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SYNGE 213 SYNTHESIS Islands, in order to write of the primi- tive life of its inhabitants. In 1893 he settled in Ireland and devoted himself to writing for the Abbey Theater, in Dub- lin. He was considered to be the most talented of the dramatists of the Irish Literary Revival. His plays, which were produced in the United States with con- siderable success, included "The Shadow of the Glen" (1903); "Riders to the Sea" (1904) ; "The Well of the Saints" (1905) ; "The Tinker's Wedding" (1909) ; and "Playboy of the Western World" (1907). He died in 1909. SYNOD, a meeting or assembly of ec- clesiastical persons for mutual delibera- tion on matters of difficulty or of general interest affecting the churches over which they rule and designed for their guid- ance. In the early Church there were four kinds of synod. First, an CEcu- menical, that is, a General or Universal Synod, commonly called a General Coun- cil; second, a National Sjmod, attended by the clergy of one nation only; third, a Provincial Synod, attended by the clergy of a province; and fourth a Diocesan Synod, attended by the clergy of a single diocese. Among the Presbyterians a synod is a court of review consisting of ministers and elders of contiguous con- gregations. The supreme council of the church is the General Assembly. ' SYNOD OF DORT, a synod held at Dort, Dordt, or Dordrecht, in Southern Holland, in 1618 and 1619, to discuss the views of Arminius, which it condemned. SYNODICAL PERIOD, in astronomy, the period between two successive con- junctions or oppositions of two heavenly bodies. A synodical month is a lunation, being the period from one full moon to the next full moon or from new moon to next new moon. It is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 2.37 seconds. SYNONYMS, or words having the same signification, strictly speaking, do not exist in any language; and in the popular use of the term synonyms are words sufficiently alike in general signi- fication to be liable to be confounded, but yet so different in special definition as to require to be distinguished. The oppo- site of synonyms are antonyms. SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, the first three (Jospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which regard events from the same point of view, and present close resemblances to each other. Four hypotheses have been framed to account for the corresponden- ces: (1) That the Synoptic Gospels were derived from a common written source or sources. (2) That the earlier Gospels were consulted in the composition of the later ones. (3) That all the three were derived from oral tradition. (4) That they were all derived partly from oral tradition, but that the second was also copied from the first, and the third from the first and second. The Synoptic Gos- pels treat of the humanity rather than the divinity of Jesus, though not in any way ignoring the latter. SYNOVIA and SYNOVIAL MEM- BRANE. Synovia is a glutinous fluid secreted by synovial membranes. Syno- vial membranes are simply modifications of serous membranes, and they invest the tendons and sinews that play over joints and otherwise assist articulations. The synovial fluid is therefore merely a secre- tion from a serous membrane. It ap- pears, however, to differ in certain par- ticulars from ordinary serous secretions, and is more dense and viscid than ordi- nary serum. Hence synovia is often popularly named "joint oil." In syno- via an abundance of albumen is present. Synovial membranes also invest the bur- s«, or little pads which underlie such ten- dons as those of the extensor muscles of the thigh, in which tendon the patella or knee cap is developed. Synovial membranes are liable to inflammation, known as synovitis. SYNTAX, that part of grammar which treats of the manner of connecting words into regular sentences, constructing sen- tences by the due arrangement of words or members in their mutual relations ac- cording to established usage. In every language there is some fundamental prin- ciple which pervades and regulates its whole construction, though it may occa- sionally admit of particular variations. In some languages the principle of jux- taposition prevails, and little diversity of arrangement is possible, as is the case in English, in which inflections are so few. The relations of the subject, the action, and the object are indicated by their re- spective positions. In other languages — inflected languages like Latin or Greek — these relations are indicated by the changes in the forms of the words, and the modes of arrangement are various. Still, in the structure and disposition of sentences and pai'ts of sentences the logi- cal relations of the thoughts must regu- late the construction, even where it ap- pears to be most arbitrary. SYNTHESIS, in chemistry, the build- ing up of more or less complex bodies by the direct union of their elements, or of groups of elements. Thus, water can be produced synthetically by the union of