SYL 
SYL 
and plunging, and to let the body take this 
natural position, he might continue long 
safe from drowning, till perhaps help would 
come. For as to the clothes, their addi- 
tional weight while immersed is very incon- 
siderable, the water supporting it ; though 
when he comes out of the water, he would 
find them very heavy indeed. The subject 
has within the last two or three years been 
investigated in Nicholson’s Philosophical 
Journal, whence it should seem that if a 
person could have sufficient presence of 
mind never to raise his hands above water, 
he could not sink. 
^ SWIVEL, in gunnery, a small piece of 
artillery carrying a shot of half a pound 
weight, and fixed in a socket on the top of 
a ship’s side, stern, or bow, and also in the 
tops ; the trunnions of this piece are con- 
tained in a sort of iron crotch, the lower 
end of which terminates in a cylindrical pi- 
vot, resting in the socket so as to support 
the weight of the cannon. By means of this 
swivel, which gives name to the piece of 
artillery, and an iron handle, the gun may 
be directed by hand to any object. 
SW ORD, an offensive weapon wmrn at 
the side, and serving either to cut or stab. 
Its parts are the handle, guard, and blade ; 
to which may be added the bow, scabbard, 
pummel, &c. Fencing masters, however, 
divide the sw'ord into the upper, middle, 
and lower part; or the fort, middle, and 
foible. 
SYENA, in botany, a genus of the Tri- 
andria Monogynia class and order. Essen- 
tial character : calyx three-leaved ; petals 
three; anthers oblong ; capsule one-celled, 
three waived. There is only one species, 
vh. S. fluviatilis ; this is a minute mossy 
plant; stem somewhat branched, decum- 
bent ; leaves capillaceous, in whorls ; flow- 
ers axillary, white, peduncled, solitary. It 
is a native of Guiana, in rivulets. 
pSYLLABLE, in grammar, a part of a 
word, consisting of one or more letters, 
pronounced together. 
According as words contain one, two, 
three, four, &c. syllables, they are denomi- 
nated monosyllables, bissyllables, trissylla- 
bles, tetrasyllables, polysyllables, &c. and 
the division of a word, into its constituent 
syllables, is called spelling. 
pSA'LIjABUS, in matters of literature, de- 
notes a table of contents, or an index of 
the chief heads of a book or discourse. 
SYLLOGISM, in logic, an argument or 
term of reasoning, consisting of three pro- 
positions ; the two first of which are called 
premises, and the last the conclusion. Syl- 
logisms are nothing but the expressions of 
our reasonings, reduced to form and me- 
thod : and hence, as every act of reasoning 
implies three several judgments, so every 
syllogism must include thf ee distinct propo- 
sitions. Thus, in the following syllogism ; 
Every creature possessed of reason and 
liberty is accountable for his actions. 
Man is a creature possessed of reason 
and liberty : 
Therefore man is accountable for his ac- 
tions. 
We may observe that there are three se- 
veral propositions, expressing the three 
judgments implied in the act of reasoning: 
the two first propositions answer the two 
previous judgments in reasoning, and are 
hence called premises: as being placed be- 
fore the other, which is termed the conclu- 
sion. We are also to remember, that the 
terms expressing the two ideas whose rela- 
tion we inquire after, as here, “ man” and 
“ accountableness,” are in general called 
the extremes; and that the intermediate 
idea, by means of which the agreement or 
disagreement of the two extremes is traced, 
rAz. “ a creature possessed of reason and 
libel ty,’ takes the name of the middle 
terra. Hence, by the premises of a syllo- 
gism, we are always to understand the two 
propositions where the middle term is seve- 
rally compared to the two extremes; for 
these constitute the previous judgments, 
whence the truth we are in quest of is by 
reasoning deduced. The conclusion is that 
other proposition, in which the extremes 
themselves are joined or separated, agreea- 
bly to what appears upon the above com- 
parison. As, therefore, the conclusion is 
made up of the extreme terms of the syllo- 
gism ; SO that extreme, which serves as the 
predicate of the conclusion, goes by the 
name of the major term ; and the other 
terra, or subject of the conclusion, is called 
the minor tenrr. From this distinction of 
the extremes arises also a distinction be- 
tween the premises ; that proposition, which 
compares the greater extreme vsith the 
middle term, being plied the major propo- 
sition ; and the other, where the lesser ex- 
treme is compared with the middle term, 
being called the minor proposition. In a 
single act of reasoning, the premises of the 
syllogism must be self evident truths, othei-v 
