duty; yet he is still under an obligation to do it whenever a church shall be built, and there are a competent number of inhabitants: and, in the mean time, if the church be presentative, as most such churches are, the incumbent is instituted into the cure of souls; such benefices are rather depopulations than sinecures, and it will be proper for the new incumbent to read the thirty-nine articles, and the liturgy, in the church-yard, &c. and to do whatever other incumbents usually do. But a rectory, or portion of it, may properly be a sinecure, if there be a vicar under the rector, endowed and charged with the cure, in which case it does not come within the statute of pluralities. 21 Henry VIII. c. 13. Here, therefore, no dispensation is necessary to hold the sinecure with a former living, nor need the incumbent read the articles, or divine service, as required by 13 Elizabeth, c. 12, which extends only to a benefice with cure. By the above-mentioned statute of Henry VIII. not only prebends and rectories, with vicarages endowed, but deaneries, and arch-deaneries, are declared to be benefices without cure. system, the loans were chiefly raised on terminable annuities, which are in themselves a species of sinking fund; but when the present mode of borrowing on perpetual annuities was preferred, it soon became evident, that a continual accumulation of public debts would in time involve the government in much embarrassment, if it was not attended with still worse consequences. Various projects were therefore offered for the discharge of the public debts, or for confining them within moderate bounds; and, among others, the plan of such a sinking fund, as was afterwards actually established, was clearly laid down in a pamphlet, entitled "A Letter to a Member of the late Parliament, concerning the Debts of the Nation," published in 1701. In 1713, Mr. A. Hutcheson presented to the King a plan for payment of the public debts. In 1715, different projects for this purpose were published by Edward Leigh, Mr. Asgill, and others. And, in 1716, a plan for the gradual discharge of the debt was actually adopted, which was afterwards generally known by the appellation of the sinking fund. Sir Robert Walpole claimed great merit as the father of this fund, though it certainly required very little knowledge or invention to copy a plan, which had been found successful in other countries, and which had been publicly recommended many years before; but whatever claims Sir R. Walpole might have to the formation of the plan, he indisputably has all the disgrace of having perverted and destroyed it. The act by which it was established was worded as strong as possible, and expressly ordained, that the fund should be applied to the discharge of the public debts, and to no other use or purpose whatsoever; but, in 1722, it was made a collateral security for the interest of a million raised on exchequer bills, which prepared the way for more direct encroachments. In 1724, a sum was taken from the fund to make good the loss to the treasury from the reduction of the value of gold coin; and in 1727, the whole produce of the civil list revenues were settled on the King, by which the sinking fund was deprived of about 100,000l. per annum, to which the surplus of these revenues had usually amounted. In 1733, the gross sum of half a million was taken from the fund towards the current supplies, at which time the medium annual produce of the fund for five years had been 1,212,000l. ; but the alienation of it being continued, At the commencement of the funding by charging it with the interest of new SINGING, the art of producing with the voice the sounds of any melody, together with the words to which that melody is set. To perform this with justness and good effect, a fine voice, sensible ear, great natural taste, and a knowledge in the science of music, are indispensable requisites. SINGULAR number, in grammar, that number of nouns and verbs which stands opposed to plural; and is used when we only speak of a single on one person, or thing. SINISTER, in heraldry. The sinister side of an escutcheon is the left hand side; the sinister chief, the left angle of the chief; the sinister base, the left hand part of the base. SINKING FUND, a portion of the public revenue set apart, to be applied to the reduction or discharge of the public debts. The appropriation of a part of the revenue to this purpose is a measure which had been adopted in other countries long before any necessity for it existed in England, a provision of this kind having been established in Holland in 1655, and in the Ecclesiastical State in 1685. Both these funds originated in a reduction of the interest payable on the public debts, which was the means afterwards adopted for the establishment of a similar fund in this country. loans, taking sums from it towards the supplies, and even anticipating its produce, little progress was made in the reduction of the debt, and at length the sinking fund became a mere nominal distinction. The ruinous tendency of a continual accumulation of public debts was strongly pointed out by various writers on subjects of policy and finance; but by none with more zeal and ability than the late Dr. Price, who, about the year 1769, of fered to the public some observations on the national debt, in the third chapter of his "Observations on Reversionary Pay. ments," in which he particularly recommended the establishment of a permanent sinking fund, on the principle of that established by Sir Robert Waipole, but of which the efficacy had been so soon destroyed. In 1771, in an "Appeal to the Public on the Subject of the National Debt," he showed that the best scheme for paying off the debt was that which had long been known, which had been adopted, but unhappily crushed in its infancy; and in 1773, in the preface to the third edition of his "Treatise on Reversionary Payments," he took the opportunity of again enforcing the necessity of restoring the plan formerly established, and securing it from future perversion. This advice was repeatedly urged on subsequent occasions; and in 1785, when Mr. Pitt was deliberating on the best means of establishing a new sinking fund, he particularly sought the advice and assistance of Dr. Price, who communicated three plans, which ap. peared to him the best adapted for carrying into execution a measure he had so long and so earnestly recommended. It was one of the three plans thus communicated which was afterwards adopt ed; but with some alterations, which considerably affected its efficacy, and which it has since been found necessary to correct. By the act passed in 1786, for establishing the new sinking fund, the annual sum of one million was placed in the hands of commissioners, who are, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Master of the Rolls, the Accomptant Gene. ral of the Court of Chancery, and the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, for the time being, respectively. This million was to be issued in four equal quarterly payments, and to be applied either in paying off such redeemable annuities as shall be at or above par, is such manner as may be di rected by future acts of Parliament, or in the purchase of annuities below par at the market price. The dividends on the sums redeemed or purchased, with the annuities for lives or term of years that fall in or expire, and the sums which may be saved by any reduction of interest, were to be added to the fund, which, according to the original act, was to continue thus increasing till it amounted to four millions per annum; which it was then computed would be about the year 1812, when upwards of fifty-six millions of stock would be redeemed. From this time the dividends on such capital as should in future be paid off or purchased by the commissioners, with such annuities as might afterwards fall in, were to be at the disposal of Parliament. The commissioners were directed by the act to make their purchases "in equal portions, as nearly as may be, on every day (Saturdays and Mondays excepted) on which the same shall be transferable." They were empowered to subscribe towards any public loan, to be raised by an act of Parliament upon perpetual annuities, subject to redemption at par; and on account of the sums issued to them, and of the stock purchased to the first of February in every year, was directed to be annually laid before Parliament on or before the 15th of February. The purchases at first were all made in the 3 per cents. probably with the view of redeeming the 5 per cents. if the state of the public funds should render such a measure practicable, or of inducing the proprietors to agree to a reduction of the interest at the time when they would become redeemable. On the 17th February, 1792, the minister proposed, for the purpose of accelerating the operation of the fund, that the sum of 400,0007. should be issued, in addition to the annual million; and stated that, in consequence of this and future intended additions, it might be expected that twenty-five millions of 3 per cents. would be paid off by the year 1800: and that in the year 1808 the fund would have arisen to four millions per annum, being the sum to which it was restricted by the original act. The accumulation, however, was not to cease till the interest of the capital discharged, and the amount of expired annuities, should, together with the annual million only, and exclusive of the proposed additions, amount to four millions. But the most important improvement was a provision, that whenever in future any sums shall be raised by loans, on perpetual redeemable annuities, a sum, equal to one per cent on the stock created by such loans, should be is sued out of the produce of the consolidated fund quarterly, to be placed to the account of the commissionsers; and if the loan, or any part, is raised by annuities, for a longer term than forty-five years, or for lives, a computation is to be made of what will be, at the end of forty-five years, the actual value of such part of the annuities as may be then outstanding, and the sum to be placed to the account of the commissioners is to be equal to one per cent. on the computed future value. By this means this immediate progress of the fund was accelerated, and future loans were put into a regular course of redemp. tion. This appropriation of one per cent. was to form a distinct fund; and a sepa rate account was directed to be kept of the progress of each fund, by which it ap peared, that on the first of February, 1802, the original fund had increased to 2,534,1871. 1s 9d. and the new fund to 3,275.1431. 28. 3d. It was now deemed expedient to unite the two funds, and to apply the whole amount indiscriminately to the reduction of the total debt. With this view, the former injudicious limitation of a fund established professedly on the principle of compound interest, was done away; the usual annual grant of 200,000 per annum was made a perma nent charge upon the consolidated fund; and the whole amount of the sinking fund was directed to be regularly applied to the purchase or redemption of stock, "so as that the whole of the several redeemable public annuities, now charged upon the public funds of Great Britain, shall be paid off within forty-five years from the respective periods of the creation of such respective charges and pub. lic annuities.” Particulars of the Sums constituting the Sinking Fund, as it stood on 1st Februrry, 1808. above period, 829,4261. stock had been redeemed. SINNET, on board a ship, a line or string made of rope yarn, consisting generally of two, six, or nine strings, which are divided into three parts, and are platted over one another, and then beaten smooth and flat with a wooden mallet. Its use is to save the ropes, or to keep them from galling. SINUATED leaf. See BOTANY. SINUS, denotes a cavity of certain bones, and other parts, the entrance whereof is narrow, and the bottom wider and more spacious. SINUS, in surgery, a little cavity, or sacculus, frequently formed by a wound or ulcer, wherein pus is collected. SIPHON, or SYPHON, in hydraulics, a bended pipe, one end of which being put into a vessel of liquor, and the other hanging out of the said vessel over another, the liquor will run out from the first into the last, after the air has been sucked out of the external or lower end of the siphon, and that as long as the liquor in the upper vessel is above the upper orifice of the siphon. See HYDRAULICS. SIPHONANTHUS, in botany, a genus of the Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. Nataral order of Borragineæ, Jus sieu Essential character: corolla onepetalled, funnel form, very long, inferior; berries four, one-seeded. There are two species, viz. S. indica, and S. angustifolia, natives of South America. SIPHONIA, in botany, a genus of the Monoecia Monadelphia class aud order. Essential character: calyx one-leafed; corolla none : male, anthers five, growing below the top of the column: female, style none; stigmas three; capsule tricoccous; seed one, sometimes two or three. There is but one species, viz. S. elastica, elastic gum tree. SIPUNCULUS, in natural history, tubeworm, a genus of the Vermes Intestina class and order. Body round, elongated: mouth cylindrical at the end, and narrower than the body; aperture at the side. There are two species, viz. S. nudus; body covered with a close skin, and globular at the lower end; it inhabits European seas, under stones; and is eight inches long: and S. saccatus; body covered with a loose skin, and rounded at the lower end; this is found in the American and Indian seas; in shape it is like the former, except in being enclosed in a loose bag, and in not having the lower end globu lar. SIREN, in natural history, a genus of Amphibia, of the order Reptiles, or of the order Meantes, an order instituted by Linnæus on account of this genus of animals alone. Generic character: body naked, with two feet, and without a tail; feet with arms and nails. S. lacertina, or the eel-shaped siren, is most nearly allied to the lizard tribe, but differs from it in having only two feet, and those armed with claws; the body is shaped like an eel; its colour is a dark brown, speckled with white; it is often more than two feet long, and inhabits the stagnant waters of South Carolina; sometimes, however, quitting water for the land. This curious animal was discovered by the ingenious Dr. Garden, who presented several specimens of it to Linnæus, and excited the attention and curiosity of that great man, on this particular subject, to so high a degree, that he asserted few things would more gratify him, than a particular knowledge of the nature and habits of a creature so extraordinary. The siren, if thrown with great force upon the ground, will break in several places, resembling, in this instance, a species of the anguis. See Amphibia, Plate II. fig 2. S. anguina, or the anguine siren, is a native of a particular lake in Carniola, from which the water regularly drains off during the summer; during which time the bottom produces corn, or pasture. In autumn, the water returns with considerable rapidity, flowing principally from springs in the neighbouring mountains. In this lake, this siren is found of the length of eleven inches, and of a pale rose colour. It has both fore and hind legs. Its movements are extremely slow and weak when it is placed in a vessel, whether with or without water; but in its native situation it is far more active. It is, by some, supposed to be the larva of a lizard, and by others imagined to be a complete animal. Its habits are predatory, and it subsists on the smaller inhabitants of the water. S. pisciformis, or the fish-formed siren, is concluded to be a native of Mexico. In its general appearance it greatly resembles the larva of the paradoxical frog; it possesses, however, gills with outward openings, and thus resembles a fish. The feet are unfurnished with the slightest degree of web. Shaw appears strongly inclined to the idea of its being the tadpole, or larva of some large lizard. SIREX, in natural history, tailed-wasp. Mouth with a thick, horny, truncate, short, denticulate mandible; four feelers, the hind ones longer and thicker upwards; antennæ filiform, of more than twenty-four equal articulations; sting exserted, ser. rate, stiff; abdomen sessile, terminating in a point; wings lanceolate, incumbent, the lower ones shorter. There are twenty-six species. The larvæ of this genus are six-footed, soft and cylindrical; the head rounded; they perforate wood, and frequently eat their way into the bowels of other insects, and their larvæ living upon and consuming their vitals; the pupa folliculate the perfect insect lives on the nectar of flowers. The largest species is S. gigas, which surpasses the hornet in size, and is principally observed in the neighbourhood of pines; it is black, with the eyes, the base, and lower half of the abdomen bright orange yellow. The larva inhabits decayed pines and firs. It changes to a chrysalis in July, first enveloping itself in a slight silken web, of a whitish colour; the chrysalis is of a lengthened shape, with antennæ, legs, and tube, very distinctly characterized. If the change of chrysalis takes place in summer, the fly proceeds from it in about three weeks: but if at the close of autumn, the animal continues in the chrysalis state the whole winter. The male is much smaller than the female: the eggs are deposited by the female in the decayed parts of trees. See Plate IV. Entomology, fig. 5. SIRIUS, the dog-star; a very bright star of the first magnitude, in the mouth of the constellation Canis Major, or the Great Dog This is the brightest of all the stars in our firmament; and therefore, probably, says Dr. Maskelyne, the astronomer royal, the nearest to us of them all. Some, however, suppose Arcturus to be the nearest. This is one of the earliest named stars in the whole heavens. Hesiod and Homer mention only four or five constellations, or stars, and this is one of them. Sirios and Orion, the Hyades, Pleiades, and Arcturus, are almost the whole of the old poetical astronomy. The three last the Greeks formed of their own observation, as appears by the names; the two others were Egyptian. Sirius was so called from the Nile, one of the names of that river being Siris; and the Egyptians seeing that river begin to swell at the time of a particular rising of this star, paid divine honours to this star, and called it by a name derived from that of the river, expressing the star of the Nile. SIROCCO, a periodical wind which generally blows in Italy and Dalmatia every year about Easter. It blows from the south-east by south; it is attended with heat, but not rain; its ordinary period is twenty days, and it usually ceases at sunset. When the sirocco does not blow in this manner, the summer is almost free from westerly winds, whirlwinds, and storms. This wind is prejudicial to plants, drying and burning up their buds; though it hurts not men any otherwise than by causing an extraordinary weakness and lassitude: inconveniences that are fully compensated by a plentiful fishing, and a good crop of corn on the mountains. In the summer time, when the westerly wind ceases for a day, it is a sign that the sirocco will blow the day following, which usually begins with a sort of whirlwind. SISON, in botany, hone-wort, a genus of the Pentandria Digynia class and order. Natural order of Umbellatæ, or Umbellifera. Essential character: involucres mostly four-leaved; fruit ovate, striated. There are seven species. SISYMBRIUM, in botany, water-cress, or water-rocket, a genus of the Tetradynamia Siliquosa, class and order. Natural order of Siliquosa Cruciformes, or Cruciferæ. Essential character; silique opening with straightish valves; calyx and corolla spreading. There are fifty. three species. SISYRINCHIUM, in botany, a genus of the Monadelphia Triandria class and order. Natural order of Ensatæ. Irides, Jussieu. Essential character: spathe two, leaved; calyx none; petals six, almost equal; style none: capsule three-celled, inferior. There are ten species. SITE, or SCITE, denotes the situation of an house, messuage, &c. and sometimes the ground-plot, or spot of earth it stands on. In logic, situs is one of the predicaments declaring a subject to be so and so placed: and in geometry and algebra, it denotes the situation of lines, surfaces, &c. SITTA, the nut-hatch, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Pica. Generic character; bills straight; upper mandible a little longer; nostrils small, and covered with bristles; tongue short, jagged, and horney at the tip; four toes, the back one as large as the middle fore one. Latham notices seven species, and Gmelin twelve The following is the principal: S. Europea, or the European nut-hatch. This bird weighs about an ounce. Its manners much resemble those of the woodpecker, in whose deserted nests it often builds. When the female is in a state of incubation, f she be at all annoyed by the touch of |