In January 1843, Dorothea Lynde Dix, an obscure, middle-aged Boston spinster, known, if at all, a... more In January 1843, Dorothea Lynde Dix, an obscure, middle-aged Boston spinster, known, if at all, as a schoolteacher and sometime author of re- ligious books, submitted a sensational petition to the Massachusetts Gen- eral Court. In its pages she claimed to expose the appalling condition of pauper lunatics throughout the state, county by county, town by town. "I proceed, Gentlemen," she announced, "briefly to call your attention to the present state of Insane Persons confined within this Commonwealth, in cages, closets, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience!" (Dix, Memorial, 1843, 4). These words are from the opening of Dix's Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts, long recognized as the touchstone of the American asylum movement, and among the most power- ful documents ever written in the history of American social reform. Sam- uel Gridley Howe, who had just the month before won a seat in the lower house of the assembl...
Describing in detail the conditions she witnessed in jails, prisons, and asylums, a biography of ... more Describing in detail the conditions she witnessed in jails, prisons, and asylums, a biography of Dorothy Dix documents her crusade to help the impoverished mentally ill by lobbying legislatures and soliciting funds that ultimately created thirty state asylums.
The strange history of surgerys oldest enigma and most persistent ritual. . From the extraordinar... more The strange history of surgerys oldest enigma and most persistent ritual. . From the extraordinarily painful initiation rite of the ancient Egyptians, through the Hebrew purification ritual, through its use by nineteenth-century doctors as prevention for ailments including bedwetting, paralysis, and epilepsy, circumcision has had a long and varied history. Perhaps the greatest mystery, however, is its persistence over time through vastly different social contexts. Historian of medicine David Gollaher takes a comprehensive look at the practice in this lively, scholarly history. Circumcision also addresses the growing controversy over the procedures continuance, and those opposing routine circumcision will find support here. Gollaher concludes that if male circumcision were confined to developing nations, it would by now have emerged as an international cause clbre.
The mutilation of the genitals among the various savage tribes of the world presents a strange an... more The mutilation of the genitals among the various savage tribes of the world presents a strange and unaccountable practice of human ideas, which one is not able to reconcile with any reasoning power. Why such customs should be in vogue none can tell at the present time; but we must suppose that at some period they had their significance, which in the course of ages has been lost, and the practice has been handed down from generation to generation.
In January 1843, Dorothea Lynde Dix, an obscure, middle-aged Boston spinster, known, if at all, a... more In January 1843, Dorothea Lynde Dix, an obscure, middle-aged Boston spinster, known, if at all, as a schoolteacher and sometime author of re- ligious books, submitted a sensational petition to the Massachusetts Gen- eral Court. In its pages she claimed to expose the appalling condition of pauper lunatics throughout the state, county by county, town by town. "I proceed, Gentlemen," she announced, "briefly to call your attention to the present state of Insane Persons confined within this Commonwealth, in cages, closets, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience!" (Dix, Memorial, 1843, 4). These words are from the opening of Dix's Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts, long recognized as the touchstone of the American asylum movement, and among the most power- ful documents ever written in the history of American social reform. Sam- uel Gridley Howe, who had just the month before won a seat in the lower house of the assembl...
Describing in detail the conditions she witnessed in jails, prisons, and asylums, a biography of ... more Describing in detail the conditions she witnessed in jails, prisons, and asylums, a biography of Dorothy Dix documents her crusade to help the impoverished mentally ill by lobbying legislatures and soliciting funds that ultimately created thirty state asylums.
The strange history of surgerys oldest enigma and most persistent ritual. . From the extraordinar... more The strange history of surgerys oldest enigma and most persistent ritual. . From the extraordinarily painful initiation rite of the ancient Egyptians, through the Hebrew purification ritual, through its use by nineteenth-century doctors as prevention for ailments including bedwetting, paralysis, and epilepsy, circumcision has had a long and varied history. Perhaps the greatest mystery, however, is its persistence over time through vastly different social contexts. Historian of medicine David Gollaher takes a comprehensive look at the practice in this lively, scholarly history. Circumcision also addresses the growing controversy over the procedures continuance, and those opposing routine circumcision will find support here. Gollaher concludes that if male circumcision were confined to developing nations, it would by now have emerged as an international cause clbre.
The mutilation of the genitals among the various savage tribes of the world presents a strange an... more The mutilation of the genitals among the various savage tribes of the world presents a strange and unaccountable practice of human ideas, which one is not able to reconcile with any reasoning power. Why such customs should be in vogue none can tell at the present time; but we must suppose that at some period they had their significance, which in the course of ages has been lost, and the practice has been handed down from generation to generation.
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