an girls to external irritation, the family
physician should make sure during infancy whether circumcision or a
stretching of the prepuce (foreskin) may be desirable. According to Dr.
Emmet Holt, the eminent pediatrician, about one male baby in four or
five is born with an elongated or tight prepuce that needs surgical
attention. A corresponding abnormality of the clitoris is sometimes
found in baby girls. Some radical surgeons advocate universal
circumcision of boys because they believe that it reduces local
irritation, favors cleanliness, tends to prevent masturbation, and
reduces susceptibility to the venereal diseases. There is certainly
some truth in these claims; but some conservative surgeons point out
that for the great majority of boys all these advantages may be
obtained by reasonable attention to hygienic habits, that orthodox
Jewish and other circumcised boys are by no means free from harmful
habits, that some boys are more irritable after circumcision, that
preputial stretching is often a good substitute for circumcision, and
that the taunts of other boys often make circumcised boys too conscious
of their own mutilation. A scientific doctor who has no special
financial interest in the increase of surgical operations and who
carefully reviews both the radical and conservative literature relating
to circumcision, will not hasten to submit boys to this operation until
it is certain that their sexual organs happen to have congenital
deformity that only radical surgical treatment can correct.

[Sidenote: Hygienic rules.]

In addition to making sure that uncleanliness or structural abnormality
are not responsible for irritation of sex organs, there are some
special hygienic rules useful for parents and teachers who have charge
of children. Most important is avoidance of habit formation. Clothing
should be well adjusted to avoid pressure and friction of the sexual
organs, and so constructed (especially night clothing) that it is not
convenient for the hands to reach the organs. Normal boys require
pockets, but they should open at the waist-band and not at the side of
the hips. The reason for these suggestions is evident. When we recall
that little children naturally tend to explore themselves, such as by
putting fingers into the mouth, feeling their toes, inserting foreign
objects into nose and ears, and when we also recall how quickly a child
may learn the habit of sucking its thumb, we must realize the
importa