The rite of circumcision, besides its special surgical operation, deserves some notice in connection with the general question of the health, longevity, and fecundity of the race with whose history it is identified. Besides being a mark of the covenant and a symbol of purity, it was perhaps also a protest against the phalhis-worship, which has a remote antiquity in the corruption of man- kind, and of which we have some trace in the Egyptian rayth of Osiris. It has been asserted also (Winulerbar, 3t.es Heft, p. 25) that it distinctly contributed to increase the fruitfulness of the race, and to check inordinate de- sires in the individual. Its beneficial effects in such a climate as that of Egypt and Syria, as tending to pro- mote cleanliness, to p^e^'ent or reduce irritation, and thereby to stop the way against various disorders, have been the subject of comment to various writers on hy- giene. In particular a troublesome and sometimes fatal kind of boil (p/ii/mosis and puriiphymosis) is mentionc;! as occurring commonly in those regions, but only to the uncircumeised. It is stated by Jcsephus {Cent. A]), ii, 13) that Apion, against whom he' wrote, having at first derided circumcision, was circumcised of necessity by reason of such a boil, of which, after suffering great pain, he died. Pliilo also appears to speak of the same bene- fit when he speaks of the " anthrax" infesting those who retain the foreskin. Medical authorities have also stated that the capacity of imbibing syphilitic virus is less, and that this has been proved experimentally by comparing Jewish with other, c. g. Christian popula- tions (Wunderbar, 3tes Heft, p. 27), The operation it- self consisted of originally a mere incision, to which a further slrip])ing oft' the skin from the part, and a cus- tom of sucking the blood from the wound, was in a later period added, owing to the attempts of Jews of the Mac- cabwan period, and later (1 Jlacc. i, 15; Joseph us, .1 n/. xii, 5, 1 : comp. 1 Cor. vii, H), to cultivate heatlien prac- tices. The reduction of the remaining portion of the prcrputiuni after the more simple operation, so as to cover what it had ex|iosed, known as epispasnnis, ac- complished by the elasticity of the skin itself, was what this anti-Judaic practice sought to eflect, and what the
later, more complicated and severe, operation frustrated. To these were subjoined the use of the warm-bath, be- fore and after the operation, pounded cummin as a styp- tic, and a mixture of wine and oil to heal the wound. It is remarkable that the tightly-swathed rollers, which formed the first covering of the new-born child (Luke ii, 7), are still retained among modern Jews at the cir- cumcision of a child, effectually preventing any move- ment of the body or limbs (Wunderbar, p. 29). See
ClUCUJlCISION.
No surgical operation beyond this finds a place in holy Scrijjture, unless, indeed, that adverted to under the article Ecxf cii. The Talmudists speak of two op- erations to assist birth, one known as "|Snn r"i~p (ffastrotomui), and intended to assist i)arfurition, not necessarily fatal to the mother; the other known as " -~n r"'^1p {lii/slerofomia,sectioca:s(irea),v;hic\x -was seldom practiced save in the case of death in the crisis of labor, or, if attempted on the living, was either fatal, or at least destructive of the powers of maternity. An operation is also mentioned by the same authorities having for its object the extraction piecemeal of an oth- erwise inextricable ftttus {ihiJ. p. 53, etc.).
Wunderbar enumerates from the JNIishna and Talmud fifty-six surgical instruments or ])ieces of apparatus; of these, however, the following only are at all alluded to in Scripture. A cuttaig instrument, called "il^J, supposed to be a "sharp stone" (Exod. iv, 25). Such was proba- bly the " /Ethiopian stone" mentioned by Herodotus (ii, 80), and Pliny speaks of what he calls I'esia samui. as a similar implement. Zijiiwrah seems to have caught up the first instrument which came to hand in her ap- prehension for the life of her husband. The '• knife" (rbzX':) of Josh, v, 2 was probably a more refined in- strument for the same purpose. An "awl" (";j"1"2) is mentioned (Exod. xxi, 6) as used to Iwre through the ear of the bondman who refused release, and is supposed to have been a surgical instrument. A seat of delivery, called in Scripture CI^X, Exod. i, IG, by the Talmud- ists "iSw"^ (comp. 2 Kings xix, 3), " the stools ;" but some have doubted whether the word used by Moses does not mean rather the uterus itself, as that which moidds and shapes the infant. Delivery upon a seat or stool is, however, a common practice in France at this day, and also in Palestine. The "roller to bind" of I-lzek. XXX, 21 was for a broken limb, as still used. Sim- ilar bands, wound with the most precise accuracy, in- volve the mummies. A scraper (0"in), for which the " potsherd" of Job was a substitute (Job ii, 8).
Exod. XXX, 23-5 is a p7-escripti(in in form. It may be worth while also to enumerate the leading substances which, according to Wunderbar, composed the pharma- copd'ia of the Talmudists — a much more limited one — wliich will afford some insight into the distance which separates them from the leaders of (ireek medicine. Be- sides such ordinary appliances as water, wine (Luke x, 34). beer, vinegar, honey, and milk, various oils are foinul; as oiiobalsamum ("balm of (iilead"), the oil of olive, myrrh, rose, palma christi, walnut, sesamum, colo- cynth, and fish : figs (2 Kings xx, 7), dates, apples (Cant, ii, 5), pomegranates, pistachio-nuts, and almonds (a prod- uce of Syria, but not of Egypt, (ien. xliii, 11); wheat, barley, and various other grains; garlic, leeks, onions, and some other common herbs; mustard, pepper, cori- ander seed, ginger, prejiarations of beet, fish, etc, steeped in wine or vinegar, whey, eggs, s,ilt, wax, and suet (in plasters), gall of fish (Tob. vi, 8 ; xi, 1 1), ashes, cowdung, etc. ; fasting-saliva, urine, bat's blood, and the following rarer herbs, etc. ; (imnicisision, vienta fientilis. saffron, niandragora. Liiir.tonia .ynnosn (Arab, allicniia). juniiier, broom, po]ipy. acacia, jnne, lavender or rosemary, clover- root, jujub, liysso]), fern, siiwpsKc/iinn, milk-thistle, lau- rel, Krttca mnralh, absynth, jasmine, narcissus, madder, curled mint, fennel, endive, oil of cotton, myrtle, myrrh, aloes, sweet cane {iicorus calamus), cinnamon, caittUa