Opponents routine circumcision of the male infant will greet with pleasure the appearance of the article by Annunziato and Goldblum (p 1187) and the one by Sussman et al (p 1189) on unusual complications of the operation. Those who favor routine circumcision will be quick to point out that Fournier's syndrome and the scalded skin syndrome are very rare complications that should not deter parents from requesting circumcision for the newborn boy. Circumcision of the newborn continues for the following reasons: it may be routine because of religious beliefs, and parents and physicians have for years accepted the procedure on the basis of arguments that the circumcised male is at less risk of having cancer of the penis develop, and that a malignant neoplasm in the genital tract of women married to circumcised men is less frequent than in women married to uncircumcised men. It is an incontestable fact at