20,000 nerve endings: Difference between revisions

The popular American pediatrician [[Paul Fleiss]] (1933-2014), in empathy with the children, was very active against the genital mutilation of newborns by [[RIC]](non-therapeeutic) (Routine Infant Circumcision) in USA. Fleiss, [[Marilyn Milos|Marilyn F. Milos]], and alongside them many other [intactivist]] pioneers, have contributed enormously to explaining its negative consequences. Fleiss knew of the article by Bazett et al. (1932) through the medical historian F. Hodges. Fleiss and Hodges were well known to each other. They appeared both in the 1995 film “[[Whose Body, Whose Rights?]]”<ref name="WhoseBody">film "Whose Body, Whose Rights?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0kr6BiVZMM</ref>, and together they co-authored several articles<ref>Letter ; Neonatal circumcision does not protect against penile cancer; [[foreskin]] IS NECESSARY; AIDS and circumcision ; Circumcision in infancy ; Authors’ reply ; Immunological functions of the human prepuce</ref> and two books<ref name="SweetDreams">a) Sweet Dreams 2000; b) www.amazon.com/What-Your-Doctor-About-Circumcision/dp/0446678805 2002</ref>. In “The Case Against Circumcision” Fleiss referred to Hodges’ article: “A short history of circumcision in the United States” from Jan. 1997, wherein Hodges writes about Bazett’s “detailed anatomical description of the innervation of the [[foreskin]].”<ref>http://www.historyofcircumcision.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=0: Fn 50</ref>

However, in the article by Bazett et al. (1932),<ref name ="bazett1932" /> no number is given for the nerve endings in the [[foreskin]] as a whole. Only a count of 212 nerve endings in a 1 cm² piece of a single prepuce tissue is given (see Table 1, p. 492). The 29-page Bazett article of 1932<ref name="bazett1932"/> to which Fleiss refers as a source for his "20,000", without mentioning the page, is only provided with "Conclusions" at CIRP: "For both technical reasons and perceived lack of general interest, CIRP will not present these parts and will only transcribe the conclusions." Pretense? – the entire article is available in the archive of "The JAMA Network"<ref name="JAMA">http://jamanetwork.com/journals/archneurpsyc/article-abstract/645191</ref>. The article may be available in 2019 but it was not available in the spring of 1997.

1992 (²1996) appeared in the small book "Say No to Circumcision" of [[Thomas J. Ritter|T.J. Ritter]] and [[George C. Denniston|G.C. Denniston]] ([[DOC|D.O.C.]]): "Circumcision removes a piece of skin (that in the adult is) almost equivalent to a 3 × 5 index card.”<ref name="galleryIntact">quoted in http://www.circumcisionharm.org/gallery%20intact.htm</ref> Thus, the [[foreskin]] size of an adult was given as 3×5 = 15 sq.inch = 96.8cm²<ref>https://www.15square.org.uk/ ("15 Square" = trade name of NORM-UK)</ref>, going out of about 1.5 inches = 3.81cm in length for inner and outer [[foreskin]] sheet and 5 inches = 12.7cm circumference. This too is found in Fleiss and Hodges, 2002<ref name="Fn11b">see Fn 9b, p. 4. Mistranslation in “Beschneidung-von-Jungen.de“: „ungefähr die Größe einer 4[!]x5 Zoll (also: 10x12,5cm) Karteikarte“ [but in the picture animation: “100cm²”]. → 125×212 = 26,500 nerve endings. http://archive.is/20130903162537/www.beschneidung-von-jungen.de/home/infos-fuer-eltern/was-ist-dievorhaut/ was-ist-die-vorhaut-anatomische-und-physiologische-fakten.html#selection-603.105-603.168</ref>. The length also is indicated to be about 4cm and the circumference 13cm, which leads to an area of 8×13=104 cm².<ref name="circumcisionharm">a) http://www.circumcisionharm.org/gallery%20intact.htm and b) http://noharmm.org/snip.htm</ref> Size-measuring studies give a maximum (not average!) area of 99.8 cm².<ref name="ForeskinSize">see: Werker et al. (1998) and Kigozi et al. (2009).</ref>

In 1997 Fleiss knew from Bazett et al. (1932).<ref name="bazett1932" />,<ref name="JAMA" /> that they had counted 212 nerve endings within a 1cm²-piece of a single [[foreskin]] tissue (Table 1, p. 492). Now it is obvious that Fleiss reckoned similarly therewith and  with the [[foreskin]] size of 15 sq.inch = 96.8 cm² (or with 8×13 = 104 cm²): 96.8 cm²×212 nerve endings / cm² = 20,522 nerve endings (or 104×212 = 22,048; short: 100×>200= >20,000). So he obviously came to "more than 20,000 nerve endings".

In 1996 the article by the Canadian pathologist [[John R. Taylor]] et al.<ref name="Taylor" /> about the “ridged band” of the [[foreskin]] had appeared. Taylor reported, that the encapsulated nerve endings<ref>Nerve endings can be divided into types with or without end corpuscles (corpuscular/encapsulated or free nerve endings). “… the free nerve endings (FNE) … do not seem to have any part in fine touch sensation (they are innervated by unmyelinated axons which conduct too slowly, don’t have specialised end corpuscles to transduce vibration, etc. and have a high threshold, all of which prevent the conduction of fine touch).” [[Ken McGrath|McGrath]], Fn 29b</ref> of the [[foreskin]] are concentrated in the “ridged band” and thus are distributed very differently. In his article, Fleiss also mentions the "ridged mucosa" and calls Taylor as a source. He therefore knew of Taylor’s work.