206 
S I L 
linear segments; leaves lanceolate, pubescent. Root some¬ 
what woody, perennial. Stems several, simple, a foot or 
more in height.—Native of several parts of Europe, chiefly 
on limestone rocks; also of Barbary, on hills about Algiers; 
in England; on the walls of Nottingham castle and there¬ 
about; and in other countries. Mr. Woodward has since 
observed it on rocks in Dovedale, Derbyshire; Archdeacon 
Pierson, about Knaresborough, Yorkshire; Mr. Pennant, 
near Gloddaeth, in Caernarvonshire. Mr. Mackay observed 
it in Scotland, in 1793, near North Queeu's-ferry. It 
flowers in June and July.—This section also contains Silene 
amoena, paradoxa, maritima, fruticosa, bupleuroides, longi- 
flora, gigantea, crassifolia and viridiflora. 
III.—Flowers from the forks of the stem. 
10. Silene conoidea, or conoid catchfly.—Calyxes of the 
fruit globular, acuminate, with thirty streaks; leaves smooth; 
petals entire. Annual, with an upright branching stalk, a 
foot and half high, having swelling viscous joints.—Native 
of France, Spain and Italy, among corn. 
11. Silene conica. Conic or corn catchfly.—Stem di¬ 
chotomous ; petals bifid ; leaves soft; calyxes of the fruit 
conical, with thirty streaks. Root annual, small, somewhat 
branched. Stem erect, round, pubescent, leafy, dichoto¬ 
mous.—Native of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Levant, 
and Barbary. In England, it is found only in Kent. 
12. Silene bellidifolia, or daisy-leaved catchfly.—Calyxes 
cylindric-conic, pubescent, erect; petals bifid; racemes gemi¬ 
nate, terminating, directed oneway; the middle flower pe- 
duucled ; leaves lanceolate, pubescent. This has an upright, 
round, subvillose, and rather glutinous simple stem, slightly 
dichotomous at the top, with but few flowers.—It is an an¬ 
nual, rising from a slender root. 
13. Silene dichotoma, or forked catchfly.—Calyxes ovate, 
viscid-hairy, erect; petals bifid; racemes geminate, termi¬ 
nating, directed one way ; middle flower peduncled; leaves 
petioled, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate at the base. This is an 
annual or biennial plant.—Native of Hungary.—This section 
contains also Silene vespertina, behen, stricta, pendula, pro- 
cumbens, noctiflora, ornata, undulata, Virginica, antirrhina, 
sedoides, apetala, rubella, inaperta, clandestina, portensis, 
Cretica, muscipulaand polyphylla. 
IV.—Flowers terminating. 
14. Silene armeria. Common or lobel’s catchfly.—Pani¬ 
cles dichotomous, fastigiate, many-flowered ; petals emargi- 
nate, acutely crowned; upper leaves cordate ; smooth. This 
is an annual plant with erect stalks, a foot and half high, 
for more than an inch below each joint very glutinous.—. 
Native of Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland, Car- 
niola. Piedmont and England. 
15. Silene orchidea, or orchis-flowered catchfly.—Petals 
two-lobed ; the borders having on each side of the base an 
awl-shaped process; leaves even ; the lower roundish-spatu- 
late; petioles ciliate. Root annual. Stem erect.—Native of 
the Levant. 
16. Silene iEgyptiaca, or Egyptian catchfly.—Petals emar- 
ginate, toothed on both sides; leaves subtomentose. Stem 
herbaceous, a palm high, brachiate, very slightly tomentose. 
—Native of Egypt. 
17. Silene Catesbsei, or Catesby’s catchfly.—Calyxes cy¬ 
lindrical ; petals four-cleft, acute; panicle terminating; 
leaves lanceolate.—Native of Carolina. 
18. Silene cordifolia, or heart-leaved catchfly.—Calyxes 
pubescent, angular, cylindrical; petals bifid ; flowers termi¬ 
nating; leaves roundish, acute, nerved, hairy. Root fibrous, 
perennial. Stems many, forming a tuft, filiform, a finger’s 
length and a half.—Native of the higher rocks of Piedmont, 
the county of Nice and the Col de Tende. 
19. Silene chlorrefolia, or yellow-wort-leaved catchfly.— 
Calyxes smooth, club-shaped; petals semibifid; leaves 
glaucous; lower oval; upper cordate embracing.—Native 
of Armenia. 
20. Silene alpestris, or Austrian catchfly.—Petals four¬ 
toothed; stem dichotomous; capsules ovate-oblong; leaves 
S I L 
linear-lanceolate, smooth, erect; peduncles viscid. Root 
perennial—Native of the mountains of Austria. 
21. Silene rupestris, or rock catchfly.—Flowers erect; 
petals emarginate; calyxes round; leaves lanceolate; glau¬ 
cous smooth. This is a little plant which spreads and 
branches out dichotomousiy. Flowers small, funnel-shaped. 
It is biennial. The crown is scarcely apparent; and the 
hollow or funnel shape of the calyx and corolla distinguishes 
this species.—Native of Lapland, Sweden, Germany, Dau- 
phine, Piedmont and Siberia.—There are also in this section, 
Silene saxifraga, vallisia, pumilio and aeaulis. Species from 
Desfontaines : Silene hispida, imbricata, reticulata, bipar¬ 
tita, psuedo-atocion, ramosissima, arenaria, cinerea, patula, 
arenarioides. 
Propagation and Culture. —Most of these plants are 
hardy annuals, which rise easily from seeds sown in the au¬ 
tumn, or spontaneously from scattered seeds. The perennial 
species may be raised by slips or cuttings. Silene ornata and 
undulata, require the shelter of the greenhouse. 
SILENI, in Ancient Geography, a people of India, 
placed by Pliny in the vicinity of the river Indus. 
SILENI, in Antiquity, a sort of heathen demigods, the 
same with satyrs, which were called Sileni when they came 
to be advanced in age. 
Yet was there one principal Silenus, elder than any of the 
rest. He is represented has having a long tail hanging be¬ 
hind, which is likewise an attribute of all his posterity. 
The poets always mount him on an ass, always drunk, and 
hardly able to support himself; “ titubantem annisque 
meroque,” as Ovid (Met. 1. v.) says. Upon all the an¬ 
tiques that represent him, he has the air of a drunken man 
dozing over his wine; and when Virgil, in one of his 
Eclogues, describes him, it is like a man gorged with wine 
as usual: 
“ Inflatum hesterno venas ut semper iaccho.” 
Some ancient authors, however, express more favourable 
sentiments of him. Silenus, according to their account, 
was a profound philosopher; and the drunkenness so often 
mentioned was merely mystical, signifying that he was pro¬ 
foundly immersed in speculation. Cicero, Plutarch, and 
many others, had formed the same idea of Silenus, and 
always regarded him as a very ingenious man, and a great 
philosopher. 
SFLENT, adj. Not speaking ; mute. 
Silent, and in face 
Confounded, long they sat as stricken mute. Milton. 
Not talkative ; not loquacious.—Ulysses, adds he, was the 
most eloquent and most silent of men ; he knew that a word 
spoken never wrought so much good as a word concealed 
Broome. —Still; having no noise. 
Now is the pleasant time. 
The cool, the silent, save where silence yields 
To the night-warbling bird. Milton, 
Wanting efficacy. 
The sun to me is dark. 
And silent as the moon, 
When she deserts the night, 
Hid in her vacant interlunar cave. Milton. 
Not mentioning. 
This new created world, whereof in hell 
Fame is not silent. Milton. 
Not making noise or rumour. 
The pious youth ; more studious how to save 
His aged sire, now sinking to the grave, 
Preferr’d the power of plants, and silent praise 
Of healing arts, before Phcebean bays. Dry den. 
SILE'NTIARY, s. [ silentiarius , low Lat.] One who 
is appointed to take care that silence and proper order .be 
kept in court. One who is sworn not to divulge secrets of 
state.—The emperor afterwards sent his rescript by Eusta¬ 
thius, the silentiary, again confirming it. Barrow. 
SILENTIARY, 
