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→Late nineteenth century: Add sub-sections, Wikify.
===Late nineteenth century===
====First quarter====The late nineteenth century was characterized by prominent medical doctors advancing all sorts of absurd reasons for the performance of non-therapeutic [[circumcision]], including the prevention of venereal disease.<ref name="self2016" />
The first recorded non-religious circumcision of a boy in the United States occurred in 1870 when [[Lewis Albert Sayre]], a prominent New York City doctor, [[circumcised]] a boy of five years of age for paralysis.<ref name="gollaher1994">{{GollaherDL 1994}}</ref> [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Sayre]] then continued to advocate circumcision for numerous reasons until his death in 1900. According to [[Lewis Albert Sayre|Sayre]], circumcision was recommended for paralysis, epilepsy, hernia, lunacy, curvature of the spine, and clubfoot.
[[M. J. Moses]] (1871) advocated [[circumcision]] to prevent [[masturbation]].<ref name="moses1871">{{Moses1871}}</ref>
====Second quarter====
[[H. H. Kane]] (1879) 'discovers' that [[circumcision]] cures nocturnal emissions and abdominal neuralgia.<ref>{{Kane1879}}</ref>
Seventh-day Adventist [[John Harvey Kellogg]], {{MD}}, of Battle Creek, Michigan, was an important 19th century promoter of male circumcision. Although masturbation is never mentioned in the Bible, Dr. Kellogg believed that [[masturbation]] was immoral, sinful, and caused one to dream "impure dreams", which he believed was harmful to the mental faculties, resulting in mental disorders, such as "feeblemindness".<ref name="kellogg1888">{{Kellogg1888}}</ref> He believed that the urge to masturbate could be prevented by eating bland foods, for which purpose, he and his brother invented corn flakes.<ref name="self2016" />
Dr. Kellogg (1879) also recommended [[circumcision]] in cases "in which irritation is produced by retained secretions".<ref name="kellogg1888"/>