siren 
with holes equidistantly arranged in a circle, 
which can be revolved over a jet of compressed 
air or steam so as to pro- 
duce periodic puffs. When 
the revolutions are rapid enough, 
the putts coalesce into a musical 
tone. The revolution of the disk 
is effected either by a motor of 
some kind, or by setting the 
holes at an oblique angle so that 
the impact of the jet shall do the 
work. In the more complicated 
forms of the instrument two or 
more tones can be produced at 
once, either by having two or 
more concentric circles of holes 
in the same disk, or by two sepa- 
rate disks: the latter form is 
called a dmMe siren. The num- 
ber of revolutions required to 
produce a given tone can be counted and exhibited in 
various ways ; and the application of the instrument in 
acoustical experiments and demonstrations is wide. In 
the cut a is a perforated disk made to revolve by the pres- 
sure of the air forced from the bellows beneath through rf; 
b, vertical shaft revolving with the disk, and, by means of 
a pair of cog-wheels in the box c, turning the two index- 
hands on their respective dial-plates, and thus register- 
ing the number of revolutions made during the time of 
observation. Very large sirens are sometimes made for 
use as fog-signals, the sound being conveyed seaward in a 
large trumpet-shaped tube called a fog-horn, a name also 
given to the whole arrangement See fog-horn. Also 
sirene. 
9. An apparatus for testing woods and metals 
to ascertain their sonorous qualities. E. H. 
5656 
Alas ! thy sweet perfidious voice betrays 
His wanton ears with thy ,VI;VH/M baits. 
Quarles, Emblems, ii. 3. 
sirenian' 2 (si-re' ni-an), a. and H. [< NL. Sir<-i/in 
+ -an.] I. . Pertaining to the Sirenia, or 
having their characters. 
II. a. A member of the >Viv/, as a mana- 
tee, dugong, or sea-cow. 
sirenical (si-ren'i-kal), a. [Formerly also .>.;/- 
rmieatl ; <xiren + -ic-al.] I. Of or pertaining 
to a siren ; sirenian. Heywood, Hierarchy of 
Angels, p. 547. [Rare.] 2. Resembling or 
having the characters of a siren. [Rare.] 
Here 's a couple of sirenical rascals shall enchant ye : 
what shall they sing, my good lord ? 
Manton, Malcontent, ill. 2. 
Sirenidae (si-ren'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Siren + 
-idie.] 1. In herpet., a family of gradient or Slrippet, n. A Middle English form of syrup. 
tailed amphibians, typified by the genus Siren, siris (8i'ns),_w.. [k.Jnd.] One of several 
with external gills persistent throughout life, 
maxillaries absent, intermaxillaries and man- 
sirocco 
Free from the fervour of the Siriatt star. 
Beau, and Fl., 1'hilaster, v. 3. 
siriasis (si-ri'a-sis), . [NL.. < L. xiriaxix, < Gr. 
aeipiaaif, a disease produced by the heat of the 
sun, < ctipiav,\>e hot and scorching, < 'aeipof, hot, 
scorching: see Sirius.] 1. Sunstroke; coup 
de soleil. 2. Exposure to the sun for medical 
purposes; a sun-bath; insolation. Also called 
heliotherapy. 
Siricidae (sJ-ris'i-dS), . pi. [NL. (Herrich- 
Schaeffer, 1840), < Sirex (Siric-) + -id*.] See 
Urooeridfe. 
siringa (si-ring' gft), w. Same as seringa. 
Slringa-olL See oil. " 
siringet, . An obsolete spelling of syringe. 
siri-Oll (sir'i-oil), n. Lemon-grass oil. See 
A Middle English form of si/rni>. 
dible toothless, palatines and pterygoids un- 
developed, and orbitosphenoids large, anterior, 
and forming part of the palate. It contains only 
two species, both confined to the southern United States, 
trees of the genus Albizzia, especially A. Leli- 
bek (Acacia speciosa, etc.), of tropical Asia 
and Africa, sometimes called the siris-aeacia. 
It is a shade and ornamental tree, and yields siris-gum. 
The pink siris is A. Julibrissin, the silk-tree, which is also 
ornamental, and has a dark-brown mottled and shining 
wood, used in making furniture. See safed-siris. Siris- 
gum, the exudation of the siris-acacia, employed to adul- 
terate gum arable and serviceable for many common pur- 
poses, as in some calico-printing. 
the !$ren lacertina, extending up into North Carolina and 
southern Illinois, and the Pseudobranchm striatus, found 
only in Georgia. They are popularly known as mud-eels. r t 
2. In ichth., a family of dipnoous fishes : same siritch (sir'ich), w. [Ar. siraj, oil of sesame.] 
as Sirenoidei, and including Lepidosirenidae and Q\\ o f sesamum. See oil. 
Ceratodontidx. Quittner, Study of Fishes, p. 355 gjjius (sir'i-us), H. [< L. Sirius, < Gr. 2>of, the 
Knight. 10. In her., the representation of a sirenize (si'ren-iz), v. i.; pret. and pp. Kirriiizrd, dog-star, also sometimes applied to the stars 
mermaid, used as a bearing. pp r . sirenizing. [< siren + -ize.] To play the generally, and to the sun (cf. aeip, the sun, in 
siren ; use the arts of a siren as a lure to in- guidas); said to be < *oeip6t, hot, scorching (an 
jury or destruction. Stount, Glossographia. a( jj. o f doubtful status).] A very white star, 
[Rare.] the brightest in the heavens, more than half 
sirenoid (si'ren-oid), a. and . [< Siren + -oid.] a magnitude brighter than Canopus, the next 
I. a. 1. In herpet., resembling or related to the brightest ; the dog-star. Its magnitude is 1.4. 
genus Siren. 2t. In ichth., of or pertaining to n j s situated in the mouth of the Dog. 
the Sirenoidei. sirkar, n. See sircar. 
Il.t A dipnoau fish of the group Sirenoidei. girloin (ser'loin), . [Fonnerlyandprop.swrknn, 
Sirenoidea (si-re-noi'de-a), n.pl. Same as Si- earlier svrloyn, surloyne; < F. siirloiiae, surlogne, 
renoidei. a sirloin, < sur (< L. super), over, + longe, logne, 
Sirenoidei (si-re-noi'de-i), i. i>/. [NL.,<Gr. loin : see *r- and Zoiw. The story that the sir- 
afipijv, a siren, + eloof, form.] A group of fishes. i o in received its name because it was knighted 
typified by the genus Lepidosiren, to which vari- as "Sir Loin" by King James I., though evi- 
II. . Pertaining to or characteristic of a 
siren; dangerously alluring; fascinating; be- 
witching. 
What potions have I drunk of Sinn tears, 
Distmy from limbecks fou 
foul as hell within 
Shall., Sonnets, cxix. 
And still false-warbling in his cheated ear, 
Her Siren voice enchanting draws him on. 
Thomson, Spring, 1. 991. 
sirene (sl-ren'), n. [< F. girene, a siren : see 
siren.] Same as siren, 8. 
Sirene (si-re'ne), H. [NL. (Okeu, 1816): see 
ofil., same as Sircn.Q (ft). 
siren.] In ziwi,, >.mu- u>a ut/t". v 
Sirenia (si-re'ni-a), w. />l. [NL., < L. siren, a o " u " g values have been given, (a) A family of dip- dently a humorous invention suggested "by the 
siren: see siren.] The sirenian mammals or noa ns : same as Lepidosirenida. Gunther. (ft) An order erron e OUB spelling sirloin for surloin, has been 
so-called herbivorous cetaceans, an order of of dipnoans, including the family Sirenmdn or Leptdoa- el accepted by many as an actual fact.] 
educabilian placental Mammalia haying the JZJSMS'WB* fFormerlv xurenie < siren The loin, or upper part of the loin, of beef, or 
body fish-like in form, with the hind limbs and 8n * t i 1 E? 1 V -C rf r,nv-orin<r oithpr ViHnfiv 
pelvis more or less completely atrophied, and + -* 1 -! Th e arts and practices of a siren; par ey. _ 
the body ending in a horizontal expansive tail, fatal allurements. 
Eowze yp the watch, lull d with world's Syrenie. 
Taurnetar, Transformed Metamorphosis, st. 36. 
either rounded or like the flukes of a cetacean. 
Sirex (si'reks), n. [NL. (Linnaeus, 1767), < Gr. 
aeipi/v, a siren, a wasp.] See Urocerus. 
sirgang (ser'gang), . [E. Ind.] The so-called 
green jackdaw of Asia, Cissa sinensis. The sir- 
gang inhabits the southeastern Himalayan region, and 
thence through Burma to Tenasserim, and has occasioned 
much literature. It was originally described and figured 
by French ornithologists as a roller, whence its earliest 
technical name, Coracias chinensis of Boddaert (1783), 
And after evensonge he went agayn to Christeschyrche, 
and delivered Master Goodnestoun a ribbe of bef and a 
turloin for young monks. 
Docmmtitt of date 25 Henry VIII., quoted in 
[N. and Q., 7th ser. , VI. 385. 
Let Plutus go ! No, let me return again to onions and 
pease-porridge then, and 
never be acquainted with 
the happiness of a sirloin 
of roast-beef. 
Randolph, Hey for Hon- 
sirlyt. a. 
[esty, ii. 2. 
An obso- 
American Manatee (Maria fits americatttis], one of the Sirf, 
The brain is small and particularly narrow. Theperiotic 
and tympanic bones are ankylosed together, but not with 
the squamosal; the foramen magnum is posterior, di- 
rected somewhat downward; the lower jaw has a well- 
developed ascending ramus, a coronoid process, and an or- 
dinary transverse condyle ; and the teeth are molariform, 
adapted to chew herbage. The neck is moderate, and the 
axis has an odontoid process. The fore limbs are moder- 
ately developed, with a flexure at the elbow ; the carpal, 
metacarpal, and phalangeal bones are directly articulated 
and of normal number. There are two mammffi. pectoral. 
The heart is deeply fissured between the ventricles. (See 
first cut under heart.) In nearly all the above characters 
the Sirenia, are contrasted with the Cetacea, which they 
resemble, and with which they were formerly classed as 
Oetacea herbimra. They are large or huge unwieldy and 
ungainly aquatic animals, inhabiting the sea-shores, bays, 
and estuaries of various countries, never going out to sea 
like cetaceans, nor ascending rivers far. They feed en- 
tirely on aquatic vegetation. There are only two living 
genera, Mattfitus and Halicore, the manatees and dugongs, 
representing two families, Manatidte and Halicoridx. The 
sea-cow, Rhyttna gtelleri, recently extinct, represents a 
third family, Ithytiitidse. There are several other extinct 
genera, some of them constituting the family Halitherii-' 
dee. See the technical names, and cuts under dugong and 
Rhytina. 
sirenian 1 (si-re'ni-an), a. [< L. sirenhvs, of the 
sirens, (.siren, siren : see siren.] 
or characteristic of a siren. 
with the English synonym Chinese roller of Latham. These lete form of surly. 
terms being overlooked, the bird was renamed Coma spe- girmark (ser'miirk) 
ciosus by Shaw, and the genus Cissa (later spelled Kitta) *" ^ .,,, rn ,,, r l- 
was founded upon it by Boie in 1826, since which time it 
has mostly been called Citsa sinensis, sometimes C. sped- Simamet, An obso- 
lete form of surname. 
Siro (si'ro), n. [NL. 
(Latreille, 1804), said 
to be derived (in 
some allusion not 
known) < Gr. aip6f, a 
pit, pitfall : see silo.] 
Th 
Siro amtricanus. 
(Hair-line shows natural size.) 
Sirgang (Cissa sittensis). 
08(1. It is 15J inches long, the win, 
head is fully crested ; the bill and feet are coral-red. The 
fresh-molted plumage in life is a lovely green, but has the 
peculiarity of soon changing to verdigris-blue, as itdoes also 
in stuffed specimens, particularly if exposed to the light. 
This green or blue is varied with a black fillet encircling 
the head, with white tips and black subterminal bars on 
the tail-feathers and inner quill-feathers, and with bright 
sanguine red on the wings, which easily fades to a dull red- 
dish-brown. A variety of the sirgang found in Sumatra is 
called C. minor; other species of the same genns are the 
Ceylonese C. ornata and the Japanese C. thalasrina. 
Pertaining to Sirian (sir'i-an), a. [< Sirius + -an.] Of or 
pertaining to Sirius. 
ie typical genus of 
Sironidee. Two species 
inhabit Europe, one the 
Philippines, and another 
(undescribed) is found in 
the United States. Also 
called Cyphophthaljnus. 
siroc (si'rok), . [< F. siroc, < It. sirocco : see 
sirocco.] Same as sirocco. [Rare.] 
Stream could not so perversely wind 
But corn of Guy's was there to grind ; 
The siroc found it on its way, 
To speed his sails, to dry his hay. 
Emerson, Guy. 
6, the tail 7 to Si ; the sirocco (si-rok'6), n. [Formerly also gcirocco, 
also sometimes siroc; = G. sirocco, sirokko = 
Sw. Dan. sirocco = F. sirocco, siroc, formerly 
also siroch = Pr. siroc, < It. sirocco, earlier sci- 
rocco, scilocco = Sp. siroco, jaloque, xaloque (cf . 
also xirque) = Pg. xaroco, xarouco = Pr. siroc 
OF. stelae, seloc; also with the Ar. article 
(Ar. csli-sharg) Pr. ei/ssiroc, issalot = OF. yseloc, 
the southeast wind,< Ar. sharg, east; cf. sliarcn, 
eastern (> prob. Sp. xirque, above). From the 
same source are Saracen, sarsenet, etc. The 
mod. Ar. sheluk, sheluq, sirocco, is a reflex of the 
