S I L 



S I L 



three fons, Aftrseus, Maron, and Lenafus. Servius, on 

 Virgil's Eclogue, makes Silenus the fon of Mercury ; 

 others, the fon of Pan and a nymph ; others will have him 

 born of the drops of the blood of Coelus, the father of 

 Saturn. 



^lian (Var. Hift. 1. iii. c. 12.) alleges that Silenus was 

 born of a nymph, and that though he was not -of the number 

 of the gods, he was, however, of a nature fuperior to that 

 of man. Silenus is faid to have been born at Malea, or at 

 leaft bi-ought up there, according to the teftimony of Pindar, 

 who thus fpeaks : " Silenus, that incomparable dancer, 

 when a citizen of Malea, the happy fpoufe of fair Nais had 

 the good fortune to educate." Lucian defcribes Silenus as 

 of a middle fize, fat and plump ; and thus he is reprefented 

 upon medals, and other monuments now remaining. 



Bochart, in his " Canaan," will have Silenus to take his 

 name from n'7JJ'> "r ib'K'' •^'//o, the name of the Mefliah, 

 whence T'^'ii'i Si/an. He alfo adds, that all that is attri- 

 buted to this imaginary deity is taken from vthat the pro- 

 phets have foretold of Jefus Chrift. Thus, whereas it is 

 (aid, the Mefliah fhall be the inttruftor of the people ; Si- 

 lenus is made the preceptor of Bacchus. Becaufe it was 

 faid, that our Saviour (hould bind his afs to the vine, and 

 his colt to the young vine ; Silenus is made to ride on an 

 afs. Becaufe our Saviour wafiied his garments in blood, as 

 thofe that trod the wine-prefs ; Silenus was made to prefide 

 orer thofe who prefTed the vintage. Becaufe it is added, 

 his eyes were red by reafon of wine ; Silenus was made al- 

 ways fuddled. Bochart, however, advances all this with a 

 great deal of diftruft, as he has reafon, it having no warrant. 

 He adds, that the devil invented the fable of Silenus, to 

 turn the myiteries of our religion into ridicule. But the 

 fenfe which he has given to the words, rubent oculi ex vino, 

 y Jentes ejus ex lade albefcunt, is very forced and unnatural ; 

 as if the words fignified any thing more, in the propriety of 

 the Hebrew tongue, than, his eyes are redder than wine, 

 his teeth whiter than milk. We may add, that nobody, 

 before Bochart, neither Chriftian nor idolator, ever faw any 

 thing of Jefus Chrilt in the fable of Silenus. 



Silenus was worfhipped after his death as a demigod, and 

 received the honours due to heroes, independently even of 

 Bacchus. Thus Paufanias fpeaks (in Eliac), who, men- 

 tioning the temple which Silenus had in Elis, exprefles him- 

 felf in thefe words : <' There you will likewife fee a temple 

 of Silenus, but a temple which is appropriated and peculiar 

 to himfelf, while Bacchus has no fhare in the honour of it." 



SILENTIARY, Silentiarius, an officer among the 

 ancient Roman flaves ; being, according to fome authors, a 

 (lave placed over the reft, to prevent any noife and uproar, 

 and to keep them filent. 



Seneca, in his Epillles, mentioning the great care taken 

 to keep the flaves mute, has given occafion to Lipfius, 

 Pompa, and fome others, to fuppofe, that the filentiary 

 was eftablilhed in his time : but others, as Pignorius, think 

 no fuch conclufion can be drawn from Seneca's words ; nor 

 any thing, but that they were, even then, very fevere in 

 preventing any noife zmong the flaves. As to the name 

 and office of the filentiary, it was not eftabhflied till about 

 the time of Salvian, who is the firft: author that men- 

 tions it. 



There were alfo filentiarii eftabliflied in the emperor's 

 court, called quletts mtnlftri, and fikntiarli palatti ; and 

 honoured with the farther titles of clarijmi, fpeBablles, de- 

 votiffimi, and in Greek Saujuao-iiuTaToi, q. d. mojl admirable. 



There were a great number of thefe ; but only thirty 

 ordinarily officiated, who were divided into three bands, 



each of which had its decurio; The council of Chalcedoa 

 call the body of filentiaries, fchola devolijjimorum Jtlentia- 

 riorum. 



SILER, in Botany, a Latin nan^e in Virgil, fuppofed 

 to belong to fome flender kind of willow, or ofier. It is 

 ufed vaguely, by the earlier botanifts, for different umbel- 

 liferous plants, and retained by Girtner, after Rivinus, for 

 Laferpitium trilobum and aquilegifolium, which thofe writers 

 place in a genus by themfelves. Linna;us ufes the above 

 word, as the fpecific appellation of another Laserpitium. 

 See that article. 



SILESIA, Duchy of, in Geography, a country of Eu- 

 rope, bounded on the N. by the marquilate of Brandenburg, 

 on the E. by the duchy of Warlaw and Auftrian Poland, 

 on the S. by Hungary, from which it is feparated by a 

 chain of mountains, and a wildernefs or thicket, about four 

 miles broad, and on the W. by Moravia, Lufatia, and Bo- 

 hernia. To the W. and 8. Silefia is environed by a chain of 

 hills, being with refpeA to extent and height fome of the 

 mod remarkable in all Europe. (See Sudetic C^a;n.) For 

 other mountains of Silefia, and their produftions, fee Prus- 

 sia. In the mountains of this province, and in that pan of it 

 that lies towards Moravia and Hungary, the winter is earlier 

 and of longer continuance, and much more fevere, than in 

 the more level territories. During thofe months, in which 

 at the foot of the Riefengebirge and the Gefenk every thing 

 is covered with ice and fnow, the trees at Breflau are in 

 full verdure even in winter. The fandy parts of the prin- 

 cipality of Glogau, and beyond the Oder, towards Poland, 

 with the mountainous trafts, which are of confiderable ex- 

 tent, produce but little, nor is their grain fufficient for the . 

 confumption of the inhabitants. But this deficiency is com- 

 penfated, in favourable feafons, by the fertility of the other 

 and larger part of Silefia, which, befides wheat, rj-e, barley, 

 and oats, yields likewife maize or Turkey-wheat, fpelt, 

 buck-wheat, millet, linfeed, peafe, and beans. The cu« 

 linary vegetables about Breflau, Brieg, Neifle, Franken- 

 ftein, and Lignitz, are excellent : and the vicinity of Grun- 

 berg and Lower Beuthen affords plenty of fine fruits. 

 Thofe fpots that are not fit for tillage afford good pafture- 

 grounds, or are covered with wood. Of flax there is abun- 

 dance, but hemp in lefs plenty, which is fupplied by im- 

 portation from Hungary and Poland. Hops principally 

 abound near Munfterberg. Madder forms one of the 

 principal articles of export. A yellow dye, called y^-Aar/c, it 

 plentiful ; nor is this country deficient in tobacco planta- 

 tions ; but its faffron is of an indifferent quality. The wine 

 of the country is good, more efpecially after it has been kept 

 for fome years in the cellar. In the mountains and Upper 

 Silefia, tar, pitch, and refin, are made from the pine and fir, 

 and the larch.tree produces turpentine. From thefe re- 

 finous trees, and the trunks of the coarfer pines, the inha- 

 bitants of the mountains make a lamp-black. Terra figillata 

 is found in many places, and particularly near Strigau ; but it 

 is ufed not as an article of the materia medica, but principally 

 in the manufacture of earthenware. Cattle are reared 

 merely for the plough, and for the necefl'ary fupply of milk, 

 butter, and cheefe ; but the markets are furnifhed, particu- 

 larly with oxen, from Poland and Hungary. The moll noted 

 markets are thofe of Brieg, Breflau, and Schweidnitz. Al- 

 though the fluds in this country afford many fine and ftout 

 horfes, the number is not fufficient : and therefore, befides 

 thofe that are purchafed at Frankfort fair, great numbers are 

 brought hither from Lithuania. The inhabitants of the 

 hilly diftrifts keep goats, and chcele in great quantity is 

 made from their milk. The breed of (beep it confiderable 



and 



