496 



SYCAMORE SYLLABLE. 



amounted to but KMl.lKH). Tin- (Votonians, how- 

 ever, were victorious, and totally di-lmved Sy- 

 baris Sybarite is still used to Dignify an effeminate 

 voluptuary. 



SYCAMORE. This term was given by tbe 

 ancients to a species of fig (Jictts sycomorus). By 

 tin- mod. TII-. it is applied to a European species of 

 maple (acer pseudoplatanus') ; and, in the western 

 parts of the United States, to the Occidental plane, 

 or button-wood. See Fig, Maple, and Plane. 



SYCOPHANT, with the Athenians; a man who 

 denounced others on account of violations of law, 

 or kept watch on their doings in order to misrepre- 

 sent them, and to make them the basis of an accu- 

 sation. The name is derived from rvx, a fig, and 

 $mt,*, I discover, and was originally applied to cer- 

 tain persons who gave information of such as, con- 

 trary to the Athenian laws, exported figs. Subse- 

 quently, every false accuser, cheat, or other wretch, 

 who strove to injure men, whether by legal process 

 or in the course of ordinary dealing, was called by this 

 name. It was in Athens a term of great reproach. 



SYDENHAM, THOMAS, a celebrated English 

 physician, was born in Dorsetshire, in 1624, and, in 

 1648, took the degree of bachelor of medicine at 

 Oxford. He subsequently commenced practice as 

 a physician at Westminster, and speedily attained 

 great reputation. From 1660 to 1670 he held the 

 first place in his profession, though it was not till 

 the latter part of his career that he became a licen- 

 tiate of the college. Being a great sufferer from 

 the gout, he was unable, in the latter part of his 

 life, to go much from home; but he continued to 

 benefit society by his writings and advice till near 

 the time of his decease, in 1689. Doctor Syden- 

 ham's improvements form an era in the history of 

 medicine. He first applied himself to an attentive 

 observation of the phenomena of diseases, founding 

 his practice on the obvious indications of nature, 

 rather than on prevalent theories, drawn from the 

 principles of chemistry or mathematics. Febrile 

 disorders attracted his especial notice, and, in 1666, 

 he communicated to the public the result of his 

 observations, in a work entitled Methodus curandi 

 Febres propriis Observationibus superstructa, which 

 was re-printed, with additions, under the title of 

 Observationes Medicos circa Morborum acutorum 

 Historiam et Curationem (1675). Among his prin- 

 cipal works are Epistolee Responsoria duce, 1 . De 

 Morbis epidemicis a 1675 ad 1680; 2 De Luis ve- 

 nerece Historia et Curatione (1680); De Podagra 

 et Hydrope (1683, 8vo.); and Processus integri i?i 

 Morbis fere omnibus curandis, published posthu- 

 mously. 



SYDNEY; capital of the British colony of New 

 South Wales, in Australia; lat. 33 15' S. ; Ion. 

 151 15' E. ; population, about 12,000. Sydney- 

 is situated on a cove, on the south side of Port 

 Jackson, about seven miles from its mouth. The 

 water is of sufficient depth to allow ships of the 

 largest size to come close up to the shore. Port 

 Jackson is one of the finest natural basins in the 

 world, stretching 15 miles into the country, with 

 numerous creeks and bays. The anchorage is every 

 where excellent, and ships are protected from every 

 wind. The streets of Sydney are built without 

 any regular plan, and the town covers a consider- 

 able extent of ground. The best houses are of 

 white free-stone, or brick plastered, and have a light 

 appearance. A British air is studiously given to 

 every thing; yet the parrots and other birds of 

 strange note and plumage, and the show of oranges, 



MI. Inns, ami It n> . foreign country. 



There are M-vu.il hanks, a saving institution, 

 schools Cor the poor, and several higher M ininarics. 

 Severn) newspapers, and other periodicals, are alsc 

 published at Sydney. The whale and seal fisheries 

 are carried on from here with success. See Aus- 

 tralia and New South Wales. 



SYDNEY; a free port in the eastern part of the 

 island of Cape Breton, on a bay, which is sometimes 

 called Spanish River, and sometimes Dartmouth 

 Harbour. The entrance of the harbour is about 

 two miles wide. The harbour itself is very large 

 and well protected. The town stands at the head 

 of the harbour, in a very pleasant situation, and 

 seems to enjoy great local advantages as a com- 

 mercial place. There are mines of good coal on 

 the western side of the harbour, and the place is 

 admirably situated for trade in lumber and li*h. 

 Still, it is neglected ; and the population is only 

 450 or 500. It is the seat of justice for the whole 

 island. The public buildings are the barracks, 

 government store, commandant's house, court house, 

 three houses of worship, and a market house. The 

 town is well built, and has a pleasant surrounding 

 country. Sydney is important, at present, in a 

 commercial view, principally on account of its ex- 

 tensive coal mines. A great portion of the coal 

 exported from this island has been derived from 

 these mines; and the quantity exported from the 

 island in 1828 was 10,000 chaldrons. 



SYDNEY, ALGERON AND SIR PHILIP. 

 Sidney. 



SYENE, OR ASSUAN.ou ESSOUAN ; a town 

 of Upper Egypt, on the east side of the Nile, six 

 miles below the first cataract; Ion. 32 Q 55' E ; lat. 

 24 5' N. It is the most southerly town of Egypt, 

 forming its frontier towards Nubia. It is celebrated 

 in the annals of ancient astronomy, for the attempt 

 made, about 276 B. C., by Eratosthenes (q. v.), to 

 measure the height of the sun, according to which 

 Syene was said to lie directly under the tropic. A 

 well was formed, which was supposed to mark the 

 precise moment of the summer solstice, by the image 

 of the sun reflected in it. But according to modern 

 observations, Syene is found to lie 37' 23" north of 

 the tropic. In the Nile, opposite to the town, is 

 the island of Elephantina, remarkable for its ancient 

 ruins and quarries of stone. There are, also, some 

 ruins at Syene. See Bnrckhard's Nuliia. 



SYENITE. See Sicnifc. 



SYGAMBRIANS, OR SIC AMBRI ANS ; a Ger- 

 man tribe, which occupied the country on the 

 Rhine, from Emmerich southwards, in the Sieg, 

 and on the Lippe eastwardly, to the frontiers of 

 the Bructeri. After the victories of Germanicus 

 (q. v.) we hear nothing of them for some time ; but 

 when the Romans, by the command of Claudius, 

 withdrew to the west bank of the Rhine, the 

 Sygambri re-occupied their former seats, and, at a 

 later period, formed one of the great confederacy 

 of tribes who took the common name of Franks. 

 See Germany, History of, and Franks. 



SYLLA. See Sulla. 



SYLLABLE (from the Greek <r<XA3r', literally 

 comprehension, or collection) is the least natural 

 division of articulated speech, or, in other words, 

 syllables are the natural elements of speech. Men 

 have gone farther, and, in most languages at least, 

 have divided syllables again into letters; but the 

 circumstance that the consonants cannot be pro- 

 nounced without the aid of vowels (hence their 

 name), or as syllables, shows the natural division 



