which influence the heart's action; or from inanition or debility, which weakens the muscular power of the heart along with that of the voluntary muscles. If the heart ceases completely to beat for any time, the individual dies; but in an ordinary fainting fit, as it is termed, the heart continues to beat, though so feebly and faintly that its beat may not be felt; still the ear applied directly over it will distinguish the sound made by its contraction. In such cases the patient should be placed in a horizontal position, with the head if possible a little lower than the body. Cold water may be dashed over the face and chest to excite the respiratory act. Ammonia may be held to the nostrils, and stimulants administered if possible by the mouth, if not by enema.

SYNDIC (Gr. ovvdikos, from ovv, with, and dun, justice), an administrative officer in various cities or other communities, and in corporate bodies. At Athens any person appointed to represent the state in an affair in dispute with another state was called syndic. In Latin authors the word syndicus is used in the sense of attorney. In the middle ages the syndic represented a university, a church, or any corporate body at law, and transacted its general business. Syndic was the usual name for the town clerk in some parts of France. By Froissart the word syndic is used as a hereditary title of nobility in some cases where it had been only given originally as the title of an administrative officer. The merchants or others who composed the chambers of commerce established in France in 1701 were called syndics du commerce.

SYNESIUS, a Christian bishop, philosopher, and poet of the 5th century, born in Cyrene, Africa, probably in 379. The date of his death is unknown. His family was rich and noble, and boasted a line of ancestry reaching back to the Heraclides. He was a pupil at Alexandria of the celebrated Hypatia, afterward studied at Athens, and returning to Cyrene lived for a time in retirement, engaged in study. Famine having come upon Cyrene, Synesius was sent to Constantinople to solicit aid, and was successful. After 3 years' stay in the Byzantine capital, he returned to Cyrene, and soon afterward, under the influence of a Christian wife, renounced paganism. In 410, on the death of the bishop of Ptolemais (now Tolmeta), Synesius was chosen to the see, although he had not been baptized, was married, and held opinions concerning the preexistence of souls, the eternity of the world, and the resurrection, which were not regarded in the church as orthodox. He accepted the post with reluctance, was baptized, and after 7 months of preparation entered upon his episcopal duties. Some instances are recorded of his firmness in prohibiting heresies; but his mind seems to have been more exercised by troubles in the state than by discords in the church. His works consist of epistles, treatises, and hymns. The best complete collection of them is that of Petavius, in Greek with

a Latin translation, editions of which appeared at Paris in 1612, 1633, and 1640. A new and more critical edition was published by Krabinger (2 vols. 8vo., Berlin, 1851). Many editions of the hymns have been published with translations into various tongues. A French version first appeared in 1581, and new ones in 1836 and 1839.

SYNOD (Gr. ovvodos, meeting), in the ancient church, an assembly of bishops, in which controversial points of doctrine or discipline were decided. In the Roman Catholic church, 4 classes of synods are at present distinguished, diocesan, provincial, national, and œcumenical, the last of which is always, and the 2d and 3d are frequently, called councils. (See COUNCIL.) In the Greek church all these 4 classes of synods have fallen into desuetude, but there are "holy synods," or supreme ecclesiastical boards of administration, at St. Petersburg, Constantinople, and Athens. In the Episcopal church of Great Britain, the British colonies, and America, the provincial and diocesan synods are now either in full use or on the point of restoration; the church in America has also a general synod. In the Presbyterian churches the synod is an essential link in their constitution, and consists of delegates, clerical and lay, of several presbyteries. They also have national_synods called general assemblies. With the Presbyterian the Lutheran, German Reformed, and Reformed Dutch churches in America agree, which are also divided into synods, and at certain intervals convene a general synod. (In the German Reformed church the formation of a general synod has been decided upon, but not yet effected.) In the churches of continental Europe, the synodical constitution has for a long time been either wholly abrogated or greatly curtailed by the territorial system, which places the government of the church wholly in the hands of the state officers, or by the consistorial system, which divides the administration of the church between ecclesiastical boards called consistories and appointed by the secular government, and synods elected by the congregations. But since the beginning of the 19th century there has been a general and increasing tendency in the churches to return to the synodical constitution; territorial divisions have been almost entirely abandoned, and the consistories are yielding up many of their functions to the restored synods. Austria and some of the smaller German states, as Oldenburg and Baden, have almost purely synodical constitutions; nearly all the other German states have a regular system of diocesan synods and general synods by the side of their consistories. The same is the case in Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Holland, in all of which countries free churches have been formed, which reject the interference of the states and of state boards in church affairs, while the state churches generally demand at least the restoration of the old synodical system by the side of the consistorial.

SYNONYMES (Gr. ovvwvvμos, from ovv, to gether with, and ovoμa, a name), words of the same language which are the precise equivalents of each other. As there are perhaps no two words absolutely identical in meaning, the term is ordinarily applied to those which are of similar significance, and which are likely to be confounded from their general resemblance, but require to be distinguished by reason of special differences. The idiosyncrasies of individuals, or the local usage of districts, may give different shades of meaning to words that agree in the main. Speakers and writers, to avoid the unpleasant effect of repetition, are often obliged to introduce a great variety of terms to convey the same thought. Words, not distinguishable in definition, may be employed under different circumstances, many terms being restricted to poetical, religious, or secular purposes. Many words become nearly synonymous by figurative or metaphorical usage, though etymologically of different signification; thus, Snorro's Edda enumerates 150 synonymes for sword. Especially in composite languages synonymes are introduced from different sources, as, in English, trick, device, finesse, artifice, and stratagem, respectively from the Saxon, Italian, French, Latin, and Greek. Such words, though etymologically identical in meaning, are generally distinguished by usage; thus, sphere (Gr.) belongs rather to scientific and poetical, and globe (Lat.) to popular language; shepherd (Anglo-Sax.) retains its primary meaning of keeper of sheep, and pastor (Lat.) has only an ecclesiastical sense; love (Anglo-Sax.) and charity (Gr.) are interchanged in the New Testament, but now charity signifies only one particular manifestation of love; illegible (Lat.) is applied to handwriting, and unreadable (Anglo-Sax.) to subject matter. The same root is often developed into different but kindred words, as human and humane, gentle and genteel, property and propriety, piety and pity, triumph and trump (card), etiquette and ticket, ghostly and ghastly, cant and chant. De Quincey says that "all languages tend to clear themselves of synonymes as intellectual culture advances, the superfluous words being taken up and appropriated by new shades and combinations of thought evolved in the progress of society. And long before this appropriation is fixed and petrified into the acknowledged vocabulary of the language, an insensible clinamen prepares the way for it." Precise diverse meanings are fixed upon synonymes, as invention and discovery; and words indicative of insignificant distinctions disappear from the language, as has been the case with a large number of the technical terms of the chase. "Few languages," says Mr. G. P. Marsh, are richer than English in approximate synonymes and conjugates; and it is much to be regretted that no competent scholar has yet devoted himself to the investigation of this branch of our philology. The little manual edited by Archbishop Whately, containing

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scarcely more than 400 words, is, as far as it goes, the most satisfactory treatise we have on the subject. Crabbe's 'Synonymes,' much used in this country, is valuable chiefly for its exemplifications; but the author's great ignorance of etymology has led him into many errors; and it cannot pretend to compare with the many excellent works on synonymy of the German, French, Danish, and other European languages."-The oldest extant treatise on synonymes is by Ammonius of Alexandria (about A. D. 389). None of the ancient Latin works on the subject have been preserved. The best modern treatises on Latin synonymes are by Ramshorn, Döderlein, Habicht, Schmalfeld, and Schultz; on German, by Eberhard, Maass, and Weigand; and on French, by Girard, Beauzée, Roubaud, Guizot, and Lafaye (2 vols., 1841-'57). SYNTHESIS. See ANALYSIS.

SYPHAX, a Numidian prince, born about 249 B. C., died in 201. In 213 he was king of the Massesylians, the westernmost tribe of the Numidians, and was at war with Carthage; and through this circumstance he became allied with the two Scipios, who materially contributed to his success against the Carthaginians. But Carthage formed a strong combination against him, and he was at length beaten by Hasdrubal and Masinissa, in a great battle in which 30,000 men are said to have fallen. Syphax fled to Mauritania and collected a new force, but was again defeated by Masinissa. He subsequently regained possession of his throne, apparently by treaty with the Carthaginians. In 206 Scipio once more endeavored to bring him into a Roman alliance; but Hasdrubal gave him in marriage his beautiful daughter Sophonisba, though she had previously been promised to Masinissa, and thus secured his adherence to Carthage. Upon the death of Gala, king of the Massylians, his son Masinissa, after a contest with rival claimants, had ascended the throne; but Syphax with Carthaginian aid wrested it from him and made him a fugitive. When Scipio landed in Africa in 204, Syphax joined the Carthaginians with an army of 50,000 foot and 10,000 horse. In the spring of 203 his camp was suddenly attacked at night by Scipio (with whom he had been long negotiating for peace), the straw huts of the soldiers were fired, and nearly the whole army perished in the conflagration or were put to the sword. Syphax assembled another army, joined Hasdrubal, and was again entirely defeated. His kingdom was now invaded by his old enemy Masinissa with Roman allies. He assembled a third army, met them as they approached his capital, was defeated, fell into the hands of the Romans, and was sent a prisoner to Scipio. By him he was sent to Rome, and upon the conqueror's return, according to Polybius, appeared in his triumphal procession; but according to Livy he died at Tibur a few days before.

SYRA, or SYROS, a Grecian island, included in the Cyclades, 20 m. N. W. from Paros; area, 65 sq. m.; pop. about 42,000. The out

line of the island is very irregular, and the coasts are steep and rugged. The surface is intersected by hills and narrow valleys, and the soil is not very fertile in consequence of a deficient supply of water. The hills are mostly composed of mica slate, and the principal minerals are iron ore and an inferior kind of marble. The climate is cooler than that of the neighboring islands, and is considered particularly healthy. The chief productions are wheat, barley, cotton, wine, figs, and silk. SYRA, NEW SYROS, or HERMOPOLIS, the capital of the island and of the Greek prefecture of the Cyclades, is situated at the head of a bay on the E. coast, near the site of the ancient city; pop. about 30,000. It contains several churches, a gymnasium, a quarantine establishment, several good private schools, and a custom house. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, and of the Greek bishop of the Cyclades. The harbor is large and convenient, and is the centre of steam navigation in the archipelago. An active trade exists in silk, manufactured goods, and coffee; and ship building is carried on. During the war of independence, Syra, being under the protection of France, did not take part in the hostilities against Turkey, and it became an entrepot for the commerce of Greece and the neighboring islands.

SYRACUSE, a city and the capital of Onondaga co., N. Y., situated at the head of Onondaga lake on a creek bearing the same name, 148 m. W. by N. from Albany, 80 m. E. by S. from Rochester, and 35 m. S. S. E. from Oswego; pop. in 1850, 22,271; in 1860, 28,199. The greater portion of the city occupies a level tract at the head of the lake, and a ridge from 100 to 200 feet high extends through the eastern part. From its central location it is a favorite point for holding state conventions, and hence is styled the "city of conventions." It has ample streets, and is regularly laid out and substantially built. The value of dwellings in 1855 was $6,228,627. The state asylum for idiots is the most imposing structure, erected in 1855 at a cost of $86,000, just S. W. of the city limits, on land given by the people of Syracuse. The grounds embrace 18 acres, commanding a fine view of the entire city. The institution has proved highly successful; its average number of inmates is about 100. The other charitable institutions are the Syracuse home association and the Onondaga county orphan asylum. The court house, built of Onondaga limestone at a cost of $40,000, is one of the finest edifices of its kind in the state. The state arsenal is a handsome building surrounded by a beautiful parade ground. The city hall and other public buildings are substantial structures. The city has 28 churches, viz.: 2 Baptist, 1 Congregational, 3 Episcopal, 4 Methodist Episcopal, 1 German Methodist, 1 Wesleyan Methodist, 2 Jewish synagogues, 2 Lutheran, 3 Presbyterian, 1 Refor.ned Dutch, 4 Roman Catholic, 1 Unitarian, and 3 of other denominations. There are 3 daily and 7

weekly newspapers. The city has 13 public schools, with a classical department or high school; and in 1860 the average attendance of pupils was 2,977, and the amount of money expended was $30,745.05. The district libraries number 5,131 volumes, and there is a central library in the city hall for the use of the schools, containing 4,000 volumes. There are also 2 seminaries, a classical school, a commercial college, and a boarding school for boys. There are 11 banks of issue and deposit, 2 savings banks, and a number of private banking offices. The city is supplied with water by a company. It is on the line of the Erie canal and of the New York central railroad; and the Oswego canal, Oswego and Syracuse railroad, and Syracuse, Binghamton, and New York railroad terminate here. The commerce and travel are unusually large for an interior city.-Syracuse is the depot of the greatest salt-producing region in the Union. (See SALT, vol. xiv. p. 305.) The principal manufactories are 3 furnaces, producing articles to the value of $100,000 annually; 7 machine shops, producing $313,000, and employing 320 hands; 3 silver ware manufactories, $47,000; 7 tin and sheet iron factories, $66,000; 9 breweries, over $400,000; 2 chandleries and soap factories, $42,000; 1 gas factory, $20,294; 1 boat yard, employing 50 hands; 3 gypsum bakeries, $13,000; 2 sash and blind factories, $35,785; 6 coach and wagon factories, $55,950; 1 wheelbarrow factory, $20,000; 3 grist and flouring mills, $368,275; 1 box factory, $30,000; 12 cooper shops, $49,120; 1 planing mill, $63,880; 2 saw mills, $37,500; 2 stone cutting establishments, $13,500; 1 water lime establishment, $6,000; 7 boot and shoe factories, $148,200; 6 saddle and harness shops, $31,500; 1 saddle and coach hardware manufactory, $57,120; 1 tannery, $30,000; 5 cabinet shops, $117,100; 4 hat and cap factories, $32,800; 5 tobacco and cigar manufactories, $150,000; a piano factory, 9 printing offices, and various other manufactories. The machine shops of the central railroad at this place employ about 150 hands, and as many more are engaged as conductors, brakemen, and track hands.-The first settlement was made in 1787. It was a small village until the completion of the Erie canal in 1825, since which it has rapidly increased. In 1847 it was incorporated as a city.

SYRACUSE (anc. Syracuse; Ital. Siracusa or Siragosa), a city of Sicily, on the E. coast, 30 m. S. S. E. from Catania, and 81 m. S. S. W. from Messina; pop. about 16,000. It is fortified, and maintains a garrison, but is commanded by the heights of Achradina. It is the see of a bishop, and has a fine cathedral, 185 feet long and 75 wide, anciently the temple of Minerva; numerous palaces, and several churches, convents, and other public buildings. The streets are narrow, and there are extensive ruins of the amphitheatres, baths, &c., of the ancient city, some of them in good preservation. The city has some trade in wine, oil,

brandy, fruits, salt, saltpetre, sulphur, and a little grain. The ancient Syracuse was the largest city of Sicily; its walls, flanked by towers, were 22 m. in circuit, and the number of inhabitants in its most prosperous period is stated by different writers at 500,000, 900,000, and even 1,200,000. It really consisted of 5 towns adjoining each other, but separated by walls, viz., Ortygia, Achradina, Tyche, Neapolis, and the Epipolæ, and hence was sometimes called Pentapolis. The original city was Ortygia, built upon an island of an oblong shape about 2 m. in circuit, situated between the Great or Greek harbor on the W. and the Little harbor on the E.; it was after a time connected with the mainland by a causeway, and was then spoken of as Ortygia on the peninsula. Achradina, which was next in age, was situated on the other side of the Little harbor, and extended along the sea coast for about 3 m. E. to the port of Trogilus, which was without the limits of the city; it was built partly on the lowlands along the shore, and partly on the heights which rise in a wall of rocks some little distance inland. North of Achradina and on the same range of heights stood Tyche, separated from it only by a double wall and a highway between; it extended northward about 2 m., and at its W. extremity, commanding Ortygia, were several heights named the Epipolæ, which were enclosed by Dionysius the Elder and formed one vast fortress. S. W. of Tyche, and opposite Ortygia, on the lowlands and extending to the wall of Achradina, at the foot of the heights, was Neapolis or the new town. On the W. of Ortygia, around the shores of the Great harbor as far as to the rocky peninsula of Plemmyrium, were suburbs and gardens occupied by the overflowing population of the city. After the Roman conquest, as the city declined in wealth and population, its limits became more restricted; at the time of Augustus it occupied only Ortygia and the lower part of Achradina, and since its capture by the Saracens it has been confined to the Ortygian per insula. The heights of Achradina now present only a surface of rock, the ancient buildings and the soil having been alike removed. The sea has undermined the shore, the walls have disappeared, and over the elevated and extensive plain only steps hewn in the rock or a few courses of stone give evidence of the vast population which once inhabited it. On the peninsula and the lowland portion of Achradina and Neapolis, evidences of the former greatness of Syracuse are more abundant. Near the borders of Tyche, Achradina, and Neapolis, is the ancient theatre hewn out of the rock and now much overgrown with bushes; it contained 66 ranges of seats, all cut in the rock, and could accommodate 40,000 spectators. Not far from this are the ruins of an amphitheatre of the Roman period. Nearer to Ortygia are the ruins of the palace of Agathocles, and on the peninsula are traces of several other palaces. The lautumia or latomia, originally quarries

cut in the wall of rocks which formed the face of the heights of Achradina, and excavated to the depth of 60 to 80 feet, are still perfect. Some of them were used as prisons; in one the Athenian prisoners were confined on the surrender of Nicias, and most of them perished. Near the site of the ancient theatre, on one side of the quarry, is that remarkable prison cut in the rock, now called the "ear of Dionysius." There are also catacombs of great extent containing subterranean streets of tombs, in which Greek and Roman, Christian and Saracen, have all found burial. The remains of a great aqueduct begun by Gelon and improved by Hiero also exist. Near the left bank of the Anapus, outside the walls and S. W. of the city, are the ruins of the temple of Jupiter Olympius. The celebrated fountain of Arethusa, now used, it is said, as a public bath, still exists as a large pool in the peninsula; a wall separates it from the sea. There are also remains of several baths, one of them with a spiral staircase. In the museum of the modern city are preserved statues, vases, coins, and inscriptions gathered from the ruins.-Syracuse was founded by Archias, the son of Euagetes, a Corinthian exile, who with a band of Corinthians and Dorians settled in the island of Ortygia in 734 B. C. Within 70 years from its establishment it had begun to send out colonies, among which were Acræ (664), Casmenæ (about 644), and Camarina (599). In 485 B. Č., the Gamori, the ruling oligarchy, having been expelled, Gelon, the despot of Gela, undertook their cause, and not only effected their restoration, but made himself master of the city, to which he removed, and which, by transferring thither the inhabitants of Gela and several other cities, he greatly enlarged, and brought to a high state of prosperity. At his death in 478, Hiero, an able though somewhat despotic monarch, succeeded to the throne, and by his patronage of literature made it the favorite resort of the Greek poets and dramatists of the time, including Eschylus, Pindar, Bacchylides, Epicharmus, and Sophron. His brother Thrasybulus succeeded him in 467, but his tyranny and violence disgusted the Syracusans, and after a reign of a year he was expelled and a popular government instituted. In the autumn of 415 the Athenians, as allies of the Segestans, then at war with Syracuse, landed a hostile force in the Great harbor near its walls, and in the spring of 414 commenced a regular siege of the city; but the citizens, under Gylippus, resisted the besiegers so skilfully that at the end of a year their entire remaining force of 7,000 men, with their commanders Nicias and Demosthenes, were taken prisoners. (See GREECE, vol. viii. p. 447.) In 410 the Carthaginians commenced their aggressions upon Syracuse, and in 405 Dionysius the Elder, taking advantage of the apparently impending danger, made himself despot of the city, and, concluding a peace with the Carthaginians, ruled vigorously but tyrannically for 38 years. During his reign

the city was so strongly fortified as to become impregnable to the repeated assaults of the Carthaginians. He was succeeded in 367 by his son Dionysius the Younger, whose tyranny and debauchery brought about his expulsion by Dion in 359; he regained his power in 346, but was finally expelled by Timoleon in 343. The restoration of liberty to Syracuse by the latter was followed by unexampled though brief prosperity; and 27 years later Agathocles acquired despotic power over the city, and used it for 28 years to plunge her in new and destructive wars. After his death (289) a short respite was had, but soon new tyrants assumed the sway, till in 270 Hiero II. obtained supreme power, and maintained a firm and judicious administration, greatly to the benefit of Syracuse, for nearly 60 years. In 263 he made a treaty with Rome, whose steadfast ally he thenceforward became. During his reign Syracuse attained to its highest splendor and magnificence. With his death (216), however, a great change took place. His grandson and successor Hieronymus abandoned the alliance of Rome for that of Carthage, and after his death the Carthaginians brought about an open rupture with Rome, which led to the siege of Syracuse by Marcellus (214-212), a siege rendered illustrious by the patriotic efforts of Archimedes for its defence, but which finally resulted in its capture and plunder. It then declined into an ordinary Roman provincial town, its population diminished, and it was only of importance as the capital of Sicily and the seat of a proconsular court. It continued to retrograde in wealth and population, and in 38 B. C. and the succeeding years was so plundered and despoiled by Sextus Pompey that Augustus sent thither a Roman colony to strengthen it. It was probably at this time that the Roman amphitheatre was erected. In the 4th century, though much decayed, it was still one of the largest cities of Sicily. It fell into the hands of the Goths at the overthrow of the western empire, but was recaptured by Belisarius in A. D. 535, and remained a fief of the Byzantine emperors till 878, when, after repeated attacks for 50 years and a siege of 9 months, it fell into the hands of the Saracens, who, exasperated at the obstinacy of its defence, massacred its inhabitants, destroyed its fortifications, and burned the city. From this terrible blow it has never recovered. It was partially rebuilt and fortified by Charles V., but in 1693 and again in 1757 was nearly destroyed by earthquakes.

SYRIA (Arab. Ësh-Sham, the Aram of the Scriptures), a territory of Asiatic Turkey, bounded N. by Adana and Marash, N. E. by the Euphrates, E. and S. by Al Jezira and Arabia, and W. by the Mediterranean, between lat. 31° and 37° 35' N., and long. 34° and 38° 45′ E.; area, 144,433 sq. m.; pop. 2,750,000. It is divided into the pashalics of Aleppo or Haleb, Tripoli or Tarabloos, Acre or Akka, Gaza, and Damascus, named from their respective capitals.

The only important indentation on the coast is the large gulf of Iskenderoon or Scanderoon at the extreme N.; there are several small bays, as those of Acre, Tripoli, Beyrout, and Saida. The principal rivers are the Jordan, the Asi or Aasy (the ancient Orontes), the Litany (Leontes), the Kishon, the Yarmuk (Hieromax), the Burada (Abana), and the Awaj (Pharpar). The Euphrates drains the N. E. border. The only lakes of importance are the Dead sea and the lake of Tiberias or Gennesareth. The Taurus range forms a part of the N. boundary, and separates Syria from Asia Minor. The two parallel chains which extend through Syria from N. to S., the Libanus or Lebanon and the Anti-Libanus, are offsets from that range, forming low hills, and rising again to the snow line as they approach the Sinaitic peninsula. The W. or Lebanon chain runs parallel to the coast, and seldom more than 12 m. distant from it, to the plain of Esdraelon below Mt. Tabor; it is broken by the passage of the Orontes and the Leontes. Its highest summit ("at the entering in of Hamath") is more than 10,000 feet above the sea, and on its side are the remnant of the ancient "cedars of Lebanon." Separated from this by a beautiful and fertile valley, from 7 to 20 m. in width, is the Anti-Libanus chain, generally lower, though in its loftiest summit, Mt. Hermon, rivalling the highest peaks of the Lebanon range. East of Hermon, a chain of low mountains stretches E. past Damascus; below it the country is hilly, and, viewed from the deep depression of the Jordan valley, seems mountainous. The mountains of Gilead E. of the Jordan form the culminating point of these hills. Further E., in the Hauran, is a lofty table land, waterless, and with vast black bowlders and rocks scattered over its face. The most remarkable feature of the topography of Syria is the extraordinary depression of the valley of the Jordan. The valley of ColeSyria, between the Libanus and the Anti-Libanus, is about 70 m. long, and is elevated about 2,300 feet above the sea; it formerly contained Heliopolis or Baalbec, and other great cities. At its southern termination it divides into two branches, one cutting through the Lebanon range in the narrow gorge through which the Leontes finds its way to the sea, the other striking off southward and descending rapidly for 15 m. to the source of the Jordan at the W. base of Hermon. Passing onward with a steady but rapid slope, at the plain ElHuleh it is at the sea level; at the lake of Tiberias it is 653 feet below it; and within 60 m. of direct distance, though by the circuitous channel of the river nearly 200 m., at the Dead sea, it is 1,312 feet below the Mediterranean. No similar river valley is known. Among the level tracts of Syria, beside Cole-Syria, may be named the great plain of Esdraelon, that of Sharon, and the arid sandy plain of Gaza. The Hauran is, but for its black basaltic rocks, much like some of the steppes of Higher Asia. Around Damascus, an oasis in the desert, vast