SIMEON OF DURHAM. 



SIMON, JOHN. 



614 



to be upon friendly terms with Spain, the Shah refused to subscrib 

 to two conditions stipulated by the ambassador of Philip III., namely 

 that he should restore some fortresses belonging to Ormuz, which h 

 had lately seized ; and that he should exclude all other European 

 nations from trading with his dominions. The negociations for th 

 treaty being thus suspended, Silva left. Ispahan on the 25th of Augus 

 1619, and returned by the same route to Goa, where he lande 

 in November 1620. From Qoa he sailed to Spain, where he die 

 in 1628. 



During his residence in Persia Silva wrote an itinerary of his travels 

 with an account of such events as came within his observation ; and i 

 sketch of the manners and customs of the inhabitants of that empire 

 This work was never printed in the original Spanish, though a Frencl 

 translation appeared in 1667, under the title of ' L'Ambassade de Don 

 Garcias de Silva Figueroa en Perse, contenant la Politique de ce Gram 

 Empire, les Moours du Roi Shah Abbas, et une relation exacte de tou 

 les Lieux de la Perse et den Indes ou cet Ambassadeur a 6t6 1'espace 

 de huit annees qu'il ya demeureY par M. Wicqfort, 4to. Paris, 1667 

 It is the best old account of Persia that we possess, and is much com 

 mended by Chardin. During his residence in Goa, Silva also made an 

 abridgement of Spanish history, which appeared at Lisbon soon after 

 his death : 'Breviarium Historise Hispanicse,' Lisbon, 1628, 4to. 1 

 Latin letter of his, dated Ispahan, 1619, and addressed to the Marqui 

 of Bedrnar, in which he gave a short account of his travels, was also 

 published at Antwerp : 'Garcise Silva Figueroa, Philippi III. Hispa 

 niarum Indiarumque Regis, ad Persarum Regem Legati, de Rebus 

 Persarum Epistola,' Antw., 1620, 8vo. 



SIMEON OF DURHAM, an English historical writer who lived 

 about the beginning of the llth century. He was a teacher o; 

 mathematics at Oxford, and was afterwards precentor in Durham 

 cathedral. He wrote a history of the Kings of England from 616 to 

 1130, for which he was at great pains to collect materials, especially 

 in the North of England, where the Danes had established themselves 

 The work was continued to 1156 by John, prior of Hexham. Simeon 

 of Durham is supposed to have died soon after 1130, when his history 

 terminates. This work is included in Twysden's ' Angltcanae Historise 

 Scriptores Decem.' Simeon also wrote a history of Durham cathedral, 

 which was published in 1732 : ' Historia Ecclesise Dunhelmensis, cui 

 pra3uuttitur T. R. Dkquisitio de Auctore hujus Libelii; edidit T. 

 Bedford,' Lond., 1732, 8vo. 



SIMEON SETH (SipeSv SJ0), or SIMEON SETHUS, or SIMEON 

 THE SON OF SETH, the author of several Greek works still extant, lived 

 at Constantinople towards the end of the 1 1th century. He held there 

 the office of 7rp&>To-/3e(rTa'pX'7s, or ' Ma-ter of the Wardrobe,' in the palace 

 of Antiochus, whence originated his title Magister Antiochice, and 

 this gave occasion to the false opinion that he was born at Antioch. 

 His office appears to have given him the charge of the imperial jewels, 

 which were kept in the palace named after the Eunuch Antiochus, 

 who was consul A.D. 431. (Du Cange, 'Glossar. Med. et Inf. GrEeeit.,' 

 torn, i., p. 194, ed. Lugd., 1688, and ' Constantinop. Christ.,' lib. ii., 

 cap. 16, 5, p. 168, ed. Lutet. Paris, 1680.) Having taken the part of 

 the unfortunate patrician Dalassenus against the usurper Michael of 

 Paphlagonia, the latter banished him from Constantinople, A.D. 1038. 

 He retired to Thrace, and founded on Mount Olympus a monastery, 

 in which he composed several works, and peaceably ended 'his days. 

 (Georg. Cedreni ' Histor. Compend.,' p. 737, ed. Paris, 1647). Some- 

 time after the foundation of this monastery, Michael Dukas having 

 ascended the throne, A.D. 1071, Simon Seth dedicated to him his 

 work entitled 2vi>Tayfj.a irfpl Tpocpuv Avi/d/j.ecai/, ' Syntagma de Ciba- 

 riorum Facultate.' This contains an alphabetical list of eatable 

 things and their properties, according to the opinions of Greek, 

 Persian, Agarenian (or Arabian), and Indian physicians ; and is 

 the more valuable as at that time the trade with the East, and the 

 seeking after foreign and costly articles of food at Constantinople, 

 were very extensive. It is compiled chiefly from the treatise of 

 Michael Psellus on the same -subject, and shows us that the Greeks 

 Were beginning already to learn Materia Medica from the Arabians, to 

 whom in return they imparted their theories. Simeon Seth also goes 

 through the medicines then in use in alphabetical order, and he 

 explains thtir mode of action according to the elementary qualities of 

 Galen, and their different degrees. He says that Asparagus had been 

 for some time introduced aa an article of food (p. 6, ed. Gyrald.), and 

 that it possesses great medicinal virtues. He is the first who speaks of 

 yellow Amber (&/j.irap) which comes from a town in India, and which 

 is the best ; and also of Ambergris, which is an animal production, 

 coming from fish (p. 8). Apricots (j8epi/co/c/ca), he says, are indigestible 

 and produce poorness of blood (p. 9). His work contains the first 

 description of Camphor, which he says is the resin of a very large 

 Indian tree ; that it is cold and dry in the third degree ; and that it is 

 used with much advantage in acute diseases, especially in inflamma- 

 tions (p. 35). He is also the first who speaks of Musk, of which the 

 best is of a yellow colour, and comes from a town to the east of 

 Khorasan ; the black musk comes from India : the properties attri- 

 buted to this medicine are the same as those given to it in the present 

 day (p. 41). The best Cinnamon comes from Mo-ul (p. 32). This 

 work was first published, Basil, 1538, Gr. and Lat., 8vo, ed. Lilius 

 Greg. Gyraldus, ap. Mich. Isingrinium. The Latin translation was 

 improved and published separately. 8vo., Basil., 1561, ed. Domin. 



BtOG. DIV. VOL. V. 



Monthesaurus, ap. Put. Pernam. The best edition was published 

 Paris, 8vo, 1658, Gr. and Lat., ed. Mart. Bogdan, ap. Dion. Bechet et 

 Lud. lii.l niiiiiii. 



Another of his works, entitled Swoifiy Kal 'AirdvOicrfj-a. QIHTLKUV T 

 Kal ^i\off6(puv Aoyndruv, 'Compendium et Flores Naturaliutn et 

 Philosophorum Placitorum,' is still in manuscript in several European 

 libraries. A long account of it (extracted from Allatius, 'De 

 Simeonum Scriptis') is given by FabriciuB (' Bilioth. Gr.,' torn. XL p. 

 323-326, ed. Harles). 



But Simeon Seth is better known in the history of literature than in 

 that of medicine, as having translated from the Arabic into Greek the 

 work known under the name of ' Pilpay's Fables,' in which " fifteen 

 moral and political sentences " (says Gibbon, ' Decline and Fall,' chip. 

 42) " are illustrated in a series of apologues; but the composition is 

 intricate, the narrative prolix, and the precept obvious and barren." 

 [PILPAT.] He is also said to have translated from the Persian a 

 fabulous history of Alexander the Great, which at present exist", says 

 Warton (' Hist, of English Poetry,' vol. i. p. 129), under the adopted 

 name of Callisthenes, and is no uncommon manuscript in good 

 libraries; but it is by no means certain that Simeon Seth is the author 

 of this work. It is entitled Bios 'A\tdvXpov rov Ma.Ke56t>os KO! Upsets, 

 ' De Vita et Rebus Gestis Alexandri Macedonia ; ' and a Ions; passage 

 from the beginning of the work is quoted by Abr. Berkel in the notes 

 to Stephanus Byzantinus (in v. BovKpd\eia), and by Fabricius, 

 'Biblioth. Gr.,' torn, xiv., p. 148-150 (ed. Vet.). This fabulous 

 narrative is full (as might be expected) of prodigies and extravagancies, 

 some specimens of which are given by Warton. Of all the romances 

 on the subject of Alexander the Great, this was for some centuries the 

 best known and the most esteemed ; and it was most probably (says 

 Warton) very soon afterwards translated from the Greek into Latin, 

 and at length from thence into French, It-lian, and German. The 

 Latin translation was printed at Colon. Argentorat., 1489 ; perhaps 

 before, for in the Bodleian Library there is an edition in 4to, without 

 date, supposed to have been printed at Oxford, by Fred. Cor.-ellis, 

 about the year 1468. It is said to have been made by one ^E.-opus, 

 or by Julius Valerius ; supposititious names, which seem to have 

 been forged by the artifice or introduced through the ignorance oi 

 scribes and librarians. This Latin translation however is of high 

 antiquity in the middle age of learning; tor it is quoted by Gyraldus 

 Cambrensis, who flourished about the year 1190. It was translated 

 into German by John Hartlieb Moller, a German physician, at the 

 command of Albert, duke of Bavaria, and published at August. 

 Vindel., fol, 1478. Scaliger also mentions ('Epist. ad Castubon,' 113, 

 115) a translation from the Latin into Hebrew by one who adopted 

 the name of Joseph Goriouides, called Pseudo Gorionides. 



SI'MMIAS was a native of Thebes, aud is said to have been a 

 disciple of Philolaus. He was a friend of Socrates (Plat., ' Crito," 

 p. 45, B), and is introduced by Plato as one of the speakers in his 

 ' Phsedon.' (Diogenes Laertius, ii. 16, 124) mentions the titles of 

 twenty-three dialogues which were in his time attributed to Simoiias, 

 (Suidas, v. '2ifj.ij.ias), but none of his works have come down to us. 



A second SIMMIAS, a grammarian, was a native of Rhodes, and pro- 

 bably lived about the year B.C. 300. He is said to have written a work 

 on languages, consisting of three books, and a collection of miscellaneous 

 poems, consisting of four books. (Suidas, v. 2wtas ; Strabo, xiv. 

 p. 655.) Some of his poems, which however are of little value, are 

 contained in the ' Anthologia Grseca.' (Compare Athen., vii. p. 327 ; 

 xi. p. 472 and 491.) 



A third SIMMIAS, who lived about the commencement of the 

 Olympiads, wrote a work called 'Apxa.io\oyta ruv Sa^tay, of which 

 nothing has come down to us. Suidas confounds this historian with 

 Simmias the grammarian. 



SIMNEL, LAMBERT. [HENRY VII.] 



: SIMON, JOHN, a distinguished surgeon, and medical officer of 

 ;he General Board of Health. He was educated for the medical pro- 

 ession at King's College. He became a member of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons in 1838, and was appointed shortly after assistant-surgeon 

 o King's College Hospital, and demonstrator of anatomy in the 

 medical school of King's College. In 1844 he was nominated a Rellow 

 of the College of Surgeons under their new charter. In 1845 he 

 ibtained the Astley Cooper prize of 30C. for the best essay ' On the 

 J hysiology of the Thy in us Gland.' He likewise contributed a paper to 

 he ' Philosophical Transactions ' ' On the Comparative Anatomy of the 

 Thyroid Gland.' He is also author of articles in the ' Cyclopaedia of 

 Anatomy and Physiology,' and of several papers on various surgical 

 ubjects in the ' Medical Times ' and the ' Lancet.' On the recon- 

 truction of the medical school at St. Thomas's Hospital he was invited 

 o take the chair of pathology, and to become surgeon to the hospital, 

 t is however in connection with his duties as a medical officer of health, 

 hat he is best known. He was the first medical man who held this 

 mportant position in this country, being appointed medical officer to 

 he city of London in 1848. His annual reports on the sanitary condition 

 f this part of the metropolis have attracted general attention. The 

 bility and energy he displayed in this new public sphere induced the 

 overnment to offer him the position of medical officer to the General 

 Soard of Health. In this position he has published several reports 

 n sanitary questions, which have fully maintained the reputation he 

 ad acquired as medical officer of health in the city of London. 



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