S Y li 
762 S Y N 
SYLLOGISM, ov\\oyi<Ttf.os, in logic, an ■ 
argument or term of reasoning, consisting of 
three propositions ; the two first of which 
are called premises, and the last the conclusion. 
See Logic, Mobe, &c. 
SYMPHON IA. a genus of plants of the 
class of monadelpiiia, and order of pentan- 
dria. There is one pi til . The corolla is 
globular, and the berry five-celled. There 
is only one species yet discovered ; the globu- 
lifera, a tree of Surinam. 
SYMPHONY, in music, properly denotes 
a consonance or concert of several sounds 
agreeable to the ear, whether vocal or instru- 
mental, called also harmony. 
SYMPHY SIS, in anatomy, one of the 
kinds of junctures of articulation of the 
bones. See Anatomy. 
SYMPHYTUM, comfrey, a genus of 
plants of the class of pentandria, and order of 
monogynia ; and in the natural system ran- 
ging under the 41 st order, asperifoliae. The 
limb of the corolla is tubular and ventricose, 
and the throat is shut with awl-shaped rays. 
There are three species ; the officinale, tu- 
berosum, and orientale. The officinale is a 
British plant. The stem is about two feet 
high, round, branched, green, and rough. 
The radical leaves are very large and rough ; 
those on the stalk are decurrent, and alternate. 
The flowers grow' on loose spikes, and are ei- 
ther of a yellowish or purple colour. It grows 
on the banks of rivers, and flowers from May 
to October. 
SYMPLOCOS, a genus of plants of the 
class of polyadelphia, and the order of polyan- 
tlria ; and in the natural system ranging under 
those the order of which has not been deter- 
mined. The calyx is quinquefid and inferior: 
the corolla is pentapetalous: the stamina are 
attached to the tube of the corolla in a four- 
fold series. Only one species, the martini- 
censis, is mentioned by Linnaeus; but 1’He- 
ritier of the academy of sciences at Paris has 
added three more, the cipomma, arechea, and 
©ctopetala, all trees of the West Indies. 
SYNCOPE , fainting. See Medicine. 
Syncope, in grammar, an elision or re- 
trenchment of a letter or syllable out of the 
middle of a word, as caldus for calidus, aspris 
fcr asperis, &c. 
SYNGENESIA, See Botany. 
SYNGNATHUS, pipefish, a genus of 
fishes of the order nantes : the generic cha- 
racter is, snout subcylindric, with terminal 
mouth ; body lengthened, jointed, mailed ; 
ventral fins none. 
f. Syngnathus acus, great pipefish. The 
fishes of the present genus are inhabitants of 
the sea, anti are observed to frequent the shal- 
lower parts near the shore, feeding on the 
smaller worms and insects: they are easily 
v distinguished by their slender habit, and an- 
gular jointed body. The syngnathus acus 
cr great pipefish is usually see’n of the length 
cf twelve or fifteen inches, but is sometimes 
found, especially in the northern seas, of far 
greater extent, measuring from two to three 
feet: it is of an extremely slender form, gra- 
dually tapering towards the extremity, and is 
ef a pale yellowish-brown colour, varied 
throughout its whole length with broad al- 
ternate zones of a deeper or olive brown, with 
a few smaller variegations intermixed : the 
s. fields or lamina* with which the joints of the 
body afe covered, appear, If narrowly in- 
spected, to be finely radiated from the centre 
by numerous lines or streaks : the dorsal fin 
is placed rather nearer the head than the tail, 
and is thin, tender, shallow', and of no great 
extent; the pectoral fins small, and slightly 
rounded, and the tail of similar shape and 
size. In spring, as in others of this genus, 
the ova are found lying in a longitudinal chan- 
nel or division at the lower part of the abdo- 
men, and are large in proportion to the size 
of the animal : from these are hatched the 
young, completely formed. Native of the 
European seas. 
2. Syngnathus hippocampus, sea-horse 
pipefish. A fish of a highly singular appear- 
ance : general length from six to ten inches : 
body much compressed; colour greenish 
brown, varied with darker and lighter specks : 
head large, thickish, and beset on the upper 
part, as well as along some of the first joints of 
the body, with several small, weak, lengthened 
spines or cirrhi, which are sometimes slightly 
ramified: snout slender: neck contracting 
suddenly beyoad the head : body rather short, 
and contracting suddenly towards the tail, 
which is long, quadrangular, and terminates in 
a naked or Unless tip. In its dry or contracted 
state this animal exhibits the fancied resem- 
blance from which it takes its name, but in the 
living fish this appearance is somewhat less 
striking, the head and tail being carried nearly 
straight. It is a native of the Mediterranean, 
Northern, and Atlantic seas. See Plate Nat. 
Hist. fig. 3S7. 
3. Syngnathus foliatus, foliated pipefish. 
A most extraordinary species; far exceeding 
all the rest of the genus in the singularity of 
its appearance, which is such as at first view 
rather to suggest the idea of some production 
of fancy than of any real existence, hi its 
general shape it is greatly allied to the preced- 
ing species, but is considerably longer in pro- 
portion, or of a more slender habit: these 
appendages are situated on very strong, rough, 
square spines or processes ; and was it not for 
the perfect regularity of their respective pro- 
portions, might be mistaken for the leaves of 
some kind of fucus adhering to the spines. 
I he colour of the whole animal is a dusky or 
blackish olive, thickly sprinkled on all parts, 
except on the appendages, with small round 
whitish specks, and accompanied by a kind 
of metallic gloss on the abdomen. There 
are seven species. 
SYNOCHUS, si/nocha. See Medicine. 
SYNODENDRON, a genus of insects of 
the order coleoptera. The generic character 
is, antennae clavate ; the club lamellate ; tho- 
rax gibbous, nuiricate, or unequal; lip fili- 
form; horny palpigerous at the tip. There 
are four species, 
SYNOVIA. See Sinovia. 
SYNTAGMA, the disposing or placing 
of things in an orderly manner. 
SYNTAX, in grammar, the proper con- 
struction, or due disposition, of the words of a 
language, into sentences. 
SYREN. See Siren. 
SY R1NGIA, the lilac, a genus of plants of 
the clussof diandria, and order of monogynia ; 
and in the natural system ranging under the 44th 
order, sepiariie. The corolla is quadrifid, and 
the capsule is bilocular. There are three spe- 
cies, the vulgaris, persica, and suspensa. The 
two first are natives of Persia, and the last of 
4 
feys 
Japan. The Vulgaris, which is distinguish! 
by ovate heart-shaped leaves, was cultivate 
in Britain about the year 1397 by Mr. Jol 
Gerard. The persica, which has- laneeola 
leaves, was cultivated in 1658 ; but 1 how loi 
both species might have been introduced in 
Britain before these dates, it is perhaps impo 
sible to ascertain. 
SYRINGE, an instrument serving to ii 
bibe a quantity of any fluid, and to squirt 
expel the same wfith violence. See Si® 
GERY. 
The syringe is made of a hollow cylind! 
ABCD, Plate Miscel. fig. 224, furnished witl 
little tubeat the bottom, EF. In this cylind 
is an embolus or piston K, made, or at leu 
covered, with leather, or some other matt: 
that easily imbibes moisture, and so filli 
the cavity of the cylinder, as that no air 
water may pass between the one and ti 
other. If then the little end of tiie tube 
is put into water, and the embolus drawn ui 
the water will ascend into the cavity left 1 
the embolus; and upon thrusting back t 
embolus, it will be violently expelled aga 
through the tube EF. 
This ascent of the water, the antients, wl 
supposed a plenum, attributed to natunl 
abhorrence of. a vacuum ; but the modern 
from repeated experiments, have found ijy 
be owing to the pressure of the atmosplj 
upon the fluid ; for by drawing up the pi 
bolus, the air left in the cavity of the cy| 
der will be exceedingly rarified, so thj 
being no longer a counterbalance to the! 
incumbent on the surface of the fluid, tl 
prevails and forces the water through t 
little tube into the body of the syringe. S' 
Pneumatics, &c. 
SYRINGOTON, the name of an instil 
ment to lay open the fistula. 
SY RUP. See Pharmacy, and Sugai| 
SYSTEM, in music, an interval compoun 
ed, or supposed to be compounded, of sever 
lesser intervals, as the fourth, the fifth, t 
sixth, the octave, &c. the component* 
which, considered as the elements of the ■ 
tern, are called diastems. A system is a 
a method of calculation to determine thel 
lations of sounds, or an order of signs! 
tablished to express them : and lastly, a s] 
tern is the code of harmonic rules draj 
from those common principles by which tq 
are computed. 
There is an infinity of different intervl 
and consequently an infinity also of possl 
systems. Any interval between the term! 
which one or more sounds intervened, 1 
by the antients called a system : E, G,l 
example, constituted the system of a mi 
third ; E, A, of a fourth ; E, B, of a fit 
&c. 
Systems were divided into general and I 
ticular. The particular systems were t| 
which were composed of at least two ini 
vals. ihe general systeifis, or diagnm 
were formed of the sum of all theparticl 
systems, and consequently contained alii 
sounds in music. 
The whole system of the Greeks was I 
ginally composed only of four sounds 
most, w hich formed the* concord of their ly 
or citha;a. These four sounds, according 
some authors, were by conjoint degrees :9 
cording to others, they were not diatom 
but the two extremes were at the distance 
an octave, and the two intermediate euei 
