becoming 'heredliaiy Marls of DlJI'niBion. 5 



addsj^by.way of example: Quarto par tu Dacorum orighiis 

 nota in brac-hio reddltur. In my opinion, this paffage alludes 

 to the hereditary tranfmiffion of moles among the Dacian;^, 

 illvrians, .&e. who, according to thp teftimony of many of 

 the'iVncients, were diftinguiflied by this fi'ngnlarity. 

 ■ The^ate M, Ofann qnce came to mc, full of aftoniflmicn-t, 

 and told me that he had met with a fimilar inflance in the 

 family of a flafF-officcr, who lived in the neighbourhood. 

 The father in his younger days had received a wound in the 

 little finger of his riglu hand, which had been rendered 

 crooked during the cure; and his fon and daughter were 

 born each with the little finger of the fame hand croolced. T 

 have fince fcen both the father and daughter, and have been 

 convinced, by infpeding their hands, of the truth of the above 

 information. 



A literary man of very great acutenefs, when converfing 

 with me on this fubjeft, ftarted the follow ing objc6tion : 

 *' If artificial mutilations can 'become hereditary, children 

 born of circumcifcd parents mufl often be born without the 

 forcfkin, which docs not appear to be tlie cafe." At that 

 time I was acquainted with only one inftance of this kind 

 in Stcph. Gerlach's Journal ; but one example did not ap- 

 pear to me to be of any peculiar weight. I, hovvevef, once 

 happened to aik a Jew of this place, a man not deftitute of 

 learning, antl well acquainted with the ritual of his nation 

 relpecting this circumftance, and was told that it frequently 

 happened that the children of the Jews were brought into 

 the world with fo flmrt a forelkin tiiat it required an ex- 

 perienced and careful hand to circumcife them. This in- 

 nate deficiency is diftinguiliicd by a particular Hebrew ap- 

 pellation, 7iauld 77iohl, or born circumcifcd. His own father, 

 who had circumcifcd above 700 boys, and who was cele- 

 brated on account of his expertnefs in this cafe, not at all 

 uncDmnion, often fpokc of the difficulty of performing the 

 operation under fuch circumlhmces. In a word, what had 

 aj'pcared to me an argnmcnt againfl: the hercllitary tranl'mif- 

 B 3 fiuu 



