S 1 R 



biMiig an inhabitant of the celebrated romantic lake Zirk- 

 nitz, in the duchy of Carniola, in AuUria. From this lake 

 the water regularly retires during the fummer, by numerous 

 fubterraneous outlets at the bottom ; leaving the ground 

 dry, and fit for pafture, as well as for various kinds of 

 hunting, and other amufements : but in the month of Oc- 

 tober it again returns with great force, fpringiiig out of the 

 pafTages before mentioned, from a vatt depth, till the lake 

 IS completely filled. It is fituated in a valley, furrounded 

 by rocky and woody mountains, in which are vaft caverns, 

 and it is principally fupplied by eight rivulets running into 

 it from the adjoining mountainous region. See Phil. Tranf. 

 vol. xvi. 



This fpecies of firen is extremely rare, and is found in the 

 fpring, and towards the decline of fummer, in fome parti- 

 cular parts of the above-mentioned lake, and meafures from 

 ten to twelve or thirteen inches in length, and about three 

 quarters of an inch in diameter. It is entirely of a pale 

 rofe-colour, or even nearly white, except the three pair of 

 ramified branchial fins on each fide the neck, which are of a 

 bright red or carmine-colour. Its general ftiape is that of 

 an eel ; the body being cylindrical till towards the end of 

 the tail, where it becomes flat, and is attenuated, both above 

 and below, into a kind of fatty fin, fcarcely diftinguifhable 

 from the reft of the tail ; the fkin is very fmooth and even ; 

 the head is of a fomewhat deprelled form, with a lengthened, 

 obtufe, and widi(h fnout, and it has no external eyes ; the 

 mouth is moderately wide, and furnifhed with a row of very 

 minute teeth ; the legs are three quarters of an inch long, 

 and the feet of the fore-legs are furnifhed with three toes, 

 without claws ; the feet of the hind-legs have only two toes. 

 The motions of this animal, when taken out of the water, 

 are, in general, extremely flow and languid ; as is alfo the 

 cafe, when kept in a veiiel of water ; but in its native lake, 

 it is fometimes obferved to fwim brifkly, waving its body m 

 a ferpentine direftion, not unlike that of a leech. The 

 Anguine firen is figured and very accurately defcribed by 

 Laurenti, in his work entitled " Specimen Medicum, ex- 

 hibens Synopfin Reptilium." The real nature of the animal 

 is not completely afcertained ; fome imagining it to be the 

 larva of fome fpecies of lizard, while others contend that it 

 is a perfeA animal fut generis. It is evidently of a pre- 

 dacious nature, feeding on the fmaller kind of aquatic 

 animals ; fincc one of them, which was kept alive in a vedel 

 of water, was obferved to difcharge from its ftomach fevera! 

 fmall (hells of the genus Helix ; and in the ftomach of one, 

 which was didcfted, were found the head and bones of a 

 fmall fifh. Its voice is a ftrong hifs, much louder than 

 might be cxpefted from the fize of the animal. 



Dr. Schreibers, who has moft diligently inveftigatcd the 

 nature and anatomy of this animal, fays, " there can be no 

 doubt that it bears a great affinity to the S. lacertina, having 

 both gills and lungs ; and therefore it leaves us in equal un- 

 certainty as to its being a perfeft animal in itfelf, or the 

 larva of another animal. It is, however, remarkable, that 

 notwithftanding the moll careful refearches during many 

 years, and the frequent filhing which takes place in the 

 lakes and caverns of the neighbouring country, at all feafons 

 of the year, no animal has hitherto been found of which it 

 can poffibly be fuppofed the larva." 



PlsciFOitMis ; Ferruginous-brown firen, fpotted with 

 black, with finely ramified branchix, tetradadlylous fore 

 and pentadaftylous hind-feet. Tills animal, in the Na- 

 turalift's Mifcellany, is denomi[i:ite(l Gyrinus Mexicanus, 

 or Mexican tadpole. According to the defcription given 

 in that work, it is a native of Mexico, and, if only the larva 

 ■of fome large American lizard, is fcarcely a Icfs Angular 



S I R 



and curious animal than the firen. In its general appear- 

 ance it bears fome rcfemblance to the larva of the Rana 

 paradoxa, but is furnilhed witli gills, opening externally in 

 the manner of a filh ; the openings are very large, and the 

 external flap u continued from the fides of the head acrofs 

 the throat beneath, fo as completely to infulate the head 

 from the breaft ; the gills themlelves coufilt of four femi- 

 circular bony or cartilaginous arches, which are denticulated 

 or ferrated on their internal or concave part, like thofe of 

 fifties ; on the opercula, or external flaps, are fituated three 

 very large and elegant branchial fi:is, or ramified parts, di- 

 vided and fubdivided into a vail number of flender or capil- 

 lary procefTes. In thefe particulars it rcfembles the S. 

 lacertina, except that in the latter animal the external open- 

 ing to the gills is very fmall ; tlie mouth is furnifhed in 

 front with a row of extremely minute teeth ; the tongue is 

 large, fmooth, and rounded at the tip ; the ridus, or gape, 

 when the mouth is clofed, appears confiderably wider than 

 it really is, owing to a lateral fulcus proceeding from each 

 corner to fome diflance ; the feet are entirely dettitute of 

 webs, and they are furnilhed with rather weak claws ; the 

 front feet have four toes, and thofe behind five. Indepen- 

 dently of the general colour of the animal, the whole fkin, 

 when minutely examined, appears to be fcattered over with 

 very minute white fpecks, refembling thofe on the furface 

 of the S. lacertina. The fides of the body are marked by 

 feveral ftrong rugs or furrows, and an imprelled lateral fine 

 or fulcus is continued from the gills to the tail. 



Siren is alfo a name given by Mouffet,,and other authors, 

 to a fpecies of bee ; of which they diftinguilh two kinds, a 

 larger and a fmaller. Thefe differ greatly from the common 

 bee, in tliat they live folitary, and never unite into fwarms, 

 or build nefts, or make combs. 



SIRET, in Geography, a town of the province of Buko- 

 viiia ; 85 miles N.W. of Jafii. — Alfo, a river of Moldavia, 

 which runs into the Danube; 4 miles S. of Galacz. 



SI REX, or Tailed Wafp, in Entomology, a genus of in- 

 fefts of the order Hymenoptcra, of which the generic cha- 

 radler is, Mouth with a thick, horny, truncate, (hort, den- 

 ticulate mandible ; four feelers, the hi;id ones longer, and 

 thicker upwards ; antennae filiform, of more than twenty 

 equal articulations ; the lling is exferted, ferrate and ftift' ; 

 the abdomen is fcflile, terminating in a point ; wings lan- 

 ceolace, incumbent, the lower ones fhorter. 



Tlie larvsE of this genus are fix-footed, foft, cylindrical ; 

 the head rounded ; they perforate wood, and frequently eat 

 their way into the bowels of other infedls, and their larvie, 

 living upon them till they have utterly contumcd their entrails ; 

 the pupa is folliculate : the perfed infed hves on tlie nedar 

 of flowers. There arc about twenty-fix 



Species, 



* GlGAS. The abdomen of this fpecies is yellow at the 

 bafe and tip ; the body is black-blue. This is the largell 

 fpecies in the whole genus : it furpallcs a liornet in fize, and 

 is principally obferved in the neighbourhood of pines and 

 other cone-bearing trees : it is ot a black colour, with the 

 eyes, the bafe, and lower half of the abdomen, of a bright 

 orange-yellow ; the thorax is villofe, and the wings ot a 

 tranlparent yellowilh-brown ; the fting, or terminal tube, is 

 very confpicuous. The larva, which meafures about an inch 

 and a quarter in length, is of a yellowilh-while colour, and 

 inhabits decayed firs and pines ; at lirll view it bears fome rc- 

 femblance to the larvcc of the beetle tribe, but is thinner in 

 proportion, and furniflied, at the tip of the abdomen, with 

 a fliort bLck Ipiiie or procefs. It changes to a chryfalis in 

 tlic month of July ; full enveloping itfelf in a flight filkcn 



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