Sybel
HEINRICH, VON, a German historian; born in Düsseldorf, Germany, Dec. 2, 1817; studied at Berlin under Ranke, and became professor at Bonn in 1844 and at Marburg in 1845. In 1861 he was elected by the university to the Prussian Lar Landtag, and in 1874 was returned to the imperial Parliament. In 1878 he was nominated director of the state archives. Of his works the best known in England is his "History of the French Revolution." He died in Marburg, Germany, Aug. 1, 1895.
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Sycomancy
Divination by the leaves of the fig tree. Questions or propositions on which one wished to be enlightened were written on these leaves. If the leaf dried quickly after the appeal to the diviner, it was an evil omen; but a good augury if the leaf dried slowly.
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Sycomore
a tree of the genus Ficus, the F. Sycomorus, or sycamore of Scripture, a kind of fig tree. It is very common in Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt, growing thick and to a great height, and though the grain is coarse, much used coa in building and very durable. Its fruit is sweet and of a delicate flavor.
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Syenite
or SIENITE, a name originally applied to the granite of Syene, which contains hornblende, but now generally restricted to a rock which consists of orthoclase, feldspar and hornblende only; or where quartz is present only in sufficient quantity to be regarded as an accessory and not as an essential constituent. By the increase in the amount of quartz , and the presence of mica, syenite graduates into hornblendic a granite. Petrologists recognize as a typical syenite the rock of Meissen, near Dresden.
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Sykes
GEORGE, an American military officer; born in Dover, Del., Oct. 9, 1822; was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1842; was promoted 1st lieutenant Sept. 21, 1846; and during the war with Mexico took part at the actions of Monterey, Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and the siege and surrender of the City of Mexico. In May, 1861, he was promoted major of the 14th Infantry, and in September of the same year appointed Brigadier-General of volunteers. Later he won distinction at Gaines' Mills, and in the several subsequent operations of the Army of the Potomac; was promoted Major-General of volunteers in November, per in the battles of Chancellorsville and , 1862; took part commanded the 5th Army Corps during the battle of Gettysburg. At the close of the war he was brevetted Major-General U. S. A. for gallantry in service during the war. He was promoted colonel of the 20th United States Infantry in January, 1868. He died in Brownsville , Tex., Feb. 9, 1880, while in command of Fort Brown. His remains were removed to the West Point cemetery at the expense of Congress and a fine monument was erected to his mem- . ory
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Sylhet
or SILHET (Srihatta), a in the district extreme. S. of Assam, British India; partly a rich alluvial tract, but to the extent of 32 per cent. uncultivated waste; has an area of 5,413 square miles and a pop. of 2,200,000. The chief town, Sylhet, on the Surmá river, has a pop. of about 15,000, and some trade and manufactures.
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Syllabus
in Church history, a list the embracing "chief errors and false doctrines of our most unhappy age," compiled by order of Pope Pius IX., and sent, with an encyclical letter, dated Dec. 8, 1864, "to all the bishops of the Catholic world, in order that these bishops may have before their eyes all the errors and pernicious doctrines which he had reprobated and condemned," the number of which amounts to 80, probably in imitation of the 80 heresies mentioned by Epiphanius as existing ing in the first three centuries. The syllabus is divided into 10 sections, and attacks rationalism, pantheism, latitudinarianism, socialism, errors concerning the Church, N society, natural and Christian ethics, marriage, the power of the Pope, and modern liberalism .
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Sylphs
in the fantastic the Paracelsists, the elemental spirits of system of the air, just as the salamanders are of fire and the gnomes of earth. They hold an intermediate place between immaterial and material beings. They eat, drink, speak, move about, beget children, and are subject to infirmities like men; but, on the other hand, they resemble spirits in being more nimble and swift in their motions , while their bodies are more diaphanous than those of the human race. They also surpass in their knowledge, both of the present the latter and the future, but have no soul, and when they die nothing is left. They marry with our race, like the Undines and the Gnomes, and the children of such a union have souls and belong to the human race. In common usage the term sylph is applied to a graceful maiden.
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Sylva
CARMEN, Elizabeth, Queen of Rumania, a poet and pseudonym of author; born in Castle Monrepos near Neuwied, Germany, Dec. 29, 1843. In 1869 she was married to Charles, then Prince, now King of Rumania. Among her works (all in German) are: "Rumanic Poems " (1881); "Tempests"; "Songs from the Dimbovitza Valley" (1889). Her tragedy "Master Manole" (1892) had a brilliant success in the Burgh Theater , Vienna. In collaboration with Mite Kremnitz, she wrote some novels: "Astra"; " From Two Worlds"; etc. She died in 1920.
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Sylvanite
an ore of crystallization, monoclinic, rarely occurtellurium; Cyc-Vol. IX ring in distinct crystals, but in an aggregation resembling writing characters; hardness, 1.5-2; sp. gr. 7.9-8.33; luster, metallic; color and streak, steelgray, sometimes brass-yellow. Composition: Tellurium, 55.8; gold 28.5; silver, 15.7 = 100, which corres corresponds to the formula (AgAu) 3Te. 3Te. Occurs usually associated with gold.
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Sylvanus
or Silvanus, sil-va'nus, in Roman mythology, a god of the woods and fields, frequently mentioned with Faunus and, like him, sometimes confounded with pan.
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Sylvester
JOSHUA, an English author; born in England in 1563. His life was divided between merchandise and poetry, but in neither did he achieve success. Of his original works we have no trace, except the title of the poem published about 1620, entitled "Tobacco Battered and the Pipes Shattered by a Volley of Holy Shot Thundered from Mount Helicon"; but in virtue of the great though short-lived popularity obtained by his English version of the "Divine Weeks and Works" of Du Bartas he lives in literary history a kind of shadowy life. It was especially popular with the Puritans and was one of the sources of inspiration for Milton's "Paradise Lost." He led a somewhat wandering existence and died in Middleburg, Holland, Sept. 28, 1618.
JAMES JOSEPH, an English mathematician; born in London Sept. 3, 1814, studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, and was successively professor in University College, London, in the University of Virginia, in the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and at Oxford (Savilian professor, 1883). He published many memoirs in the scientific journals, and received many medals and honors. He died March 15, 1897.
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