of his life, and it was
not unnatural that he should seek to remove all hindrances from it. It
is quite conceivable that early observation led him to regard the
prepuce as a hindrance.

+164+. About the motives of early man in the adoption of these customs
of excision we have, of course, no direct information; but some later
usages favor the explanation suggested above. The operations performed
on females are obviously dictated by considerations of convenience or
propriety in coition. Various means are adopted of increasing the
pleasure of sexual intercourse (in Indonesia and elsewhere).[314] These
procedures are purely animal, nonmoral, and without ulterior design;
there is no thought of progeny or, in general, of preparation for
marriage--the frame of mind is appropriate to the lowest grade of life.

+165+. In the course of time, however, all such customs tend to become
sanctified and to take on new meanings. When the importance of
circumcision was generally felt, it was natural that it should be
performed at puberty and at initiation.[315] It would thus come to be
regarded as an introduction to the tribal life--not as preparation, but
as a custom established by unwritten law. Its origination would be put
far back in the past and sometimes ascribed to supernatural
personages--the Central Australians refer it to the mythical ancestors,
the later Jews to the command of the national deity issued to the
legendary or mythical ancestor Abram.[316] Under certain circumstances
it might become a tribal mark; the Hebrews thus distinguished themselves
from their neighbors the Philistines, and "uncircumcised" was a term of
reproach.[317]

+166+. Apart from its use in initiation the cultic role of circumcision
has been small. It does not appear as an element in the worship of any
deity, neither in that of such gods as Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, Attis,
nor in that of any other. It is not represented in ancient records as a
devotion of one's self or an assimilation of one's self or of a child to
the tribal or national god. Its performance is generally a religious
duty, as is true of every established custom, but this fact throws no
light on its origin. The prepuce is sometimes treated as an amulet or in
general as a magically powerful or sacred thing; but many other parts of
the body (hair, finger nails, etc.) are so treated.

+167+. In the higher religions circumcision is generally viewed as an
act of physical purification or as a