S Y L 
S Y L 
807 
n.ent. Corolla: petals three, roundish, concave, spreading, 
length of the calyx. Stamina: filaments three, capillary. 
Anthers oblong. Pistil: germ superior, roundish. Style 
filiform. Stigma trifid. Pericarp: capsule globular, crowned 
with the style, one-celled, three-valved. Seeds six, globu¬ 
lar, striated, two fastened to each valve, one above the other. 
It is allied to Commelina .—Essential Character. Calyx 
three leaved. Petals three. Anthers oblong. Capsule one- 
celled, three valved. 
Syena fluviatilis.—This is a minute mossy plant. Stem 
somewhat branched decumbent. I.eaves capillaceous, in 
whorls. Flowers axillary, white, peduncled, solitary.—Na¬ 
tive of Guiana, in rivulets. 
SYENE, a town of Upper Egypt, the most southerly in 
that country, and forming its frontier towards Nubia. If is 
celebrated, in the annals of ancient astronomy, by the at¬ 
tempt made by Eratosthenes to measure the height of the 
sun, according to which Syene was said to lie directly under 
the tropic. A well was formed, which was supposed to 
mark the precise moment of the summer solstice, by the 
image of the sun reflected in it. Bruce ascertained that 
Syene was not now, at least, immediately under the tropic, 
as he found the latitude 23.28. ; and according to the more 
precise observation of Nouet, it is 24. 8 . 6 . There is still 
a small temple, supposed to be the ancient observatory ; but 
it is so buried in dirt and rubbish, as to be inaccessible. 
There are also the remains of a Roman bridge, and a hand¬ 
some stone quay. But the principal ruins of Syene are 
those of the Saracen town, which are very extensive, in¬ 
cluding the city wall, built of unburnt bricks, and flanked 
with square towers. Many large houses are still in a state 
of extraordinary preservation, as well as mosques, with 
lofty minarets, still entire, though resting on very frail founda¬ 
tions. In the Nile, opposite to Syene, is the island of Ele- 
phantina, remarkable for the very ancient ruins with which 
it is covered. The climate of this place is healthy, being 
free, in a great measure, from the intensely hot south-east 
and southerly winds, and the plague seldom making its 
appearance. 
SYKEHOUSE, a township of England, West Riding of 
Yorkshire; miles north-west-by-west of Thorne. Popu¬ 
lation 490. 
SYKES, POINT, a cape on the west coast of North 
America, in Behm’s Canal. Lat. 55. 6 . N. long. 229.4. E. 
SYLAII, a fortified town of Hindostan, province of Gu- 
jerat, district of Chalawara. It is a large place, is situated 
near an extensive lake, and belongs to an Hindoo chief, who 
is tributary to the Guicowar. Lat. not ascertained. 
SYLEIIAM, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 5 miles 
north-east-by-east of Eye. 
SYLLA'BICAL, adj. Relating to syllables; consisting 
of syllables.—The Christians have marked every the least 
various lection, even syllabical. Leslie. 
SYLLA'BICALLY, adv. In a syllabical manner.—These 
and many like places, well considered, (upon which no 
brand of lie or falsity may be fixed,) though they do not 
literally and syllabically agree with the quotation, (but are 
verified either in a partial or concurrent sense), may suffici¬ 
ently justify that place in the first front of the Liturgy to be 
no lie, but a divine scriptural truth. Bp. Gauden. 
SYLLA'BIC, adj. [ syllabique , Fr.j Relating to sylla¬ 
bles.—In the responses also, which are noted for various 
voices, this syllabic distinction is sufficiently attended to. 
Mason. 
SY'LLABLE, s. Gr.; syllabe, Fr.] As much 
of a word as is uttered by the help of one vowel, or one 
articulation. 
I heard 
Each syllable that breath made up between them. 
Shalcspeare. 
Any thing proverbially concise. 
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,. 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 
To the last syllable of recorded time; 
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death. Shalcspeare. 
To SY'LLABLE, v. a. To utter; to pronounce; to ar¬ 
ticulate. Not in use. 
Airy tongues that syllable men’s names 
On sands, and shores, and wildernesses. Milton. 
SY'LLABUB, s. Milk and acids. 
No syllabubs made at the milking pail, 
But what are compos’d of a pot of good ale. Beaumont. 
SY'LLABUS, s. [o-vAAa&as, Gr.] An abstract; a compen¬ 
dium containing the heads of a discourse. 
SYLLATIN, a parish of England, in Salop; 4 miles 
north-by-west of Oswestry. 
SY'LLOGISM, s. [a-vWoynr/Mi;, Gr.; syllogisms, Fr.] An 
argument composed of three propositions: as, every man 
thinks ; Peter is a man ; therefore Peter thinks. —What 
a miraculous thing should we count it, if the flint and the 
steel, instead of a few sparks, should chance to knock out 
definitions and syllogisms ? Bentley. 
SYLLOGl'STICAL, or Syllogistic, adj. [o-vAAo- 
7151 x 0 ?, Gr.] Relating to a syllogism; consisting of a 
syllogism.—Though the terms of propositions may be 
complex, yet where the composition of the whole argu¬ 
ment is thus plain, simple and regular, it is properly called 
a simple syllogism, since the complexion does not belong 
to the syllogistic form of it. W'itts. 
SYLLOGISTIC ALLY, adv. In the form of a syllogism. 
—A man knows first, and then he is able to prove syllogis- 
tically ; so that syllogism comes after knowledge, when a 
man has no need of it. Locke. 
SYLLOGIZA'TION, s. The act of reasoning by syllo¬ 
gism.—From mathematical bodies, and the truths resulting 
from them, they passed to the contemplation of truth in 
general; to the soul, and its powers both of intuition and 
syllogization. Harris. 
To SY'LLOGISE, v. n. [syllogizer, Fr.; <rvXkoyijje$v, 
Gr.] To reason by syllogism.—Logic is in effect, an art of 
syllogizing. Baker .—Men have endeavoured to transform 
logic info a kind of mechanism, and to teach boys to 
syllogize, or frame arguments and refute them, without real 
knowledge. Watts. 
SY'LLOGIZER, s. One who reasons by syllogism_ 
Every syllogizer is not presently a match to cope with Bel- 
larmine, Baronius, Stapleton. Sir E. Dering. 
SYLPH, or Sy'lphid, s. [sylph, sylphide, Fr. “ nom 
que les cabalistes donnentaux pretendus genies elementaires 
de l’air. Ce mot peut venir du Gr. croApij, (silphe,) “nom 
d’ une espece d’insecte qui ne veillit jamais." Morin.] A 
fabled being of the air. 
SYLT, an island of Denmark, on the west coast of the 
duchy of Sleswick, belonging to the bailiwic of Tondern. 
It is of a very irregular form, 14 miles in length, and from 
3 to 7 in width. It contains about 2700 inhabitants, of 
Friesland origin, employed partly in cultivating the ground, 
partly in the oyster fishery. 
SY'LVAN, adj, [Better sylvan.] Woody; shady ; 
relating to woods. 
Eternal greens the mossy margin grace, 
Watch’d by the sylvan genius of the place. Pope. 
SY'LVAN, s. [sylvain , Fr.] A wood-god, or satyr; 
perhaps sometimes a rustic. 
Her private orchards wall’d on ev’ry side; 
To lawless syIvans all access deny’d. Pope. 
SYLVERLEY, a hamlet of England, in Cambridgeshire; 
3§ miles east of Newmarket. 
SYLVES, or Silves, a small town of the south of Por¬ 
tugal, in the province of Algarva, pleasantly situated on a 
small river; 15 miles east-north-east of Lagos, and 39 west 
of Tavira. Population 2.000, 
SYLVIUS,. 
