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SYMPHYTISM 210 SYNCRETISTIC class of words called by him symbolic, to attach themselves to other words, so that the resulting compound is either really one word, or presents the appearance of being one word. SYNAGOGrTJE, a congregation or as- sembly of Jews for the purpose of wor- ship or the performance of religious rites. Also, a building set apart for Jewish as a church or chapel is for Christian worship. Under the Mosaic law worship of the highest type could take place only at one chosen spot (Deut. xii: 5, 21; xvi: 6), that divinely chosen carlv in the monarchy being Jerusalem (II Chron. vi: 5, 6), though gatherings took place in various other localities (II Kings, iv: 23) . Meetings at stated times for worship do not seem to have arisen till the time of the Exile, when the serv- ices of the Temple were perforce in abey- ance. They constituted the germ of the subsequent synagogues, which are be- lieved to have begun among the Jews resident out of Palestine. In Psalm Ixxiv: 8, the persecutors are represented as burning up all the synagogues of God in the land. Jesus taught or preached and wrought miracles in the synagogues of Capernaum (Matt, xii: 9, Mark i: 21, Luke vii : 5, John vi : 59) , in that of Naz- areth (Matt xiii: 54, Mark vi: 2, Luke iv: 16), and elsewhere (Luke iv: 15). Many Jewish synagogues are said to have existed in Jerusalem, besides one or more for foreigners (Acts vi:9). Out of Palestine the Apostles found syna- gogues in Damascus, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus and doubtless also in other places. Synagogues were usually built on elevated sites, suggested by Prov. i: 21, and Ezra ix: 9, often out- side cities and towns, by the side of a river or small stream (Acts xvi: 13). The edifice was shaped like a theater, with the door on the W. side, entering which one was conventionally supposed to look E. to Jerusalem. The wooden chest or ark containing the scrolls of the law and vestments was on the E. side, with a canopy above, or in a recess or sanctuary. In front of it were the desk of the reader or preacher and a platform, with arm-chairs for the elders, who faced the ordinary worshipers. The men sat on one side of the synagogue and the women on the other; they were moreover separated by a partition about 6 feet high. A light was kept perpetually burning. The governing body was the elders (Acts XXV : 15), presided over by a ruler of the synagogue (Mark v: 22, Luke xiii: 14) , with two judicial colleagues, three almoners or deacons, a leader of the wor- ship (Luke iv: 20), a servant like a care- taker, and the 10 men of leisure pledged to attend and constitute a congregation if no others came. The Law and the Proph- ets were read, with liturgical prayers, chanting of the psalms, and recitals of the 10 commandments, the whole conclud- ing with a benediction. The synagogues were used not only as places of worship, but as law courts, taking cognizance of petty offenses, the decisions of which were carried out within the sacred edi- fice. SYNCOPATION, in grammar, the contraction of a word by the omission of one or more letters or syllables from the middle. In music, suspension or altera- tion of i*hythm by driving the accent to that part of a bar not usually accented. Syncopation may be completed in a bar, or it may be carried by sequence through several bars, or it may be so that more than one bar is involved in the synco- pation. Syncopated counterpoint is the fourth species of counterpoint. SYNCOPE, the name given to that form of death characterized by failure and cessation of the heart's action as its primary feature. The term is also ap- plied to the state of fainting produced by a diminution or interruption of the ac- tion of the heart, and of respiration, ac- companied with a suspension of the ac- tion of the brain and a temporary loss of sensation, volition, and other facul- ties. Fatal syncope is usually the result of some nervous "shock," resulting from some severe lesion of organs, or from a want of blood, or an altered and abnor- mal state of blood pressure. Ordinary syncope is caused chiefly by weakness, mental emotion, etc. The fainting pa- tient should be placed on a couch and the head kept low; while great caution must be observed in stimulating the ac- tion of the heart. SYNCRETISM, or SYNCRATISM, at- tempt to establish a comprehensive scheme intended to unite or blend har- moniously one with the other principles or parties in irreconcilable antagonism. Specifically, in philosophy, the blending of the tenets of different schools into a universal system. A party among the Platonists, at the revival of letters, to which belonged Ammonius, Picadella Mirandola, Bessarion, and other emi- nent men, have received the name of Syncretists. SYNCRETISTIC CONTROVERSY, the name given to a series of contro- versies which arose in the Lutheran Church in the 17th century, from the subject of the discussion — the promotion