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SILDE REVEL, in Geography, a clufter of fmall iflands 

 belonging to Denmark, in the Cattegat ; 6 miles S. of 

 Leiloe. 



SILE, in Ancient Geography, a town of Lower Egypt, 

 on the route from Serapium to Pelufa, between Magdolum 

 andThauhafiuni, according to the Itinerary of Antonine. 

 ■ SiLE, in Geography, a river of Italy, which palFes by 

 Trevigio, and runs into the Adriatic, oppofite to the ifland 

 <^f Torcello. 



SlLE, in Rural Economy, provincially the name of a milk- 

 ftrainer. 



SILEBY, in Geography, a large and populous village 

 and parifh on the eailem bank of the river Soar, in the 

 hundred of Ealt-Gofcote, and county of Leicefter, Eng- 

 land. The lordfhip contains about 2139 acres, the greater 

 part of which was inclofed, with other contiguous land?, 

 in conformity to an aft of parliament palled in 1759. The 

 manor belongs to earl Ferrers. In the parifh were for- 

 merly two ancient manfions, belonging to the Sherard 

 and the Pocliin famihes. In 181 1 the parifh contained 

 240 houfes, and 1 200 mhabitants, moll of whom were 

 employed in agriculture, and frame-work knitting. Here 

 is one free-fchool, and three other large fchools. The 

 church, a handfonie Hone building, confitts of a nave, ailles, 

 a chancel, a porch, and a tower. The revenues of this 

 church were formerly appropriated to the abbev of St. 

 Ebrulph, in Normandy, which was fupprelied by king 

 Henry V. Afterwards tlie living belonged to the priory 

 of St. Mary, in the ifle of Axholme, in the county of 

 Lincoln. Nichols's Hiitory and Antiquities of the County 

 of Leicefter, folio, vol. iii. 



SILEIN, a town of Hungary; 14 miles E.N.E. of 

 Bolefko. 



SILENCE, Fr. in Mujic, equivalent to re/1 ; which fee. 



SILENE, in Botany, a name given by Linnaeus to this 

 genus, the chief of the Catchfly tribe, in allufion to the 

 vifcid frothy moilture of its Italks, by which flies of the 

 fmaller kind are numeroufly entrapped. This word is pro- 

 bably derived from o-ioP'^ov, falma. De Theis deduces it 

 more direftly from the drunken god Silenus, whole name 

 he fiippofes to have a' fimilar origin. — Sm. Fl. Brit. 46J. 

 Prodr. Fl. Groec. Sibth. v. i. 290. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 3. 

 S3. Girtn. t. 130. (Silcnn; Linn. Gen. 226. Schreb. 

 !?04. Willd. Sp.'Pl. v. 2. 691. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4. 

 Purfh3i5. Juif. 302. Lamarck Dift. V. 7. 158. Illuftr. 

 t. 377. Cucubalus ; Linn. Gen. 22y. Schreb. 303. 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. 2. 684. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 2. Purfh 

 315. Jnll. 302. Lamarck Dift. V. 2. 219. lUuRr, t. 377. 

 f. 2. Vifcago; Dill. Elth. 416.)— Clafs and order, De- 

 eandria Trtgynla. Nat. Ord. Caryophyllel, Linn. Caryo- 

 fhyUca, Juli. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, tubular, 

 fwelling, five-toothed, permanent. Cor. Petals five ; claws 

 narrow, the length of the calyx, bordered with a mem- 

 brane ; limb flat, horizontal, obtufe, often divided, and 

 moftly furniflicd, more or le(s, with a cloven, crcct, tooth- 

 like creft at its bale, conllituting the crown of the flower. 

 Stam. Filamentf. ten, awl-fliaped, five idternate ones inferled 

 into the claws of the petals, and later than the relt ; anthers 

 oblong. Piji, Germen luperior, cylindrical ; Itylcs three, 

 firaple, longer than the llamens; fligmas twifted contrary 

 to the motion of the fuii. Perlc. Capfule cylindrical, 

 ovate, or fomewhat globofe, covncd by the calyx, more or 

 lefs pcrfeftly three-celled, burfling at the top into fix teeth. 

 Se-edt numerous, kidney-fliaped, attached to a central re- 

 ttptacle. 



Elf. Ch. Calyx «f one leaf, fwelhng. Petals five, with 



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ereft claws. Capfule fuperior, imperfeftly three-ccilcd, 

 burfling at the top. Seeds numerous. 



Obf. The crown of the petals, on which Linnaus de- 

 pended for his cliarafter of SUene, in contradiilinftion to 

 Cucubalus, being found not only to feparate fpecies moft 

 clofely related, but even to vary in the fame fpecies, as La- 

 marck and many others have noticed ; the authors which 

 ftand firfl on our lift of references above, have agreed to 

 remove to Silene all the Linnaean Cucubali, except C.baccifcr, 

 on \yhich Tournefort originally founded that genus, wliich 

 has indeed a crown, but is diftinguifhed by having for iti 

 fruit a real berry, not a capfule. See Cucubalu.s. 



Silene, thus confidercd, is a vaft genus, of which new 

 fpecies are ftill from time to lime difcovered, in the warmer 

 and drier regions of the fouth of Europe, and north of 

 Africa ; countries abounding particularly with this tribe 

 of plants. All the fpecies in general are herbaceous, many 

 of them annual, vi-ry few flirubby. Their Jlems are 

 jointed, branched, leafy, frequently glutinous, for a certain 

 fpace, below each joint. The calyr i.vA Jomier-Jlalh are 

 alfo, when downy, fomewhat vifcid. Leaves oppofite, 

 fimple, entire. Petals red or white, rarely greenifli or ycl- 

 lowifli ; fcarcely ever bine. Some of thcjoivers, efpecially 

 the greenifh ones, are delicioufly fragrant at night ; and 

 the reft, if they have any fcent, are fvveeteft at that time, 

 like the Pink tribe in general. We fliall feleft fuflicient 

 examples of the genu>, particularly defcribing fuch a.s are 

 new, or hitherto only mentioned in the Prodr. Fl. Grsecae, 

 as well as all thofc of Brilifh growth. 



Seft. I. Stem racemofe ; occajionally fomewhat forked. 

 S. anglica. Englifh Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 594. 

 Willd. n. I. Ait. n. 15. Fl. Brit. n. i. EngL Bot. 

 t. 1 178. Curt. Land. fafc. 4. t. 30. (Vifcago ceraftei 

 foliis, vafculis pendulis, anglica; Dill. Elth. 417. t. 309. 

 f. 398.)— Hairy and vifcid. Petals notched. Flowers 

 lateral, ereft, alternate. Lower fruit fpreading or re- 

 flexed. — Native of cultivated fields, on a light faiidy foil, 

 in England and France, flowering in July. The root is 

 fibrous, fmall and annual. Stem branched, fpreading, weak 

 and brittle, leafy, round, hairy, fwelling above eacli joint, 

 ufnally about a foot high. Leaves lanceolate, acute, entire, 

 green, fomewhat hairy ; the lower ones obovate. Flowert 

 iblitary, on fhort ftalks, alternate from the bofoms of th« 

 upper leaves. Calyx with ten ribs, fwelling as the fruit 

 advances. Petals broadly elliptical, cloven, the claw of 

 each crowned with a divided fcale ; their colour white, 

 occafionally marked with a faint rcddifli fpot. 



S. quinrjuevulnera. Variegated Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PL 

 595. Willd. n. 3. Alt. n. 17. Purlli n. I. Fl. Brit, 

 n. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 86. (Lychnis hirta minor, flore 

 variegato ; Tourn. Inll. 337. Dodart Mem. ed. Amft. 

 601. t. 23.) — Hairy. Petals roundifli, entire. Flowers 

 lateral, alternate, creft, as well as the fruit. — Native of dry 

 or fandy fields in the fouth of Europe and the Levant. Mr. 

 Hudfon found it near Wrotham in Kent ; and Mr. Purfl) 

 near Charleftown, Carolina, on the fea-coaft. We prelume 

 this fpecies to have been carried from Europe to America, 

 being a common liardy annual in gardens, where it flower* 

 in .luiic and July. The plant is not vifcid like the preceding, 

 though hairy. The petals are remarkable for a brilliant 

 criniloi) (pot in the middle of each. The lowcll capfules arc 

 lometimes reflexed. 



S. noilurna. Spiked Night-flowering Catchfly. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 595. Willd. n. 6. Ait. n. 18. Pnrfli n. 6. Sm. 

 Fl. Gra:c. Sibth. t. 408, unpublifhed. (Vifcago hirta 

 noftiflora, floribus obloletis f^picatis ; Dill. Elth. 410. 

 t. 310. f. 400. Lychuis fylvcllrii hirfuta clatior fpicata, 

 4T 2 lioi 



