S f M 



S I M 



Seftion E. IVithout Cirri. 

 Species. 



CoRNUTUs. Firft ray of the fird dorfal fin ferrate ; 

 peftoral unarmed. It is not more than eight or nine inches 

 long ; the (hape is oval ; body carinated beneath ; the 

 fnout is ftraight, comprefTed, a little recurred at the tip, 

 and about half the length of the body ; the firft ray of 

 the firlt dorfal fin extendincr as far as the middle of the 

 tail, and ferrated beneath for about half its length. It is 

 a native of the Mediterranean. 



Imberbis. The giU-covers with two fpines on the hind 

 part. It inhabits Japan, and is about fix inches long ; the 

 body is funnel-fhaped, reddifii, and coated with fcales. It 

 is a native of the Indian and South American rivers. 



SiLURUS is alfo a name given by fome authors to the 

 fturgeon, called by others accipenfer, but by the generality 

 of w'TitersJlurlo. 



SiLURUS Moris, in Anc'teiit Geography, a mountain of 

 Hifpania, in the vicinity of Boetica. 



SILUUM, a town of Afia Minor, in the interior of 

 Pamphylia. Ptolemy. 



SILYBUM, in Botany, a name borrowed from Diofco- 

 rides, whofe cn/.viiry, is dcfcribed as a large kind of thiitle, 

 eatable when young, if dreffed with oil and fait. A liquor, 

 which exuded from its root, was given, in the dofe of a 

 drachm, mixed with water, to excite vomiting. Gajrtner, 

 after Vaillant, has applied the name in quellion to a genus 

 of his own, under which he brings together Carduus miirl- 

 anus and Cnkus ccrnuus of Linnaeus, two very diffimilar 

 plants. 



SIM, in Geography, a river of Ruflia, which runs into 

 the Yenifei ; 6 miles N. of Balagovetfchen(l<oi. N. lat. 

 60° 10'. E. long. 90° 40'. 



SIMA, or Cyma, in ArcUteaure, a term ufed by Wol- 

 fius, and fome other writers, for what we otherwife call 

 cymatium, or Jlmatium. 



SIMABA, in Botany, the name of a fhrub in Guiana, 

 defcribed by Aublet, 400. t. 153 ; for which, being bar- 

 barous, Schreber has fubttituted the more legitimate, if 

 not more harmonious, one of Zwingera ; fee that article 

 hereafter. 



SIMjETHUS, or SlMETUS, now Giaretta, or St. Paul, 

 in Ancient Geography, a river in the eaftern part of Sicily, 

 which paffcd through the territory of the city of Leontini, 

 and which was celebrated by the poets. The nymph Thalia, 

 after her amour with Jupiter, is fuppofed to have been con- 

 Terted into this ftream, which, to avoid the rage of Juno, 

 funk under ground near mount jEtna, and continued this 

 fubterraneous courfe to the fea. In the time of the Romans 

 it was navigable. It takes its rife on the N. fide of ^tna, 

 and furroundiag the weft fkirts of the mountain, falls into 

 the fea near the ruins of the ancient Morgantio. It does 

 not now fink under ground ; but throws up near its mouth 

 great quantities of amber, which the peafants gather, and 

 carry to Catanea, where it is manufaftured in the form of 

 croffes, beads, faints, &c. and is fold at very high prices 

 to the fuperftitious people on the continent. There is a large 

 fandy beach, that extends from the mouth of this river a 

 great way to the S. of Catanea, and was, without doubt, 

 continued the whole way to the foot of the mountain Tau- 

 rominum ; but it was broke in upon, at a renjote period, 

 by the lavas of ^Etna, which, from a low fandy fhore, 

 have now converted it into a high, bold, black iron coaft. 

 Alter piercing through the lava, beds of Ihells and fea-fand 

 have been difcovered. 



SIMALISCHEVA, in Geegraphy, a town of Ruffia, 



in the government of Kolivan ; 40 miles R.S.E. of K(j» 

 livan. 



SIMANA, in Ancient Geography, 3 town of Afia, i» 

 Bithynia, fituated between two rivers. 



SIMANCAS, in Geography, a fmall town of Spain, in 

 the province of Leon, near the confluence of the rivers 

 Pifuerga and Duero, celebrated for a white wine, that is 

 very much elteemed. In the time of Philip II. it was a 

 ftrong place, in which he ordered the archives of the king- 

 dom to be kept. It was taken by the Moors in the year 

 967 ; 8 miles S.W. of Valladolid. 



SIMAR, a town of Hindooltan, in the circar of Gohud; 

 14 miles E. of Gohud. 



SIMARA, one of the fmaller Philippine ifles ; 24miles 

 E. of Mindanao. N. lat. 12° 5'. E. long. 121° 40'. 



SIMARIA, a town of Naples, in Calabria Ultra; 

 4 miles E.N.E. of St. Severina. 



SIMA RON A, a name given by the Spaniards in Ame- 

 rica to a fpecies of vanilla, called alfo bajlard-vanilla. The 

 pods of this kind are every way fmaller than thofe of the 

 true kind, and have very little liquor or pulp in them when 

 broken, and contain very few feeds. Thefe are greatly in- 

 ferior to the true kind, having fcarcely any fmell. It is not 

 yet certainly known whether this fpecies be the fruit of a 

 different kind of vanilla-plant from the common, or whe- 

 ther it be the fruit gathered at a different feafon, or from 

 a plant growing in a different foil. See Vanilla. 



SIMARONES, in Geography, a town of the ifland of 

 Cuba ; 105 miles E. of Havanna. 



SIMAROUBA, or Si.marlba, in Botany, is the bark 

 of the roots of a tree, firft imported into Europe in the 

 year 17 13, but not long ago botanically afcertained to be 

 a fpecies of the Quajfm ; which fee. 



Simarouba, or SufARUBA, in the Materia Medica. This 

 bark, according to Dr. Wright's account of it, is rough, 

 fcaly, and warted. The infide, when frefti, is a full yellow, 

 but when dry, paler : it has but little fmell : the tafte is 

 bitter, but not difsgreeable. Macerated in water, or in 

 reftified fpirit, it quickly impregnates both menftrua with 

 its bitternefs, and with a yellow tinfture. It feems to 

 give out its virtue more perfedlly to cold, than to boiling 

 water ; the cold infufion being rather ftronger in tafte than 

 the decoftion ; which laft, of a tranfparent yellow colour 

 whilft hot, grows turbid and of a reddifti-brown as it cools. 

 The milky appearance, which Jufiieu fays it communicates 

 to boiling water, Dr. Wright has not obfervcd in the de- 

 coftion of any of the fpecimens which he has examined. 



The bark was firft fent from Guiana t^ France, in 1713, 

 to the count de Porchartrain, then fecretary of ftate, as a 

 remedy of great efBcacy in dyfentery. In the years 1718 

 and 1723, an epidemic flux prevailed very generally in 

 France, which refitted all the medicines ufually employed in 

 fuch cafes ; fmall dofes of ipecacuanha, mild purgatives, and 

 all altringents, were found to aggravate, rather than to re- 

 lieve, the difeafe : under thefe circumftances, recourfe was 

 had to the cortex fimaruba, which proved remarkably fuc- 

 cefsful, and firlt eftabliflied its medical charafter in Europe. 

 Dr. Wright fays, " moit authors who have written on the 

 fimaruba, agree, that in fluxes it reftores the loft tone of 

 the inteftines, allays their fpafmodic motions, promotes the 

 fecretions by urine and perfpiration, rem.oves that lownefs 

 of fpirits attending dyfenteries, and difpofes the patient to 

 fieep ; the gripes and tenefmus are taken off, and the ftools 

 are changed to their natural colour and confiftence. In a 

 moderate dofe it occafions no difturbance or uneafinefs, but 

 in large dofes it produces ficknefs at the ftomach and 

 vomiting. 



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