Palm-Synod {Palmaris Synodus), an important ecclesiastical council, so called after the building in which it was held ("A porticu beati Petri Apostoli qua; appellatur ad Palmaria," as Anastasius says), was convened bj' Theodoric in A. D. 501 (Gieseler and others place it in A. I). 503) to consider the charges of simony and adultery brought against Symmachus (q. v.) by his rival Laurentius (q. v.). The verdict of the synod and of the king was in favor of the former. He was acquit- ted without investigation, on the ]iresumption that it did not behoove the council to pass judgment respecting the successor of St. Peter. See Papacy. Of course the opposition was not satisfied with this decision, and the ecclesiastical strife continued for some time. Among
PALM-TREE
601
PALM-TREE
the ablest dcfemlers of the synodic decision is the deacon Enuodius, afterwards bishop of Pavia (died 52 1), who in his work Libcllus apolor/elicus p7-o Sijnodo IV Humana (in Mansi, viii, 274) favored the absolutism of the papa- cy, and claimed that the incumbent of St. Peter's chair should be regarded as above every human tribunal, and as responsible only to God himself. See Ilefcle, Cun- ciliengesch. ii, 615 sq. ; Schaff, Ch. Hist, ii, 32-i, 325 ; Gie- seler, Eccles. Hist, i, 338 ; Nitzsch, De Synodo Palmuri (Wittenb. 1775). (J.H.W.)
Palm-tree ("'''3P1, tamdr, so called doubtless from its tall, straight, and slendei- stem; Arab, tamar like- wise; (jir.<po{Vi'Q. Under this generic term many spe- cies are botanically included ; but we have here only to do with the date-palm, the Phanix dadtjlifera of Linnajus. Travellers, and even Biblical writers, how- ever, not unfrequently figure in its stead the dom-palni of Egj'pt, which is distinguished by its branching stem and hard, single drupe.
I. Description. — The palms are the princes of the veg- etable kingdom. With the cylindrical stem, unbroken by branches, springing high into the air and unfurling a canopy of enormous leaves, fan-shaped or feathery, in the shadow of which are suspended great clusters of fruit, no tree can look more lordly or more bountiful. The areca of the West Indies shoots up to an altitude of one hundred and tifty feet, and a single leaf of the talipot will give shelter to tifteen or twenty people. On the farinaceous pith of the raphia and sagusa (saco) the Sumatrans and other inhabitants of the Indian Archipel- ago have long relied for a chief part of tlieir subsist- ence, just as the cocoa-nut has sustained for centuries the islanders of the Pacific Ocean ; and, more inexhaust- ible than the petroleum springs of the New World,
Date-palm {Phoenix Dactijli/era).
palm-oil promises to supply light to Europe and wealth to Africa through all the coming ages.
The date-i)alm in height is from 30 or 40 feet to 70 or 80. It seklom bears fruit till six, eight, or even ten years after it has been planted ; but it wiU continue to be productive for one hundred years (Psa. xcii, 14). If we say sixty or seventy, and assign to it an average crop of 100 lbs. a year, each fruit-bearing tree will have yielded two or three tons of dates as tribute to its own- ers in the course of its lifetime. "The palm grows slowly but steadily, uninfluenced by those alternations of the seasons which aft'ect other trees. It does not re- joice overmuch in winter's copious rain, nor does it droop under the drought and burning sun of summer. Neither heavy weights, which men place npon its head, nor the importunate urgency of the wind, can sway it aside from perfect uprightness. There it stands, look- ing calmly down upon the world below, and patiently yielding its large clusters of golden fruit from genera- tion to generation. Nearly every palace and mosque and convent in the country has such trees in the courts, and, being well protected there, they flourish exceed- ingly" (Thomson, Land and Bool; i, 05 sq.). It is re- markable for its erect and cylindrical stem, crowned with a cluster of long and feather-like leaves, and is as much esteemed for its fruit, the "date," as for its juice, whether fermented or not, known as " palm wine," and for the numerous uses to which every part of the plant is applied. The peculiarities of the palm-tree are such that they could not fail to attract the attention of the writers of any country where it is indigenous, and es- pecially from its being an indication of the vicinity of water even in the midst of the most desert country. Its roots, though not penetrating very deep or spread- ing very wide, yet support a stem of considerable height, which is remarkable for its uniformity of thickness throughout. The centre of this lofty stem, instead of being the hardest part, as in other trees, is soft and spongy, and the bundles of woody fibres successively produced in the interior are regularly pushed outwards, until the outer part becomes the most dense and hard, and is hence most fitted to answer the purposes of wood. The outside, though devoid of branches, is marked with a number of protuberances, which are the points of in- sertion of former leaves. The leaves are from four to six or eight feet in length, ranged in a bunch around the top of the stem, the younger and softer being in the centre, and the older and outer series hanging down. They are employed for covering the roofs or sides of houses, for fences, framework, mats, and baskets. The male and female flowers being on different trees, the latter re(|uire to be fecundated by the pollen of the former before the fruit can ripen. The tender part of the spatha of the flowers being pierced, a bland and sweet juice exudes, which, being evaporated, yields sugar, and is no doubt what is alluded to in some passages of Scripture; if it be fermented and distilled a strong spirit or arak is yielded. The fruit, however, which is