Circumcision in history.

Australian Doctor,  July, 2007  by Jenkins, Rebecca

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Rebecca Jenkins

CIRCUMCISION as a cultural practice dates back to some of the earliest human societies, but as a medical intervention its history is much more recent, an Australian expert says.

Medical historian Dr Robert Darby says prophylactic circumcision was an invention of Victorian Britain, when it was promoted as a cure against 'spermatorrhoea' and nervous complaints in young men.

'The big issue in the 19th century was stopping masturbation,' he says. 'The other key factor was of course syphilis - there were various unrealistic and imaginative claims made about the ...

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