he urethra being filled with a pewter plug. It generally
takes about one hundred days for the wound to heal, and two per cent of
the cases are fatal. There is nocturnal incontinence of urine for a
long time after the operation.

Examples of castration because of excessive cupidity, etc.,--a most
unwarranted operation,--are quite rare and are usually found among
ecclesiastics. The author of "Faustin, or le Siecle Philosophique,"
remarked that there were more than 4000 castrated individuals among the
ecclesiastics and others of Italy. The virtuous Pope Clement XIV
forbade this practice, and describes it as a terrible abuse; but in
spite of the declaration of the Pope the cities of Italy, for some
time, still continued to contain great numbers of these victims. In
France an article was inserted into the penal code providing severe
punishment for such mutilations. Fortunately castration for the
production of "castrata," or tenor singers, has almost fallen into
disuse. Among the ancient Egyptians and Persians amputation of the
virile member was inflicted for certain crimes of the nature of rape.

Castration as a religious rite has played a considerable role. With
all their might the Emperors Constantine and Justinian opposed the
delirious religion of the priests of Cybele, and rendered their offence
equivalent to homicide. At the annual festivals of the Phrygian Goddess
Amma (Agdistis) it was the custom of young men to make eunuchs of
themselves with sharp shells, and a similar rite was recorded among
Phoenicians. Brinton names severe self-mutilators of this nature among
the ancient Mexican priests. Some of the Hottentots and indigenous
Australians enforced semicastration about the age of eight or nine.

The Skoptzies, religious castrators in Russia, are possibly the most
famous of the people of this description. The Russian government has
condemned members of this heresy to hard labor in Siberia, but has been
unable to extinguish the sect. Pelikan, Privy Counsel of the
government, has exhaustively considered this subject. Articles have
appeared in Le Progres Medical, December. 1876. and there is an
account in the St. Louis Clinical Record, 1877-78. The name Skoptzy
means "the castrated," and they call themselves the "White Doves." They
arose about 1757 from the Khlish or flagellants. Paul I caused
Sseliwanow, the true founder, to return from Siberia, and after seeing
him had him confined in an insane asylum. After an