r . 



SYNTAX. 



SYRINGE. 



970 



or rather once were, synonymous with other terms which have been 

 introduced into the EnglUh immediately from the Latin, or through 

 the medium of the Italian and the French. It is said " once were," 

 because though such words may have been synonymous originally, and 

 introduced by writers for the sake of variety or harmony, or to avoid 

 repetition of the same word, it rarely happens that such words con- 

 tinue to have their original meaning. 



SYNTAX. [LANGUAGE; OROAXON.] 



SYNTHESIS. [ANALYSIS.] 



SYNTHESIS, CHEMICAL. The process of forming a chemical 

 compound from its constituents ; thua the production of phosphoric 

 acid by the combustion of oxygen in air is a synthetical operation. 

 The synthesis of inorganic substances is generally easily accomplished, 

 but that of organic bodies is much more difficult. [ORGANIC COM- 

 porxos, Artificial production o/.] 



SYNTONIN. A name given by Mulder to the fibrin of the 



I: 1 "'- '. ~. 



SYPHON. [SIPHON.] 

 SYl'H'iN i;AI'OE. [Sipnox GAUGE.] 

 SYPHON, REVERSED. [WATERWORKS.] 



SYREN, an instrument invented by M. Caguiard de la Tour for 

 determining the number of vibrations per second of any given note. 



The fanciful name of the instrument was given from the fact that it 

 u capable of exciting vilirations in water or any other fluid. It con- 

 rixt* of a cylindrical chamber of brass c, about 3 inches in diameter, 

 and 1) inch high, connected with which is a tube B, which fits into 

 the tube of a double pair of bellows. The upper surface of c contains 

 a circle of holes, inclined somewhat obliquely, and coinciding with 

 thin circle is another circle of holes, inclined at an angle with the first, 

 and contained in a due of metal h, free to move on a vertical axis. 

 Thin axis ha* near its upper extremity a perpetual screw which gives 

 motion to a wheel u, of 100 teeth, and this acts on a hundreds wheel, 

 marked H, and thU again on a thousands wheel, marked T. Now 

 iippo*e each circle of holes to contain 25. On sending a blast of air 

 through B, it will, in escaping through the holes in c, cause the disc h 

 to rotate with a speed depending on the force of the blast, and during 

 each turn of the disc the currents will be 'cut off and re-opened 25 

 times, producing in fact, 25 waves of sound. One hole in each disc 

 would produce, with a given velocity, the same note as 25, but the 

 larger nuiul-r produce* a louder tone. By regulating the force of the 

 blast, the disc may be made to vary in speed, so as to produce notes 

 from the gravest ', to the most acute. By making the syren give the 

 note, the velocity of whose vibrations we wish to determine (that <! .1 

 tuning fork for example), the total number of rotations of the dice, as 

 recorded by the dials attached to the wheels u, u, T, divided by the 

 T of seconds during which the observation is being made, will 

 give the number of vibrations per second for the note in question. By 

 a ample ! jn-tmcnt, the endless screw can be put in and out of gear 

 with the teeth of the wheels in a moment, so that the registration need 

 not begin until the instrument is sounding the note fully and freely. 

 A seconds pendulum should also be at hand, beating audibly, BO that 

 the observer may begin to count the moment the screw is put in 

 gear. Some practice is required to make the instrument sustain the 

 note for 8 or 10 seconds. Graduated dial-plates and moving hands, as 

 in a gas-meter, are connected with the wheels u, u, T, so that the 

 number of vibrations can be read off by simple inspection. 

 SYKI AC LANGUAGE. [ARAMAEAN LANGUAGE ; LANGUAGE.] 



SYRIAC VERSIONS of the Bible. Of these several exist, two of 

 which are of considerable importance. 1. " The Peshito (literal) 

 Version," also called " The Old Syriac Version," is one of the most 

 ancient and valuable translations of the Bible. The date of its execu- 

 tion is unknown ; but it is certainly of a high antiquity. It is re- 

 ferred to by Ephrem the Syrian, in the middle of the 4th century, as 

 generally known and used, and therefore it must have been in existence 

 a considerable time before. Modern critics have referred its date 

 variously to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries, the majority to the 1st. 

 The opinion now generally adopted is that of Michaelis, who ascribes 

 the translation of both Testaments to the most flourishing period of 

 the Syrian Churches, namely, the end of the 1st and the beginning of 

 the 2nd century. 



The version of the Old Testament was certainly made from the 

 Hebrew, which it closely follows ; but there are indications of the 

 translator having made use of the Septuagint and of the Chaldee para- 

 phrase. The great antiquity of this version, much higher than that 'of 

 any existing Hebrew manuscript of the Old Testament, makes it a 

 most valuable source of biblical criticism. It is on the whole a very 

 good translation, but not equal throughout. A different method of 

 interpretation is followed in different books, for instance in the Penta- 

 teuch and the Chronicles. From this circumstance Jahn infers that 

 it was the work of different persons. Several peculiarities tend to 

 prove that the translators were Christians, and probably converted 

 Hebrews. 



The version of the New Testament contains the four Gospels, the 

 Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of Paul (including that to the He- 

 brews), the First Epistle of John, the First Epistle of Peter, and the 

 Epistle of James. It is undoubtedly one of the best versions of the 

 New Testament in any language, and is used as their standard by the 

 churches of Syria and the East. 



The version of the Old Testament was first printed in the Paris 

 Polyglott, but from an imperfect manuscript ; the passages which were 

 wanting were indifferently translated by Gabriel Sionita from the 

 Vulgate. This text, revised by the help of four manuscripts, was 

 reprinted in Walton's Polyglott, but was on the whole carelessly done. 

 The best version is that of the Rev. C. Buchanan and Professor Lee, 

 published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1816, which has 

 been translated by the Rev. James Murdock, and was published in New 

 York in 1851. The version of the New Testament was first brought 

 into Europe by Moses of Mardin, who was sent by Ignatius, the pa- 

 triarch of Antioch, on a mission to Pope Julius III. in 1552. It was 

 first printed at Vienna in 1555, at the expense of the emperor Fer- 

 dinand I. 



There is a later and very inferior translation of the books of the New 

 Testament which are wanting in the Peshito, namely, the second 

 Epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, the Epistle of Jude, 

 and the Apocalypse, made from the original Greek, probably in the 

 6th century. 



J. The Philoxenian, or Syro-Philoxenian Version of the New Testa- 

 ment, is so called from Philoxenus, bishop of Hierapolis, in the pro- 

 vince of Aleppo (488-518), under whose auspices it was translated by 

 Polycarp. It was revised by Thomas of Heraclea in 616. It is trans-' 

 lated from the Greek text, but is very inferior to the Peshito. 



In 1842 an imperfect copy of the four Gospels was brought by Arch- 

 deacon Tattam from the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in Syria, and 

 is now in the library of the British Museum. It has been carefully 

 edited, and translated by Dr. William Cureton, who considers its date 

 to be of the 5th century. It differs from the Peshito, as well as from 

 the Septuagint and the Greek in many passages, which are pointed out 

 by Mr. Cureton in the printed edition published in 1858. 



There are other Syriac Versions, not of sufficient importance to 

 require a separate notice. 



A list of the editions of the Syriac Versions is given in the ' Biblio- 

 graphical Appendix ' to the second volume of Home's ' Introduction." 



SYRINGE (from 2t'p<7{> a pipe), a portable hydraulic instrument of 

 the pump kind, commonly employed for the forcible ejection of fluids. 

 In its simplest form it consists of a cylindrical tube, with a perforated 

 nozzle at one end, and a piston, to the rod of which a handle is attached. 

 The tube being held in the left hand, with its nozzle immersed in water, 

 the piston is drawn to the upper end of the tube by the right hand. 

 The pressure of the atmosphere upon the surface of the water causes it 

 to follow the piston, so that the syringe becomes filled with water. 

 The instrument is then removed from the vessel of water, and, by 

 pushing the piston back towards the nozzle, its contents may be ejected 

 with a force proportionate to the power applied to the piston. 



The use of syringes for extinguishing fires is alluded to under FIHE- 

 ENGIXK. They were usually made of brass, and held from two to four 

 quarts each. Those of the former capacity were about two feet and a 

 half long, and one inch and a half in diameter, that of the nozzle being 

 half an inch. They were furnished with handles on each side, and 

 every syringe required three men to work it. The large syringes used 

 for horticultural purposes might, in many cases, be used with advan- 

 tage on the first discovery of a fire, when a very small quantity of 

 water, promptly applied and accurately directed, might prevent serious 

 mischief. Garden-syringes are made either to throw water in a com- 

 pact jet, from a simple nozzle with one perforation, or to distribute it 

 in the form of a shower, from a rose perforated with a number of 



