S1LENUS-S1LEX. 



districts, subordinate chicfe, cr fir.lt rs, possess 

 unlimited power. Lahore is the residence of the 

 chief ruler, and contains 100,000 inhabitants. The 

 city of Amritsar is the great depot of Cashmere 

 shawls and of saffron. 



S1LENUS; the tutor and companion of Bac- 

 chus; according to some, the son of Mercury, or of 

 Pan, by a nymph ; according to others, he sprang 

 from the blood of Uranus. According to Pindar, 

 his wife was the nymph Nais; according to others, 

 a nymph of Malea, in the island of Lesbos, who 

 bore him the Arcadian Centaur Pholus. He edu- 

 cated Bacchus, instructed him in the sciences, and 

 was ever afterwards his constant companion. He 

 loved the inspiring beverage of his pupil's invention 

 so well, that he was generally intoxicated ; and in 

 this plight he was found by two young Satyrs, who 

 bound him with garlands, and compelled him to 

 sing. Midas caught him in the same condition, and 

 entered into a philosophical conversation with him. 

 In the war of the giants, Silenus aided the gods, 

 and terrified their enemies by the braying of his ass. 

 A whole race of Silenuses sprang from him. The 

 name is often applied to old Satyrs, of a cheerful, 

 good-natured disposition. They are represented 

 with a curly beard, a low forehead, and a bald 

 head. The chief of the race is the companion of 

 Bacchus above described, known by the cantharus 

 or bottle which he bears. He is often also distin- 

 guished from the other Sileni, by being mounted 

 on an ass, or by his accompanying Bacchus, and is 

 frequently represented holding the infant Bacchus 

 in his arms. He sometimes also appears treading 

 out grapes, and covered with hair. In the latter 

 case, a caricature is intended. 



SILESIA (in German, Schlesien') ; formerly a 

 duchy belonging to Bohemia, now divided, politi- 

 cally, between Prussia and Austria, and geographi- 

 cally, into Upper and Lower Silesia. The Prussian 

 province of Silesia (15,264 square miles; popula- 

 tion 2,396,551) borders on Posen and Poland to 

 the east, on the Austrian territories to the south, 

 and on Saxony and Brandenburg to the west and 

 north. (See Prussia.) The southern part of the 

 province is mountainous, being intersected by dif- 

 ferent ridges of the Sudetic chain, (q. v.) To- 

 wards Brandenburg and Posen it is level, but in 

 part marshy and sandy, although throughout 

 adapted to tillage. The principal river is the 

 Oder. The soil of Silesia is fertile, yielding corn 

 of all sorts, fruits, and tolerable wines. The 

 mountainous parts are covered with wood, or 

 afford good pasturage and meadow land. Flax is 

 raised in large quantities, and affords an important 

 article of manufacture and trade, and madder, 

 hemp, hops, and tobacco are among the productions 

 of the province. The wool of Silesia is of the 

 best sort produced in Prussia. Among the mineral 

 productions are iron, copper, lead, some silver, sul- 

 phur, vitriol, &c., and there are mineral waters in 

 several places. Linen is the principal article of 

 manufacture, and owes its excellence to the inspec- 

 tion system, which has been introduced here. 

 Cotton and woollen goods, and leather are also 

 manufactured to a great extent. Silesia is divided 

 into three governments Breslau, Leignitz, and 

 Oppeln. The inhabitants are chiefly Lutherans 

 and Catholics, with some Calvinists, Hussites, 

 Herrnhutters, Jews, &c. There is a university in 

 Breslau, the capital of the province, with two 

 theological faculties, one for Catholics and the 

 other for Protestants, and numerous gymnasia, or 



high schools* in the large towns. The revenue ia 

 about six million dollars. 



Austrian Silesia consists of the southern part of 

 the old Kilesian duchy, which was left to Austria 

 by the peace of Hubertsburg, in 1703. It is 

 divided into the circles of Teschen and Troppau, 

 and attached to the Moravian yubernium of Briinn. 

 Population, 350,000; square miles, 2500. It is 

 mountainous, and although the soil is not in all 

 parts favourable, it is rendered productive by the 

 industry of the inhabitants, who are also extensively 

 engaged in linen, cotton, and woollen manufactures. 

 In the sixth century, this country was occupied by 

 Sclavonians, who drove out, the Lygii and Quadi, 

 and thus annexed it to Poland. It was afterwards 

 divided into a great number of petty principalities, 

 and in the fourteenth century, it became a depen- 

 dency of Bohemia. Although, in consequence of 

 its annexation to Bohemia, it came to be con- 

 sidered a part of Germany, it never actually formed 

 a member of the empire. For the more modern 

 history of Silesia, see Frederic II., Seven Years' 

 War, and Prussia. 



SILESIAN POETS. See German Poetry. 



S1LESIAN WARS. See Frederic II., Maria 

 Theresa, and Seven Years' War. 



SILEX, OR SILICA. The mineral species 

 quartz, it was mentioned under that article, con- 

 sists almost exclusively of silex. It also forms a 

 principal ingredient in nearly all the earthy mine- 

 rals, and was regarded as one of the primitive 

 earths, until after the discovery of the composition 

 of the fixed alkalies by Davy, when it was ascer- 

 tained, by this philosopher, to consist of oxygen 

 and an unknown base, which has been called 

 silicon, or silicium. If we ignite powdered quartz 

 with three parts of pure potash in a silver crucible, 

 dissolve the fused compound in water, add to the 

 solution a quantity of muriatic acid, sufficient to 

 saturate the alkali and evaporate the dryness, we 

 shall obtain a fine, gritty powder, which, being 

 well washed with hot water, and ignited, will yield 

 pure silex. By passing the vapour of potassium 

 over silex, in an ignited tube, we obtain boron, the 

 basis of the earth. Thus obtained, as well as by 

 several other methods, silicon is of a deep brown 

 colour; is a non-conductor of electricity: 'it stains 

 the fingers, and adheres to every thing that comes 

 in contact with it. Like carbon and boron, it may 

 be exposed to a very high temperature in close 

 vessels, without fusion; but it becomes harder, the 

 greater the heat to which it has been subjected. 

 By this treatment, its properties are very materially 

 altered. Before it has been heated, it is readily 

 combustible in the air, and burns with a very lively 

 flame. By this combustion, about one third of it 

 is converted into silica, while the rest is preserved 

 by the silica formed, which prevents the unburnt 

 portion from coming in contact with the atmos- 

 phere. Silex, or silica, is the only compound of 

 silicon and oxygen with which we are acquainted. 

 It is a white, tasteless powder, feeling gritty 

 between the teeth, and having a specific gravity of 

 2-65. When originally formed by the combustion 

 of silicon, it is so soluble in water, that the liquid, 

 when concentrated, gelatinizes. But after it lias 

 been exposed to heat, it loses its solubility alto- 

 gether. When silex is mixed with thrice its 

 weight of potash, or with a quantity of carbonate 

 of potash, containing thrice as much potash as the 

 weight of silex employed, and the mixture is ex- 

 nosed to a strong heat, it fuses, and assumes, on 





