S I u 



or fix inches. The hoeing fliould be repeated as often as 

 necedbry, in dry weather. And in the autumn, when the 

 leaves begin to decay, the roots will be iit for ufe, and will 

 continue io till tlie fpring. 



But in the oftset metliod, the old plants fhould be dug 

 up in the fpring before they begin to llioot, the fide (lioots 

 being then flipped off with an eye or bud to each, planting 

 them in rows a foot apart, and four or five inches dillant in 

 the rows : they fhould afterwards be cultivated as the 

 others. 



Thefe roots are prepared, as lias been feen, by boilinnr, 

 and eaten in the fame manner as above, or as carrots and 

 parfnepj. They are wholefome, but not held in luch re- 

 quelt as formerly was the cafe. 



SlUM Nodiflorum, Procumbent Water-parfnep, in the 

 Materia Medica. This plant has been omitted by tlie 

 London College, in the lall edition of its Pharmacopeia, 

 and not, it is thought, without realon, as its pretenfions 

 even to the charafter of an antifcorbutic require con- 

 firmation. 



SlUMPOUR, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 Bahar ; 25 miles E.S.E. of Doefa. 



SIUN, a river of China, which runs into the Han river, 

 near Siun-yam, in Chen-fi. 



SIUNDO, a town of Sweden, in the province of Nyland ; 

 25 miles W. of Helfingfors. 



SIUNISONG, a town of Corea, near the fta ; 38 miles 

 W.N.W. of Hoang-tcheou. 



SIUN-YAM, a town of China, of the third rank, in 

 Chcn-fi ; 20 miles E.N.E. of Hing-ngan. 



SIUPH, in Ancient Geography, a town of Egypt, in the 

 Saitic nome ; the native place of king Amafis, according 

 to Herodotus. 



SIUR, a port of Africa Propria, in the gulf of Numiuia, 

 between the Lelier Collops, and near the promontory of 

 Hippus, according to Ptolemy. 



SIVRAY, in Geography. See Civray. 



'&\N^Y.X-J'ur-Meufe, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Meufe ; 3 miles W. of Veidun. 



SIUT, SiouT, or, as it is often called, AJji'ut, a town 

 or city of Upper Egypt, and now the moll confiderable. 

 This charafter formerly belonged to Gii'gc, which is llill a 

 place of note, but the charafler of pre-eminence belongs to 

 Afliut. It is i'ltuated withiii land a few miles W. of the 

 Nile, on an artillcial eminence. The fcite of this ancient 

 city feems to have been either Antopolis, as Pococke 

 thinks, or more prcbably, as Strabo intimates, Lycopolis. 

 It is a large, populous, and well-built town ; and the manner 

 in which the water is conducted round it is worthy of 

 notice. A canal, dug probably from an early period, 

 parallel to the Nile, in this ])art of the country waflies the 

 foot of the mountains which are near to Alliut, and 

 having furroiindcd that city, and the adjateiit villages, de- 

 fcends again into the river. The water, however, is not 

 admitted into it except at a certain period of its increafe, 

 and then it overflows all the furrounding lands, and Ailiut 

 only communicates with the Nile by a road artilicially 

 raifud above the common level, which leads down to the 

 port where the boats refort, and are laden ar.d dilcharged ; 

 aud alfo by two bridges, the one leading to this road, and 

 the other towards the mountains. This city has increafed 

 in populatiun within a few years liy the good government 

 of Soliman Bey, why has alio adorned it by planting many 

 trees. Airiut was forrnvrly known to the Arabic writerj 

 by the name of " Haut-c-Sultan," the kiii;;'s iifh, or fifli- 

 pond. The rcafon of the appellation is not afcertaincd, pro- 

 bably it took its rile from its having been ajijioiiit'-'d to 



S I w 



fupply tlie king's table with iiOi. In the mountain above 

 Alliut are feveral remarkable caverns, very fpacious, and 

 adnriied with hieroglyphics and emblematical figures. Some 

 appear to have been Icpulchral, as they contain fragments 

 of tiiejars, in which were depofitcd not only tlic ibf", but 

 cats, dogs, ;-nd other animals, wliether confidered as facred, 

 or llain to attend their mailer or miilrefs in the other world. 

 In one of thefe caverns, belides the entrance, there are 

 three chambers hewn in the rock, which is frec-ilone, one 

 fixty feet by thirty ; another, fixty by twenty-fix ; a third, 

 twenty-fix by twenty-five. Further up tlie mountains there 

 are caverns more fpacious even than thefe. Other cavities 

 have been made by removing the Hone for the purpofts of 

 building ; but they have been afterwards appropriated to 

 various purpofes ; fome for fi-pnlture, as we may conclude 

 from the jars, curioully Hopped with bitumen, and others 

 either for religious retirement in a Chrilliau age, or for 

 fummer retreats, as they are expofed to the north, and very 

 cool. 



Large quantities of fine flax arc cnltivated in the vicinity 

 of Siout : this commodity and wheat are tranfported from 

 Upper to Lower Egypt. Salt and other articles are 

 brought in return. From Mecca, by way of Colleir, are 

 imported Indian goods ; and the European articles of broad- 

 cloth, tin, &c. are here rarely feen. The Soudan caravans 

 form a chief fupport of Affiut, which ferves to them as a 

 midway ilation. They aliembled in their way to Sennaar, 

 here, and at Manfalout, under the proteftion of a bey : they 

 then palled nearly fouth-welf into the faiidy defart of Libya, 

 to El-wah, the Oafis Magna of antiquity, and fo into the 

 great defart of Selima. Afliut is regarded as the capital of 

 Middle Egypt, and its population exceeds that of all the 

 towns to the fouth of Cairo. Mr. Browne inclines to cili- 

 mate the inhabitants at no lefs than 25,000. The " fen- 

 jiak," or bey of Said, divides the year of his ofBce between 

 Affu'it and Girge : the internal government coiifills of the 

 cadi, affilled by other civil officers ; and five cafhets, molUy 

 appointed by Soliman Bey, conllantly refide there. It is 

 the feat of a Coptic biihop, but the Copts are not very nu- 

 merous ; the people being chiefly Mahometans. Provifions 

 are confidcrably che.ipcr at Affiut than at Cairo. Man- 

 falout is at no great dillancc from Affiut : this is a city of 

 confiderable extent and population. Between thefe two 

 cities Hands Ben-Ali, a populous town. Thefe three 

 places conllitute, with Girgc, the chief marts of the trade 

 of Upper Ej<ypt ; 162 miles S. of Cairo. N. lat. 27- 25'. 

 E. long. 31° 38'. Saviiry. Browne. Sonnini. 



SIVVENS, in Medicine. See SllUiEN.s. 



SIWA, SiWAli, Siouah, or Seeiviih, in Geography, a 

 town of Africa, in the country of Tripoli, on the frontiers 

 of Egypt, fuppofed by fome to be the ancient Mareotis, 

 and by others to be the Siropum of Ptolemy. According 

 to Mr. Browne, tli's place anfwers to the (lefcription given 

 of the Oafis (fee Oa.sis), as being a fmall fertile fpot, fur- 

 rounded on all fides by defart land. \ path, cncompallcJ 

 with date-trees, leads to the town, which gives name lo the 

 dillrid. About two miles from this place, after palfiiig 

 along fome fliady paths between the gardens, Mr. Brov/ne 

 arrived at what were called the ruins, or " birbc ;" and waa 

 furprifed to find himfelf near a building of undoubted anti- 

 (jiiity, and which he lias particularly defcribed. It is litu- 

 ated in N. lat. 21/ 12'. E. long. 26' 35'. This edifice con- 

 lilled of a fingle apartment, built of maffy Hones, of the 

 lame kind with tliufe which compofe the pyramids, and co- 

 vered originnlly with fix large and folid blocks, that reaeh 

 from one wall lo the other ; 32 feet long in the clear, about 

 18 high, and 15 wide. A gate, at one extremity, forms 



the 



