SIR 



S I R 



SiRI, in Geography, a mountain of Thibet ; 36 milea N.E. 

 of Taringafong. 



SiRi, or Dfir'h a town of Thibet ; 45 miles E. of Ta- 

 ringafong. 



SIRIA, or SiRJA, a town of Syria, in the pachalic of 

 Aleppo ; 70 miles S.E. of Aleppo. 



SIRIAGULLY, a town of Mocaumpour ; 20 miles 

 S.S.W. of Mocaumpour. 



SIRI AN, a fea-port town of Pegu, on the river Appoo. 

 and whilft it remained in pofTenion of the Portuguefe, a place 

 of great trade. Before their time it had a king of its own : 

 it is now frequented by French, Englilh, and Dutch; 72 

 miles S. of Pegu. N. lat. 16" 54'. E. long. 96° 50'. 



SIRIASIS, in Medume, from o-.§o,-, a cavity, a difeafe 

 «f children, fo named by the older writers, in confequence 

 of an accompanying depreffion of the fontanelle, but which 

 in faft appears to have been an inflammation of the brain 

 and its membranes ; and accordingly Dr. Cullen ranks it as 

 fynonimous with phrenitis. It is very indiltinftly defcribed, 

 and in fome refpedts refembles hydrocephalus. Aetius, in- 

 deed, exprefsly aflerts (hat it is an inflammation of the brain 

 and its membranes ; but the only fymptoms which he enu- 

 merates, are hoUownefs of the'finciput and of the eyes, 

 ardent fever, palenefs, dry (kin, and total lofs of appetite. 

 See Aetius, Tetrab. i. Serm. iv. cap. 13. Foreft. Obf. 

 Med. lib. xxviii. cap. 8z. Sennert. Praft. lib. i. part i. 

 cap. 20. 



SIRIBOA, in Botany, Rumph. Amboin. v. 5. 340. 

 t. 117. Piper Siriboa, Linn. Sp. PI. 51, is a kind of long 

 pepper, reckoned one of the kinds of Betle, and ufed for 

 chewing with the Areca, or Betle nut, on account of its 

 gratefully aromatic, and not too pungent, flavour. See 

 Piper. 



SIRICA, in Geography, a town of Tripoli; 120 miles 

 S. of Mefurada. 



SIRICIUS, Pope, in Biography, was a native of Rome, 

 and fucceeded to the pontifical throne in 384. There are 

 extant feveral letters of this pope, which are accounted his 

 firft decretals. In his firft epiftle, in anfwer to fome quef- 

 tions propofed by Himerius, bifhop of Tarragona, are many 

 curious particulars of the ecclefiaftical difcipline obferved 

 at that period. He was a warm oppofer of the Prifcil- 

 lianifts and Jovinians, and in one of his letters relative to 

 the latter, an example appears of the ancient manner in 

 which the apoftolic fee pafl'ed its judgments : Siricius ac- 

 quainted the church of Milan that he had condemned Jo- 

 vinian and his followers, with the confent and advice of the 

 prieits, deacons, and all the clergy. In another of his let- 

 ters, a cogent teltimony is given of the reverence paid by 

 the ancient popes to the decifion of councils : it is addrefled 

 to fome bifhops refpefting the herefy of one Bonofus, who 

 was accufed of aflerting that the Virgin Mary had children 

 after the birth of Chrift. The pontiff replies, that the fynod 

 of Capua having ordained that the prelates in the vicinity 

 of Bonofus (hould take cognizance of his caufe, it did not 

 belong to him to enter into the difpute. Siricius had the 

 fatisfaftion of feeing ended the long continued fchifm of 

 Antioch, the bifliop of which, Flavianus, had occupied the 

 fee for a number ot years, without being acknowledged by 

 the Egyptian bifhops. Through the mediation of John 

 Chryfoflom, a reconcihation was effefted, and Flavianus was 

 acknowledged by the pope, who died foon after in 398, 

 leaving behind him a very refpe(ftable charader. 



SIRICON Plumbi, a name given by fome chemical 

 writers to calcined lead, or the grey powder made of lead 

 by a flight calcinatipn iq an open fire. 



SIRINAGUR, Srivagor, or CaJJmere, in Geography. 

 See Cashmere. 



SiRlNAGUR, or Srinagur, a town of Thibet, capital of a l 

 diftrift in Alucknundra, or Alacananda, a branch of the 

 Ganges, which has its fource in the fnowy mountains of 

 Thibet, the pofition of which, according to Capt. John 

 Guthrie, who vifited it in 1789, is 85 miles from Coadwar 

 Gaut, through the hills, and 60 colles from Hurdwar, up 

 the Ganges to the E.N.E., afcertained by a compafs and 

 perambulator. Mr. Daniel, who vifited it in the fame year, 

 gives the fame idea of its geographical pofition. It is fitu- 

 ated in an exceeding deep and very narrow valley, formed 

 by mount Sewalick, the northern boundary of Hindooftan 

 on one fide, and the vail ridge of fnowy mountains of Him- 

 maleh, or Imaus, on the other. Mr. Daniel was much Itruck 

 with the magnificence of the fcencry of this valley, in which 

 the thermometer rofe, in the fliade, to 100°, though in 

 crolling the mountain of Sewalick, it ilood at j8i°. We 

 (hall here fubjoin fome further particulars on this lubjeft, 

 with which we are furnifhed by a narrative of a furvey for 

 the purpofe of difcovering the fources of the Ganges, by 

 Capt. Raper, communicated to the fociety at Calcutta. 

 This furvey was ordered by the fupreme government of 

 Bengal in 1807, and at the recommendation of Lieut. Col. 

 Colebrooke, executed by Lieut. Webb, accompanied by 

 Capt. Raper and Capt. Hearfay. The party commenced 

 their tour at Hurdwar, an inconfiderable town of one ftreet, 

 in N. lat. 29° 57' 9". E. long. 78° 8' 30", April ill, 1808. 

 On the 13th of May they arrived at Srinagur, in N. lat. 

 30° 10' 52''. E. long. 78° 43'. The town is fituated on 

 the S. bank of the Alacananda, in the centre of a valley, 

 which is about four miles in length, running nearly in 

 the direftion of E.N.E. to W.S.W., and about two miles 

 in its greateft breadth. It extends along the banks ot 

 the river, and forms, in (hape, a fmall fegment of a cir- 

 cle, of which the ilream conftitutes the chord. The prin- 

 cipal ftreet runs through the city, about four furlongs 

 in length, and contains the grand bazar. The houfes 

 are in general two (lories high, condruAed of large ftones, 

 with a (helving dated roof of (hingles. The lower apart- 

 ments are allotted for (hops and merchandize, the upper for 

 the accommodation of the families. The rigid uniformity 

 of the buildings, both in ftrufture and materials, (hews what 

 little advancement has been made in architefture, at the fame 

 time that it detrafts from the beauty of the place. A nar- 

 row projefting verandah, or balcony, forms the only ap- 

 parent dilference in the houfes of the higher clafs of in- 

 habitants ; and fuch a fyftem of equality prevails, that one 

 might fuppofe it the effeft of defign, or of a cautious fear 

 to manifelt an increafe of wealth, by an oltentatious difplay 

 in their outward appearance. Even thofe of the two chiefs 

 by no means convey the idea of manfions appropriated to 

 the rcfidence of men to whom was committed the govern- 

 ment of a province. When this capital was vifited by Col. 

 Hardwicke, in the year 1796, it was under the government 

 of a raja, to whom it had hereditarily defcended through 

 many generations, and might then be fuppofed to be in its 

 moil flourilhing (late ; yet its appearance did not indicate 

 opulence or fplendour ; but fince that period, many natural 

 and fortuitous caufes have combined to reduce it to a lower 

 (late of poverty and infignificance. The encroachments an- 

 nually made by the Alacananda, on the houfes contiguous 

 to the river, the earthquake of 1803, which fljook every 

 building from its foundation, and the Gurc'hali invafion at 

 the clofe of the fame year, devolved fuch an accumulation 

 of evils on this devoted capital, that one might have in- 

 clined to conclude that it would not furvive its native 



princes, 



