It may be reasonably assumed that no sane man, who possessed the advantages of a sound and entire prepuce, would willingly sacrifice it without just and sufficient cause being shown. And his natural repugnance to such a deprivation would probably be in no wise lessened by a perusal of the passage last cited. It would be without doubt in the highest degree edifying in the present connection, were the sensations of some educated adult of average sensitiveness, who had submitted to the operation, placed on record; together with a statement of the time which elapsed before perfect tolerance became established; and before the 'hard skinlike condition,' so much approved of by Mr. J. Hutchinson, and the other more or less enthusiastic advocates of circumcision, was satisfactorily attained. In the absence of such a delineation, however, we can only surmise the feelings of the patient; and conclude that, as with catheterisation, and other manipulations addressed to a delicate mucous membrane, they would in some instances be almost _nil_; but that in the man of highly sensitive organisation, they would amount to keen and long-protracted torture. Infants of tender years must of necessity be classed in the latter of these two categories; in their case, there are also certain circumstances which tend to enhance the barbarity of the procedure; and largely to aggravate the suffering involved. Thus an American operator (at the association meeting of genito-urinary surgeons, reported in the _Boston Med. and Surg. Journal_, June 26, 1890) speaks of the difficulty of keeping children's knees out of the way after removal of the prepuce, and of the consequent torture to them. Even after healing, contact with flannel napkins, and other clothing, must long be very painful. There can be little doubt what would be the verdict--could they only give it utterance--upon the immediate results of the operation in question; returned by these inarticulate (if far from mute) victims of hygienic orthodoxy.[21] FOOTNOTES: [16] The most scrupulous and minute precautions for obviating any danger to life are enjoined by the Talmud. The ceremony is not permitted to take place at all unless the child is in perfectly sound health; and that Mohel, whose conscience may convict him of having caused the death of an infant by his negligence, is forbidden ever to officiate again. [17] A case of tuberculosis thus contracted is reported in the _British Medical Journal_ of March 5, 1887; and twelve other instances are also mentioned in the same paragraph. [18] The writer has been unable to discover any mortality statistics of ritual circumcision, and apparently none exist. Dr. Asher (_op. cit._) makes a remark to the same effect.