved from the womb, and ordained an ordinance for His kindred, and sealed His descendants with the mark of His holy covenant; therefore, for the merits of this, O living G.o.d! our rock and inheritance, command the deliverance of the beloved of our kindred from the pit, for the sake of the covenant which He hath put in our flesh. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the Maker of the Covenant! our G.o.d, and the G.o.d of our fathers! Preserve this child to his father and mother, and his name shall be called in Israel, A, the son of B. Let the father rejoice in those that go forth from his loins, and let his mother be glad in the fruit of her womb, as it is written: "Thy father and mother shall rejoice, and they that begat thee shall be glad."' The father of the child then says the following grace: 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord our G.o.d, King of the Universe! who hath sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to enter into the covenant of our holy father, Abraham.' The congregation answer: 'As he hath entered into the law, the canopy, and the good and virtuous deeds.'"[59]

CHAPTER XIII.

MEZIZAH, THE FOURTH OR OBJECTIONABLE ACT OF SUCTION.

Biblical and rabbinical traditions throw no light on the origin of the details of the operation as now performed. That it was anciently performed with a knife of stone is certain; an event common in its general observance, and which seems to have pervaded all nations or races, howsoever remote or scattered, that it has induced Tylor[60] to ascribe the origin of the rite to the stone age. We are told that when Moses was returning to the land of Egypt he had neglected circ.u.mcising his son, and that because of that neglect he nearly lost his son's life; his wife, Zipporah, the daughter of the Midian king and priest, Jethro, seeing the danger and knowing its cause, took her little son Gershom and circ.u.mcised him with a stone knife, and offered the foreskin to G.o.d as a peace-offering. Just where the wine was first used we are not told.

Wine, however, was an emblem of thanksgiving, and, being one of the fruits of the earth, was considered an acceptable offering to G.o.d. It has since, in some form or other, either as wine or as the representative of either divine or human blood, been used in both the Catholic and Protestant Churches in their ceremonials or vicarious sacrifices, or imitations of old customs. Circ.u.mcision was by many connected with a blood sacrifice; it was so suggested by the words of Zipporah at the circ.u.mcision of Gershom: "And Zipporah, his Midianitish wife, took up a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet and said, 'Surely a _Khathan_ of blood art thou to me.'" Much speculation has followed the use of this word _Khathan_, which, in the ordinary Arabian, may mean either husband or son-in-law; it also means a newly-admitted member of a family; a similar word means "to provide a wedding feast," and one other word from the same root and branch means "to give or receive a daughter in marriage." In our own day, the _mohel_, or ministerial circ.u.mciser, makes it a practice to draw a little blood from the skin of such as are presented for the rite, but whom nature has not furnished with sufficient foreskin for the operation. The application, thrice repeated, of the blood and wine to the lips of the child, is probably used as a sign of the sealing of the compact. Wine is mentioned in connection with the High-Priest Melchisedeck as the wine of thanksgiving at his meeting with Abraham; wine was presented to Aaron by the angel, who, giving him a crystal gla.s.sful of good wine, said to him: "Aaron, drink of this wine which the Lord sends you as a pledge of good news." Originally, circ.u.mcision must have consisted of the simple removal of the foreskin, and the elaboration of the ceremonial details must have been a subsequent occurrence; persons wounding their fingers will instinctively carry them to their mouth, and it may be that the suction practiced by the Hebrews had its origin in this natural haemostatic suggestion. Wine as a haemostatic and as an emblem of thanksgiving and an acceptable offering naturally came in as an accessory.

This practice--which, in the old, patriarchal days of the simple shepherds, when men only lived on the flesh of their own flocks, their diet, however, consisting mostly of cakes of flour, milk, honey, a few herbs, or the flesh of the goat or sheep--could not have been as objectionable as it is at the present day, with blood and secretions in a continued ferment through diet and habits. Man, living in the open air of Armenia, Palestine, or Arabia, sleeping in the open tents of our Biblical forefathers, living on the simple diet of a shepherd's camp, with the abstemiousness that those climates naturally induce in man, could not help but be healthy. In those early days, when neither pa.s.sion, anxiety, nor worry disturbed either digestion or sleep, man had no vitiated secretions, wine was then a rarity, and water was the drink.

One of the early patriarchs on such diet would have furnished a dainty and savory dish to the most fastidious cannibal, who is now tormented by the _komerborg kawan_, this being a term used by the Australian cannibals to designate the peculiar nausea that is induced in them when they recklessly eat of white man,[61]--something which they do not experience from feasting on the savages who live on the simple diet of a pastoral tribe. This primitive gastronomic science in regard to cannibalism even reached such a pitch of refinement that, as has been previously mentioned, some tribes even resorted to emasculation to improve the flavor of the animal juices, which by this procedure became less acrid. The Arabian and Oriental traditions bring us down tales of how, on the same principles, human beings intended to grace the festive platter were fed exclusively on rice. The salivary and buccal secretions, under such a simple diet as that indulged in by our Biblical forefathers, become bland and harmless; not only harmless, but even antiseptic and positively beneficial, acting on the same principle as local applications of pepsin. So that the practice, at the time of the patriarchs and in their own family, of this part of the rite could not have offered the same objection that it does at the present day. The modern house-dweller, living on a mixed diet and in a climate that induces him to eat grossly, both as to quality and quant.i.ty, partaking more or less of vinous, spirituous, or fermented liquors, as well as indulging in tobacco, is quite another being from the Arabian or Armenian shepherd of former days. Business anxieties and worry also have a very p.r.o.nounced effect; so that, with the change in the conditions of man and the inception and multiplication of diseased conditions, as well as the creation of const.i.tutional and transmissible diseases, this practice of suction should have been stopped.

Intelligent rabbis, devoted to their religion, are necessarily p.r.o.ne to defend any of the details in its ceremonials that age and practice have sanctioned, and even some of the later writings of Israelism seem to make the mezizah, or suction, a necessary and ceremonial detail. In the "Guimara," composed in the fifth century, Rabbi Rav Pope uses these words: "All operators who fail to use suction, and thereby cause the infant to run any risk, should be dest.i.tuted of the right to perform the ceremony." In the "Mishna" it says, "It is permitted on the Sabbath to do all that is necessary to perform circ.u.mcision, excision, denudation, and suction." The "Mishna" was composed during the second century. The celebrated Maimonides lent it his sanction, as in his work on circ.u.mcision he advises suction, to avoid any subsequent danger. Our modern Israelites are supposed, as a rule, to have taken their authority, aside from previous usage and custom, from the "Beth Yosef,"

which was written by Joseph Karo, and subsequently annotated by the Rabbi Israel Isserth. In all of these sanctions, however, there is no reason expressed why it should be performed.[62] Maimonides undoubtedly looked upon this act as having a decided tendency or action in depleting the immediate vessels in the vicinity of the cut surface, and that the consequent constriction in their calibre would prevent any future haemorrhage. That this is the natural result of suction is a fact readily understood by any modern physician. The depletion of the vessel for some distance in its length, with the contraction in the coat that follows, is certainly a better preventive to consequent haemorrhage than the simple application of any styptic preparation that can only be placed at the mouth of the vessel, but which leaves its calibre intact. Hot water, or an extreme degree of cold, will answer to produce this contraction and depletion, but there is here a local physical reaction that is more liable to occur than when the contraction has taken place naturally, as when induced by depletion, instead of by the stimulus of either heat or cold. So that if, in the light of modern civilization and changed conditions of mankind, and the existence of diseases which formerly did not exist, we are now convinced that suction is dangerous, we should not judge the ancients too hastily or rashly for having adopted the custom, as it is certainly not without some scientific merit; although, authorities are not wanting who hold that suction or depletion increases the danger of haemorrhage.

It can be understood that the results of suction would be in some measure a.n.a.logous to those left by the application of an Esmarch bandage on a limb. The ancients, performing the operation with rude implements and having no haemostatic remedies or appliances, naturally followed the best means at their command; they evidently feared haemorrhage, and their rule in regard to exemption shows us that they recognized the existence of haemorrhagic diathesis or other transmissible peculiarities of const.i.tution. This same fear of haemorrhage probably suggested the second step of the operation being performed, as it is by laceration instead of by cutting instruments, showing in this an evident desire to limit the cutting part of the operation to as small a limit as possible. Against an infant who has decided haemorrhagic tendency, we are about as helpless as were the ancient Hebrews, and, while the Turkish or some of the Arabian methods of performing the operation may be said in ordinary cases--by the application of cord and the consequent constriction--to limit the danger from subsequent haemorrhage, still, in the haemorrhagic diathesis this would not be of any avail; so, as already observed, we must not too rashly judge those old shepherds of the Armenian plains for adopting a practice which to them was calculated to avert subsequent dangers, or their descendants following in their footsteps, until having learned better, even if that practice is to us disgusting, primitive, and useless.

Cases occur,--happily not frequently,--of alarming and uncontrollable haemorrhage. The following case is suggestive of the alarming extent and persistence that may attend one of those haemorrhagic cases, even when recovery eventually takes place. It is reported by Dr. Sannanel in the _Gazetta Toscana delle science medicale e fisiche_ of 1844. The case was that of a Jewish infant circ.u.mcised on the eighth day. Some hours after the operation the child was observed to be bleeding; the haemmorrhage would only cease for a few moments, and then come on with increased force, and which proved rebellious to ordinary remedies. Dr. Sannanel was called during the night of the third day after the operation. A number of physicians had been in attendance, and neither ice, astringents, pressure, nor any usual haemostatic means had had the least effect; cautery with nitrate of silver, sulphuric acid, and the actual cautery by means of heated iron were tried in succession, without any good results. Ten days pa.s.sed in this manner, the haemmorrhage only ceasing for a few moments at a time, and the child was nearly exsanguinated from the continued serous seepage and the paroxysmal haemorrhages, when a lucky application of caustic pota.s.sa almost immediately stopped the haemorrhage. This case was seen by nearly all the leading medical men of Leghorn, who lent their aid and counsel to save the little life. The case is interesting from the length of time it persisted, and that even after all the loss of blood and suffering that the little fellow endured he survived.[63]

Dr. Epstein, of Cincinnati, in a letter of March 29, 1872, to the _Israelite_ of that city, mentions a nearly fatal case from haemorrage after the rite of "_Milah_," and gives the result of his experience in such cases. He argues that _Hitouch_ or _Hitooch_ alone, or the first step or cutting off of the prepuce, performed with ordinary care, could hardly be followed up with any more serious results than can be controlled with the application of a little acidulated water. The second act, or _Periah_, the act of laceration, he looks upon as one that calls for coolness, judgment, and skill, as the membrane should only be torn so far and no farther, the thin, inner fold of the prepuce being vascular only in the sulcus back of the corona and at its lower attachment, where it forms the frenum, or bridle; any carelessness or over-anxiety on the part of the operator in tearing this membrane too far back results in danger of haemorrhage; especially is this part of the operation liable to be badly done if the inner preputial fold is thick and resisting, as in that case undue force may carry the laceration back into the vascular tissue. The means suggested by Dr. Epstein to arrest haemorrhage are those ordinarily used in haemorrhagic cases, such as will be given presently. The doctor regrets that the operators are not as they should be, physicians, and that, when _mohels_ are employed, persons are not sufficiently exacting as to their qualifications.[64]

In France the government has managed to secure more safety in the operation. By a royal decree of date of May 25, 1845, in compliance with a desire expressed by the Hebrew Consistory, it was ordered that no one should exercise the functions of a _mohel_ or of _schohet_, without being duly authorized to perform said functions by the Consistory of the Circonscription; and that all _mohels_ and _schohets_ shall be governed in the exercise of their functions by the Departmental Consistory and the General Consistory. By virtue of this decree a regulation was pa.s.sed by the Consistories on the 12th of July, 1854, ordering that thereafter circ.u.mcision should only be performed in a rational manner, and by a properly qualified person. Suction was likewise abolished, and the wound directed to be sponged with wine and water. This decree and the resulting regulations have been of the greatest benefit to the French Israelites, and some attention to the matter would not be amiss in the United States.

This reformation has met with the approval of the leading French Jews, whose General Consistory decided that suction was not necessarily a part of the religious rite, and that, as it was undoubtedly introduced into the rite on the days of primitive surgery, it was perfectly rational to suppress this operative accessory, now that that same science, in its enlightenment, p.r.o.nounced it unsafe. The whole body of the Congregation did not tamely submit to what they considered an innovation, and from some of the mohels all possible resistance was opposed to prevent the abolishment of this part of the operation from becoming a law. So determined was this opposition in some instances that the Consistory of Paris found it necessary to impose on all the mohels an obligation, bound by an oath, that they would respect the law. Those who refused to take the obligation gave up their vocation.

The Grand Rabbi of Paris, at the time of this reformation, M. Ennery, was one of the most zealous supporters of the new departure. The influence of the French pervaded northward, and the _mezizah_ was abolished in Brunswick, Dr. Solomon, a learned Hebrew of that State, being instrumental in having it done legally. The discussion of this subject, in 1845, had one very happy effect,--the supporters of the reformed idea of the rite issued a circular letter to all the leading continental surgeons and medical men asking for their opinion on several points in relation thereto, especially, however, on this part of the rite. The opinions of many of these will be referred to in the medical part of this work.

The after-treatment of the circ.u.mcised infant is governed more or less by local habits and the individual intelligence of the mohel and his experience. After turning back the inner fold of the prepuce, the parts are covered with a small, square bandage, with an aperture to admit the pa.s.sage of the glans. This, and the subsequent small bandage of old linen, which is calculated to hold it in place, are slightly coated with a powder composed of lycopodium, with the slight addition, at times, of Monsel's salts, alum-powder, or some vegetable astringent. Over these another compress is placed, to prevent the friction of the clothes of the infant or of the bedding. The infant then receives a final benediction, and the G.o.dmother then receives the child in her arms and carries it to its cot or crib. The operator generally visits the infant in the afternoon of the operation, and carefully inspects the dressings, to see that no haemorrhage has supervened.

It is customary to place the child in a bath, either the same evening or on the following morning, the object of this being to remove and to facilitate the removal of the dressings, which are more or less saturated and clotted with blood. After the removal of these, the wound is redressed, as previously, except that some cerate--ointment of roses or some other mild ointment--is used. Some prefer the simple water dressing from beginning to end. Since the introduction of creasote, acid phenique, and carbolic acid, many mohels are in the practice of was.h.i.+ng the parts with water impregnated with one of these before performing the operation, and using subsequently the same form of lotion at every dressing. In case of haemorrhage there is an haemostatic water or lotion, which has been long used by the German and Polish mohels with considerable success, and which, in ordinary cases, has been found to be all that was required. This water, called by the French "Mixture d'arguesbusade," "Eau vulneraire spiriteuse de Theden," and by the Germans as "Spritzwa.s.ser" and "Schusswa.s.ser," is composed as follows:--

Acetic acid, 10 grammes.

Rectified spirits of wine, 5 "

Diluted sulphuric acid, 2 "

Clarified honey, 8 "

This mixture is well mixed and filtered, and is then kept in a tightly-stoppered vial.

Dr. Bergson uses a mixture composed of diluted sulphuric acid, 1 part; alcohol, 3 parts; honey, 2 parts; and 6 parts of wine vinegar.

Haemostatic powders are also used by the Hebrews, being more conveniently kept or carried than the haemostatic waters. In Russia and in Poland they are composed of decomposed or decayed hawthorn-wood powder and lycopodium. That of Berlin is composed of Armenian bole, red clay, dragons' blood, powdered rose-leaves, powdered galls, and powdered subcarbonate of lead. In France a haemostatic fluid, composed of dragons'

blood digested in turpentine, is in vogue. The Eau de Pagliari is also used; it is composed of a mixture of tincture of benzoin, 8 ounces; powdered alum, 1 pound; and 10 pounds of water, boiled together for six hours, and is considered a powerful styptic. In addition to these, burnt linen, spiders' webs, starch-powder, powdered alum, and plaster-of-Paris powder are used by different mohels. Touching the bleeding points with a pointed pencil of nitrate of silver is also a practice understood by the Jewish circ.u.mcisers.

CHAPTER XIV.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CIRc.u.mCISION?

There are those, even among the Hebrews, who are so imbued with the purely theological idea of the origin, performance, and causes of circ.u.mcision, that they cannot see any moral nor hygienic value in the operation. Among many Christians the idea still prevails that circ.u.mcision is the relic of some barbarous rite, practiced in some epoch away in the remote ages of the world, grafted on to the Jewish religion by some accident or other; but that beyond the clinging of the Jews to this custom, as being a remnant of their old religion, they neither see in the rite any other significance, moral results, nor hygienic precaution; and the fact of a Jew being circ.u.mcised is too often made a subject of merriment among the unthinking portion of the Christian world. Neither are physicians all of one accord on the subject as to whether circ.u.mcision is a benefit, or, being useless, a dangerous and an unnecessary operation. The writer is most emphatically in favor of circ.u.mcision, and has the fullest faith in the positive moral and physical benefits that mankind gains from the operation.

It may well be asked: What does the Jew receive in return for all the suffering that he inflicts through circ.u.mcision on himself and his little children? What is there to repay him or his for all the risks and annoyances, besides branding himself and his with an indestructible mark, which has been more than once the sign by which they have suffered persecution, spoliation, expatriation, and death? Are there any benefits enjoyed by the Jew that the uncirc.u.mcised does not enjoy in equal proportion?

The relative longevity between the Hebrew race and the Christian nations that dwell together under like climatic and political conditions indicates a stronger tenacity on the part of the Jewish part of the nations to life, a greatly less liability to disease, and a stronger resistance to epidemic, endemic, and accidental diseases. By some authorities it has been held that the occupations followed by the Jew are such as do not compel him to risk his life, as he neither follows any labor requiring any great and continued exertion, nor any that subjects him to any great exposure; that, as a rule, when in business, by some intuition he follows some branch that has neither anxiety, care, nor great chance of loss connected with it; that he does not follow any occupation that is attended with any risk of accident for either life or limb. Besides all these, it is also urged that in cities the careful inspection of their meat, and the peculiar social fabric of the family, the love and veneration for their aged, as well as their proverbial charity to their own poor and sick, and their provident habits and hygienic regulations imposed upon them by the Mosaic law, are all conditions that conspire to induce longevity.

That the Hebrew is generally found in such conditions as above described is undisputed; but it is questionable if all these conditions are necessarily such as are favorable to health and long life, and that, therefore, the longevity of the Jewish race cannot altogether be ascribed to the above conditions. Looking at the subject of occupation, if we consult Lombard, Thackrah, and the later works on the effects of occupation on life, we must admit that the Jew has no visible advantage in that regard, as he follows hardly any out-of-door occupation, being often in-doors in a confined and foul atmosphere. To those who have closely observed the race in this country,--coming as they do from the cold-wintered climates of Germany, Austria, or Poland, bringing with them the habit of living in small, close rooms, for the sake of economy and comfort,--it must be admitted that among the lower cla.s.ses and the poorer of the race, their shops being connected, as they usually are, with their living-rooms, the _toute ensemble_ is anything but conducive to a long life. Their anaemic and undeveloped physical condition and weak muscular organization are sufficient evidence that their surroundings are not calculated to improve health. In England, statistics sufficiently prove that the fisherman on the coast, exposed to all kinds of weather, is not as p.r.o.ne to disease as is his brother Englishman who deals out the groceries in his snug shop. Exercise has been held an important element in the factory of the long-lived. From the time of Hippocrates down to Cheyne, Rush, Hufeland, Tissot, Charcot, Humphry, and all authorities on the factors of old age, exercise has been looked upon as favoring long life. Exercise cannot be said to enter in any way as a factor in the longevity of the Jew; but, on the contrary, his in-door life is known to be very productive of phthisis in other races.

His recreations are, as a rule, of the home social order. They visit and spend the time allotted to recreation in social intercourse, which their hospitality always insists on accompanying with a generous lunch, which, to say the least, is not an element that is conducive to either health or long life; for no people excel the Jew in home hospitality, and even among the poorer cla.s.ses a stranger is never allowed to depart without some refreshment being offered him. Among the cla.s.s better able to extend hospitality, social reunions and card parties, with lunches of fruits, cakes, cold meats and coffee, or wines, are among their regular occurrences. Their great affection for the family and for their youth and aged suggests these means of recreation, as then they are enjoyed by all alike; but, as observed, the hygiene of all this is very doubtful; it produces too much irregularity.

It is related that after the Roman conquest of Palestine many of the Jews, becoming more or less accustomed to Roman manners and customs, often joined in the games which the Romans held in imitation of the old Olympic games of the Grecians. Not to be ridiculed, many resorted to the practices described in a previous chapter, to efface all the marks of their circ.u.mcision, that they might enter the games with as much freedom as the Romans or other uncirc.u.mcised nations; so that the present aversion to out-of-door sports evinced by the Jew is not necessarily a racial trait; the persecutions and political inequality that until lately he has been made to suffer have driven him into retirement and seclusion. Although seeking neither converts nor political power and influence, he has been hunted down, ma.s.sacred, and chased about as a dangerous beast. As the children of the great Rabbi Moses Mendelssohn asked of their father: "Is it a disgrace to be a Jew? Why do people throw stones at us and call us names?" It may well be asked, why? These actions have forced them into the social and retired habits for which they are noted; although it cannot be said that it is from a lack of spirit, as one of the Rothschilds is well known to have been present at the battle of Waterloo, where from a spot in the vicinity of the British right-centre he observed the events of the battle; and when, with the failure of Ney's last desperate charge with the formidable battalions of the Old Guard, he saw the advance of the Prussians closing in on the French right, he galloped to the sea-sh.o.r.e, and, crossing the Channel in a frail boat, reached London twenty-four hours in advance of the news of the battle,[65] but long enough for him to clear several millions from off the panicky state of the money market. Marshal Ma.s.sena, one of Napoleon's bravest generals, the defender of Genoa and the hero of Wagram, was of Jewish origin.

Athletic sports are not of necessity conducive to long life, even if they are to temporary robust health; but there is no mistaking the fact that the sedentary and in-door life of the average Jew is a deteriorator to health and life, and especially among that cla.s.s of families who are poor and keep no servant; from heredity and home education having adopted unhygienic customs, in which they have grown up,--in these a total disregard for all ventilation forms a part. Were an uncirc.u.mcised race so to live, scrofula and phthisis would be the inevitable result.

This difference of results I have witnessed more than once as existing among the two races coming from the same European nationality, where their disregard to ordinary rules of hygiene, induced by climatic causes, especially ventilation, were alike in both the Semitic and European descendants of the one nation, the purely European being more p.r.o.ne to consumption and scrofula. It is interesting to note the difference in the moral, mental, and physical conditions induced by creeds; it would seem as if it should not make any difference. The generally accepted idea of religion is that it should raise the moral standard of all those nations who practice religion; but the results are very peculiar, as we are forced to admit that reformation in religion has not always been a reformation in morals. Take Great Britain for example; if illegitimacy is any criterion of the moral state of those professing creeds, we find the least among the Jew; next among the Catholic; next comes the Episcopalian; then last the Presbyterian,--the oldest creed showing the greatest moral tendency, and that of poor Knox, which is the youngest, showing the least. This has certainly its physical effects, that are not without its influence in producing a greater or lesser length of life. The evolution of religion has here induced a lower moral tone and a resulting physical degeneracy.

As observed by alienists, religions of different creeds have different tendencies in inducing insanity, both as to ratio of population and as to manifestations;[66] the Protestant, when unbalanced by religious cause, is generally controlled with some idea that shows itself in wild and erratic attempts at scriptural interpretation, caused by want of fixed dogmas and the unending splittings that are forever taking place in the new faith, and the persistent, intrusive, and belligerent spirit of proselytism that controls each new branch as it buds into existence.