Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/890

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
776
*

SYMONDS. 776 SYMPTOM. nature by the culture and the ideals of the Re- naissance period with which he was so familiar. He was celebrated as a fascinating conversation- alist; Stevenson, who passed some time at Davos •with him, has commemorated him in the essay on "Talk and Tallcers"' in Memories and Por- traits, under the name of Opalstein. Consult also the biography by Brown (London, 1895). SYMONS, sim'onz. ArthI'R (180.5 — ). An English essayist and verse writer, born in Wales. He attended several private schools and traveled in France and in Italy. He has written for the Athenaiiin and the 8atunli:iy Rcviea-, and was editor of the short-lived Sacoy (1896). As a literary critic, Synions is seen at his best in iftiidies ill Two Literatures (1897), dealing with contemporary English and French writers. These essays possess a charm and finish recalling Walter Pater. Symons has published An Introduction to the Study of Browning (1886) and The Symiolist Movement in Literature (1899). He has produced a body of graceful and tender verse in Days and Siyhts (1889); Silhouettes (1892): London yights (1895): Anioris Victima (1897); and Images of Good and Evil (1900)— all showing a marked influence of the recent school of French Symbolists. Two volumes of poems (1902) contain, with some new verses, all he wished to preserve from earlier volumes. SYMPATHY (Lat. sympathia, from Gk. cvfjLTrdSeia, si/iiipatlieia. fellow-feeling, sympathy, from aiinraSrii, symixithes, having like feeling, sympathetic, from o-i/k, syn, together + rrdffos, pathos, feeling). In its broadest sense, the re- production in one's self of a particular condition (physiological, psychophysical, or psychological) presented by other living creatures in one's per- ceptual or ideal environment. In genetic psy- chology, sympathy is a form of ejective or social consciousness, based ultimately upon a group of organic sensations (q.v. ). The motor attitude assumed by gregarious animals in defense of their kind is different from the attitude adopted under the influence of personal fear. When conscious- ness becomes representative, and free ideas are formed (see Ide.). the sense-basis of the former attitude is associated with ideas of others' suf- fering and rescue, that of the latter with ideas of one's own danger, safety, escape, etc. This is the stage of sympathetic consciousness proper. In general psycholog;v, sympathy is one of the great emotional types, covering such different individ- iial emotions as love, anger, contempt, aversion, chagrin, resentment, etc. { See Emotion ; Angek.) For the ethical importance of sym- pathy, see Altruism, and the references there given. See also Antipathy. SYMPETAI,.a;. One of the two great groups of diontyloilons (q.v,). SYMPHONY (Lat. symphonia, from Gk. aviJi(ftwi'la. iniison of sound, harmony, from ci/i- <t>wmi, symphdnos. agreeing in sound, harmonious, from aiv. syn, together -(- tpuivii. phone, sound, voice). In music, a word used in two diflferent senses: (1) The instrumental introduction and termination of a vocal composition, sometimes called ritornello; (2) a composition for a full orchestra, consisting generally of four move- ments. The most usual though not imvarying order of movements is a brilliant allegro, ushered in by a slow introduction, an adagio or andante, a scherzo with its trio, and the finale, again an allegro. For the origin of the modern symphony we must go back to the beginnings of opera early in the seventeenth century, when the name Sinfonia was given to the short instrumental prelude which preceded the opera. The early his- tory of the symphony is, therefore, that of the overture (q.v.). About the middle of the eight- eenth century composers began to write separate sinfonic exclusively for concert performance. The three parts of the older overture, which had then only a loose connection, were entirely detached and became separate movements. Haydn introduced a fourth movement, the minuet (q.v.), which he inserted before the finale. He also adopted for the first movement the sonata form (q.v.). By individualizing the separate instru- ments ancl grouping them in families Haydn also established the symphony orchestra and thus made the symphony what it is to-day. Beethoven extended the form considerably, particularly the development section of the first movement, and also replaced the minuet by the more elab- orate scherzo (q.v.). Beethoven also increased the orchestra considerably. (See Orchestra.) SYMPLEGADES, sim-pleg'a-dez (Lat., from Gk. Xv/xTiiyd5es, that strike together, from avfnrri<r<rei.ii, sytnpl-essein, to strike together, from aiv, sini. together -(- irX-iyiraeii', p?essesH, to strike). Two mythical floating islands in the Pontus Eiixinus, which dashed against each other until they became fixed when the Argo made its way between them. See Argonauts. SYMPOSIUM (Lat., from Gk. Su^7r6(no^ banquet ) . ( 1 ) A philosophical treatise by Xenophon, discussing the nature of love and friendship, and depicting the character of Socrates, who is one of the speakers. The meet- ing place is the house of the Athenian Callias. The work conveys a good idea of the conduct of an Athenian drinking party. (2) A dialogue by Plato, intended probabl_v as a corrective of the similar work of Xenophon. Its subject is the nature of love. Its scene is the house of the poet Agathon. and Socrates and Alcibiades are among the speakers. SYMPTOM (from Gk. vi/iTTUfia, symptuma, chance, mischance, symptom, from (rvtnrlTrTtiv syinpiptein, to fall in with, happen, coincide, from ffiv, syn, together -(- irlirTCip, piptein, to fall). A medical tei'm denoting a phenomenon by which a physician judges of the presence of disease. A group, or syndrome, of symptoms en- ables the physician to judge directly of the nature of and to identify the disease, or to decide upon the lesions or morbid tissue changes, and then determine what disease is present. This decision is called a diagnosis. (See P.thology. ) Symptoms are objective, including those perceived by the physician and found upon examination, such as heart murmurs, rise of temperature, etc. ; or suh/eetive, including those perceived only by the patient, as pain, ringing in the ears, etc. Symptoms are termed pathognomonic when they are sure signs of a certain disease; e.g. the syndrome of occipital headache, severe pain in the orbits, acute nasal catarrh, rheumatoid pains in joints and muscles, and great prostra- tion is almost always pathognomonic of the grippe.