Syrian Rite
CHURCH OF THE, a portion of the Oriental church which had its seat in Syria, and comprised those Christians who used the Syriac liturgy of St. James. This liturgy was originally composed for the patriarchate of Antioch, which included the churches , whi which included the churches of Palestine and Mesopotamia, and acby Apostle cording to tradition by the Apostle James. There is no Greek MS. of it in existence of an earlier date than the 10th century, but the Syriac liturgy of the same name almost exactly answers the description given of it in various writers.
After the Mohammedan conquest (638) the orthodox Syrians were drawn into SYZYGIUM 220 Myrtex; trees or shrubs with the flowers in cymes or corymbs, the calyx with its limb undivided; the petals, four or five.
S. jambolanum, called also Eugenia jambolana, is a moderate-sized tree, wild or cultivated all over India. The bark is astringent and is used, as are the leaves, in dysentery. The decoction of the bark constitutes a wash for the teeth; its fresh juice with goat's milk, a medicine for the diarrhœa of children. A vinegar prepared from the unripe fruit is a stomachic; carminative; and diuretic.
The fruit is astringent, but is eaten by the natives who in time of famine consume also the kernels. The leaves of S. terebinthaceum are used in Madagascar to impart an aroma to baths. S. guineensis is worshiped in Gambia and the fruit is eaten.