Samir shouted into the phone. "Who the fuck is this?"

"Who? Who you talking about?"

"The fellow strapped to the table, that's who."

"That's Lorne. They said they nabbed him as he came off the escalator a little before midnight. Took him to the room, recovered the tracker."

"This isn't him, you fucking incompetent Quebecois asshole. Can't you idiots do anything right? Decide on which finger."

"Please, give me a bit. We got the cab driver. Pretends he can't remember them. I'll get Cheng to come and coax him. He'll talk. Besides, we have George at Molly's. I can go over there and help."

"And cause another fuck-up? No, you come here and get rid of this body. Now!"

<><><>

Catherine and Lorne sailed silently for a while as she absorbed the Doctor Kellogg information. After they had tacked to point up Queen Charlotte Channel, she asked, "Is there other stuff on this? There must be... How did you run across it?"

"Connolly made me read through it as part of my sex education. That was early on, I guess to prepare me for what was to come. The medical literature is filled with stuff like this. There's a good summary... It's been years now, but it should still be there." He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek and leaned to kiss her. "You want to carry on? We can stop now."

She looked at him and twisted her lips. "No, let's keep going."

"Okay..." He paused to think. "Google circumcision history USA. That should do it."

Catherine clicked in the search and entered it. "Over two million hits. Seems popular."

He read the screen, then pointed. "That one, the one after the wiki — whale.to."

She clicked the link, and they watched the text load. "That's the one. It's a good summary of the spread of the aberration." They read the page together:

1860: 0.1% of the U.S. male population circumcised ­— In cases of masturbation we must, I believe, break the habit by inducing such a condition of the parts as will cause too much local suffering to allow of the practice being continued. For this purpose, if the prepuce is long, we may circumcise the male patient with present and probably with future advantage; the operation, too, should not be performed under chloroform, so that the pain experienced may be associated with the habit we wish to eradicate." Athol A. W. Johnson, On An Injurious Habit Occasionally Met with in Infancy and Early Childhood, The Lancet, vol. 1 (7 April 1860): pp. 344-345.

"Fuck! Published in The Lancet, the authority," she said after reading the first entry.

1871: 1% of the U.S. male population circumcised — I refer to masturbation as one of the effects of a long prepuce; not that this vice is entirely absent in those who have undergone circumcision, though I never saw an instance in a Jewish child of very tender years, except as the result of association with children whose covered glans have naturally impelled them to the habit." M. J. Moses, The Value of Circumcision as a Hygienic and Therapeutic Measure, NY Medical Journal, vol. 14 (1871): pp. 368-374.

"You can't make this stuff up can you? Except it appears they did, and people started believing it." She looked at him and furrowed her brow.

He stroked her back. "I've always wondered what their motive was with this. They were legitimizing mutilation and torture."

1887: 10% of the U.S. male population circumcised — Hip trouble is from falling down, an accident that children with tight foreskins are especially liable to owing to the weakening of the muscles produced by the condition of the genitals." Lewis L. Sayer, Circumcision For the Cure of Enuresis, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 7 (1887): pp. 631-633.

"This is hilarious. Hip trouble caused by weakened muscles from having a tight foreskin. Who did this one get to write his humour?" She squeezed his thigh. "I'd laugh if it weren't so sad. The AMA Journal. So very sad."

There can be no doubt of [masturbation's] injurious effect, and of the proneness to practice it on the part of children with defective brains. Circumcision should always be practiced. It may be necessary to make the genitals so sore by blistering fluids that pain results from attempts to rub the parts." Angel Money, Treatment of Disease in Children. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston. 1887, p. 421.

"So sore by blistering? These are very sick people." She did a mock finger gag.

"Unfortunately, they were also the medical experts of the time."

1888: 15% of the U.S. male population circumcised — A remedy [for masturbation] which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment." John Harvey Kellogg [the breakfast cereal tycoon], Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects, Plain Facts for Old and Young, Burlington, Iowa: P. Segner & Co. 1888, p. 295.

"So there's Doctor Kellogg."

"Yeah, and it continues."

... It is well authenticated that the foreskin ... is a fruitful cause of the habit of masturbation in children ... I conclude that the foreskin is detrimental to health, and that circumcision is a wise measure of hygiene." Jefferson C. Crossland, The Hygiene of Circumcision, NY Medical Journal, vol. 53 (1891): pp. 484-485.

"Why not chop off the hand? It's an equal party to the party."

"I'm sure some thought of it. Tough to get published, though."

Measures more radical than circumcision would, if public opinion permitted their adoption, be a true kindness to many patients of both sexes." Jonathan Hutchinson, On Circumcision as Preventive of Masturbation, Archives of Surgery, vol. 2 (1891): pp. 267-268.

"More radical? Is this hinting at chopping off the boys' hands? Maybe only their penises. I'd laugh if it weren't so... so..."

"Sick?"

"Yeah. Really sick. But they're the medical authorities, the professionals who know what's best." Lorne checked the horizon.

In all cases in which male children are suffering nerve tension, confirmed derangement of the digestive organs, restlessness, irritability, and other disturbances of the nervous system, even to chorea, convulsions, and paralysis, or where through nerve waste the nutritive facilities of the general system are below par and structural diseases are occurring, circumcision should be considered as among the lines of treatment to be pursued." Charles E. Fisher, Circumcision, in A Hand-Book On the Diseases of Children and Their Homeopathic Treatment. Chicago: Medical Century Co., 1895. p. 875.

"Where the fuck did these idiots get their ideas. They all seem deranged." She shook her head and screwed her face.

In all cases of masturbation circumcision is undoubtedly the physicians' closest friend and ally ... To obtain the best results one must cut away enough skin and mucous membrane to rather put it on the stretch when erections come later. There must be no play in the skin after the wound has thoroughly healed, but it must fit tightly over the penis, for should there be any play the patient will be found to readily resume his practice, not begrudging the time and extra energy required to produce the orgasm. It is true, however, that the longer it takes to have an orgasm, the less frequently it will be attempted, consequently the greater the benefit gained ... The younger the patient operated upon the more pronounced the benefit, though occasionally we find patients who were circumcised before puberty that require a resection of the skin, as it has grown loose and pliant after that epoch." E. J. Spratling, Masturbation in the Adult, Medical Record, vol. 24 (1895): pp. 442-443.

"Great, cut more away. Make the offending thing into a fucking irritating broomstick." Catherine shook her head.

Local indications for circumcision: Hygienic, phimosis, paraphimosis, redundancy (where the prepuce more than covers the glans), adhesions, papillomata, eczema (acute and chronic), oedema, chancre, chancroid, cicatrices, inflammatory thickening, elephantiasis, naevus, epithelioma, gangrene, tuberculosis, preputial calculi, hip-joint disease, hernia. Systemic indications: Onanism [masturbation], seminal emissions, enuresis, dysuria, retention, general nervousness, impotence, convulsions, hystero-epilepsy." Editor, Medical Record, Circumscisus, Medical Record, vol. 49 (1896): p. 430.

"They missed acne and warts. The things which actually concern adolescents." She laughed.

"Also missed the healthy necessity of masturbation, let alone the pleasure it brings. Physical and emotional."

The prepuce is an important factor in the production of phthisis [tuberculosis]. This can be proven by the immunity of the Jewish race from tubercular affections." S. G. A. Brown, A Plea for Circumcision, Medical World, vol. 15 (1897): pp. 124-125.

"Now they bring in tuberculosis. Guess it was a growing concern back then."

Clarence B. was addicted to the secret vise practiced among boys. I performed an orificial operation, consisting of circumcision ... He needed the rightful punishment of cutting pains after his illicit pleasures." N. Bergman, Report of a Few Cases of Circumcision, Journal of Orificial Surgery, vol. 7 (1898): pp. 249-251.

"What a bunch of torturing perverts. What the fuck is Orificial Surgery?"

"Go to a new tab and Google it."

"Wow, look at all the results."

"That one, the first one: historyofcircumcision.net."

Catherine clicked and they read:

The Orificial Surgery Society - A symptom of the late Victorian vogue for surgical solutions to health problems was the Chicago-based Orificial Surgery Society, which was active from the late 1880s until the early 1920s and published a number of textbooks by prominent members (all with MDs), and the Journal of Orificial Surgery from 1892 to 1901. Its particular obsession was the influence of the lower orifices on the nervous system, meaning that it targeted the foreskin (in both males and females) and the rectum as the focal points for disease generation and control. Any tightness or other disorder in these sphincters caused nervous irritation, and the cure was forcible dilation or amputation.

"And these quacks were allowed their perverted practice? Truly unbelievable." She lifted her head and shook it, then did a monitoring sweep of the horizon and instruments, before going back to the computer screen.

The society was particularly insistent on the need for circumcision, in both males and females, and was concerned that, while its health advantages for boys was well understood by the medical profession, there was less appreciation of its value for girls. As one textbook advised:

The condition of the foreskin of boys has received more or less attention, at least since the days of Moses. But the girls have been neglected. ... I do feel an irresistible impulse to cry out against the shameful neglect of the clitoris and its hood, because of the vast amount of sickness and suffering which could be saved the gentler sex, if this important subject received proper attention and appreciation at the hands of the profession. Circumcision for the girl or woman of any age is as necessary as for the boy or man.

"Wonderful. Play God with the women as well. And the people went along with this?"

"Seems there were a lot of gullible assholes and foreskins in the States." Lorne put a hand on her shoulder. "Fortunately, this school of quackery died-out in the early twenties. Click back over to the history page."

Not infrequently marital unhappiness would be better relieved by circumcising the husband than by suing for divorce." A. W. Taylor, Circumcision - Its Moral and Physical Necessities and Advantages, Medical Record, vol. 56 (1899): p. 174.

"Now the marriage counsellors jump into the fray."

1900: 25% of the U.S. male population circumcised — Finally, circumcision probably tends to increase the power of sexual control. The only physiological advantages which the prepuce can be supposed to confer is that of maintaining the penis in a condition susceptible to more acute sensation than would otherwise exist. It may increase the pleasure of coition and the impulse to it: but these are advantages which in the present state of society can well be spared. If in their loss, increase in sexual control should result, one should be thankful." Editor, Medical News. (A Plea for Circumcision) Medical News, vol. 77 (1900): pp. 707-708.

"Sure, society needs to be spared from the pleasures of sex." Lorne kissed her cheek and stood to scan the horizon.

Another advantage of circumcision ... is the lessened liability to masturbation. A long foreskin is irritating per se, as it necessitates more manipulation of the parts in bathing ... This leads the child to handle the parts, and as a rule, pleasurable sensations are elicited from the extremely sensitive mucous membrane, with resultant manipulation and masturbation. The exposure of the glans penis following circumcision ... lessens the sensitiveness of the organ ... It therefore lies with the physician, the family adviser in affairs hygienic and medical, to urge its acceptance." Ernest G. Mark, Circumcision, American Practitioner and News, vol. 31 (1901): pp. 121-126.

"Great! Now we get the blind leading the blind. This is horridly sick, isn't it?" She gazed into his eyes with a blank face. "Did it keep growing?"

"Yeah. Lot of repeated themes through here as it built. Scroll down a decade and a half."

Circumcision not only reduces the irritability of the child's penis, but also the so-called passion of which so many married men are so extremely proud, to the detriment of their wives and their married life. Many youthful rapes could be prevented, many separations, and divorces also, and many an unhappy marriage improved if this unnatural passion was cut down by a timely circumcision." L. W. Wuesthoff, Benefits of Circumcision, Medical World, vol. 33 (1915): p. 434.

"What the fuck? Prevent the kids from rampant raping. Prevent the men from pleasing their wives."

"Watch the progress... Scroll down a few pages."

1935: 55% of the U.S. male population circumcised — I suggest that all male children should be circumcised. This is 'against nature', but that is exactly the reason why it should be done. Nature intends that the adolescent male shall copulate as often and as promiscuously as possible, and to that end covers the sensitive glans so that it shall be ever ready to receive stimuli. Civilization, on the contrary, requires chastity, and the glans of the circumcised rapidly assumes a leathery texture less sensitive than skin. Thus the adolescent has his attention drawn to his penis much less often. I am convinced that masturbation is much less common in the circumcised. With these considerations in view it does not seem apt to argue that 'God knows best how to make little boys.'" R. W. Cockshut, Circumcision, British Medical Journal, vol. 2 (1935): 764.

"Good God. Thinking he knows how to make little boys, and God doesn't." She squeezed his thigh then ran her hand down to his bulge. "I love how yours works."

"So do I." He began swelling along her hand. "Scroll down the screen farther. Down to the 1970s."

1971: 90% of the U.S. male population circumcised — There are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period." Committee On Fetus and Newborn. Standards and Recommendations for Hospital Care of Newborn Infants, 5th edition. Evanston, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics. 1971. p. 110.

"Fuck, ninety percent mutilated. But the thrust of the argument has turned completely around. When did that happen?"

"Mid-sixties, when baby boomers began questioning its purpose. They're still trying to stop the barbaric practice. Neonatal snipping in the States is now around sixty percent and the overall percentage of those with genital mutilations is down to slightly below eighty."

She smiled. "At least the trend is going in the right direction."

"Going to be tough to go further... There's now a huge lobby promoting circumcision. The medical industry uses the snipped infant foreskins for stem cell work and research, but worse, the cosmetics industry use these baby penis trimmings as an important ingredient in their anti-ageing skincare products."

"Fuck! This can't be." She looked at him and grimaced.

He wrinkled his face and nodded. "Unfortunately, it's true. The hospitals make billions of dollars a year from circumcisions. Remember, medicine's an industry in the States, not a health care. Both the research and the cosmetics industries need a steady supply of raw materials. There's a huge multi-interest lobby."

"I would think the lube manufacturers are also lobbying." She put a hand to her crotch and stared at him as she nodded. "It's just occurred to me; we've used no lube at all, you and I. My God, Nathan and I used so much lube — we both had bad skin reactions to K-Y Jelly. That stuff's so full of harsh chemicals. We had to find something more natural."

Lorne nodded. "Strange, I haven't thought of this, but I don't slide in and out of you, I glide back-and-forth in my own skin. No lube needed." He looked at her as he continued nodding. "I guess mutilated men also need lube for masturbation. What a stupid practice, circumcision."

"Idiotic. I had no idea." She tilted her head. "What about the research which shows circumcision prevents AIDS?"

"Those results have now been shown as false. In fact, most new research shows it's the other way around. Specialised cells in the foreskin produce antibacterial and antiviral proteins. With the foreskin amputated, these are no longer present. But also, the chance of infection increases from cracks and lesions in the dried, unprotected glans."