tendency to death from heart failure, rest in the recumbent position, the use of diffusible stimulants, such as ammonia or ether, &c., together with friction or warmth applied to the extremities, are the means to be adopted. Where, on the other hand, the symptoms are those of apoplexy or of hyperpyrexia, by far the most successful results are obtained by the use of cold (the cold affusion, rubbing the surface with ice, enemata of ice-cold water). The effect is a marked lowering of the temperature, while at the same time a stimulus is given to the respiratory function. Mustard or turpentine applied to the nape of the neck or chest is a useful adjuvant. Should the temperature be lowered in this way but unconsciousness still persist, removal of the hair and blistering the scalp are recommended. The subsequent treatment will depend upon the nature of the resulting symptoms, but change to a cool climate is often followed by marked benefit.
SUPERANNUATION (formed on the basis of “annual,”
“annuity,” from the Late Lat. superannatus, one that has lived
beyond the year, super, above, and annus, year, Fr. suranner,
to grow very old), properly a disqualification or relief from office
or service on account of old age, infirmity, or of passing the limit
of age fixed for service, hence the pension or allowance granted
in respect of service at the expiry of the term or the retirement
(see Pension). Educationally the term is specifically used
of the removal of a backward pupil, who would otherwise remain
in a class or form below that which his age demands.
SUPERCARGO, a term in maritime law (adapted from the
Span. sobrecargo, one over or in charge of a cargo) for a person
employed on board a vessel by the owners of the cargo to manage
their trade, sell the merchandise at the ports to which the vessel
is sailing, and buy and receive goods for shipment home wards.
He has control of the cargo unless expressly or impliedly limited
by his contract or agreement. He differs from a factor, who has
a fixed place of residence at a port or trading place, by sailing
from port to port with the vessel to which he is attached.
SUPEREROGATION (Late Lat. supererogatio, payment
beyond what is due or asked, from super, beyond, erogare, to
pay out, expend, ex, out, rogare, to ask), the performance of more
than is asked for, the action of doing more than duty requires.
In the theology of the Roman Church, “works of supererogation”
are those which are performed beyond what is required
by God, thus forming a reserve store of works of merit which
can be drawn upon for the dispensation of those whose works
fall short of the standard required.
SUPERINTENDENT, a term which, apart from its general
use for an official in charge, has a distinct religious connotation,
being applied, e.g. to the head of a Sunday school and to the
chief minister in a Methodist circuit. In its most important
historical sense it refers to certain ecclesiastical officers of
reformed churches of the Lutheran model.
At the Reformation the question of the ordering and constitution of the churches was urgent. The greatest confusion prevailed: the priests were often dissolute, the people were ignorant, and meanwhile nobles were seizing the Church lands. Luther and Melanchthon would have preferred to retain the old episcopal control, and to have charged the bishops with the duty of making the necessary alterations in the ecclesiastical constitution. For, while they taught that in spiritual powers all ministers were equal, they recognized the propriety of allowing administrative distinctions. But the bishops were unwilling to come to any terms with the Reformers, and it became necessary to appoint officers of some new kind. The name of superintendent was then given to a class of men who discharged many of the functions of the older bishops, while bearing a character which in several respects was new. Only in Denmark was the name of bishops reserved for the new officers after the Lutheran model had been adopted and the older bishops had been deposed and imprisoned. It is still used there, though no claim is made that it is the sign of formal apostolical succession. In Scotland the First Book of Discipline provided not only for ministers, teachers, elders and deacons, but also for superintendents and readers. The superintendents (who were appointed because of the scarcity of Protestant pastors) took charge of districts corresponding in some degree with the Episcopal dioceses, and made annual reports to the general assembly of the ecclesiastical and religious state of their provinces, in the churches of which they also preached.
The distinctive character borne by the new officers was determined by the cardinal principles which Luther had laid down in his work regarding the religious functions of the state. He conceived of the secular government as an ordinance of God, and as being set to direct and control the external fortunes of the Church. He hoped that righteous magistrates would at all times form a sound court of appeal in times of ecclesiastical disorder, and that they would guard the interests of truth and justice more securely than had been done under papal jurisdiction. The superintendents who now had to undertake large administrative responsibilities in the Church were therefore to be appointed by the civil power and to be answerable to it. They were to stand as intermediaries between the prince or magistrates on the one hand, and the ministers intheir districts on the other.
In his earlier writings Luther had laid his main emphasis on the spiritual priesthood of all believers. Every sincere Christian was declared free, not only to preach, but also to administer the sacraments and to rebuke evil livers. The differences in office and function between the members implied no difference in rank, for the members of Christ's Church were all members of His body, and Luther believed that they would all be ruled into true order and charity by the Head. But he was shaken by the Peasants' War, and his faith in the virtues of the average man never recovered' itself. The result was seen in his later writings, where he expresses his conviction:that men need to be directed and restrained from without, and he looks to the state to undertake this duty. In the last resort the civil' magistrates must take control of the Church. His vindication for thus subordinating the ecclesiastical to the civil lay in his assumption that the rulers of a Christian land would themselves be Christian, and that it was the Christian duty, of the Church to render obedience to those whohad been ordained of God to bear rule. He, and the rest of the Reformers, were as firm believers in a visible Catholic, Church .as were any of those of whom he speaks as “ the adherents of theold religion/ and Luther, always conservative in feeling, clung to an alliance with the state and denied that the repudiation by the Reformers of papal authority had severed them from the visible"Church., The character of the office and duties of>the superint'ondent were not everywhere the same. Luther shrank from imposing any stereotyped forms and asked that the special circumstances of each separate district should be consulted. He hoped that as few changes as possible would be made, and trusted that the reformed doctrines would spread peacefully throughout the country. After the Diet of Spcyer (1526) the civil' authorities were invited to reorganize the Church in "their, respective dominions as they thought best. This was not, , felt .to present any great difnculties in the free towns, for institutions offs elf rule had there grown strong and schemes of ecclesiastical readjustment were speedily drawn up. Richter and Sehling[1] have published a number of these ordinances, and they show that as a rule one of the city clergy was appointed superintendent by the city fathers and set in a position of administrative authority over all the churches within their jurisdiction. They were answerable to those fathers for their good order. Greater difficulties presented themselves in the territories of the German princes, and in the case of Saxony Luther proposed to the .elector that his first step should be to send out a commission of visitation which should report on the moral and spiritual condition of his principality, district by district. His proposal was carried out, and Luther himself became one of the visitors (1527–1528). He found the people in a state of such religious indifference and ignorance, and the clergy living often in such grossness, that his faith in their fitness to govern themselves, ecclesiastically sank even lower than before, and he resisted all schemes for self-government such as had been proposed by Francis Lambert. The church organization which he devised for Saxony provided
- ↑ In their works on Die evangelischen Kirchenordnung des 16ten Jahrhunderts (Weimar, 1846; and Leipzig, 1902–1904).
