Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), S, Silvium, Sipho

Home Collections/Texts Perseus Catalog Research Grants Open Source About Help

Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:

This text is part of:

Greek and Roman Materials

View text chunked by:

Sipho

or Sipo (σίφων).

1.

A siphon; a pipe through which the water is made to rise by its own pressure. The principle of the siphon was used for fountains and for drawing liquids from casks (Pliny , Pliny H. N. ii. 66; Pollux, vi. 2). The siphon is of great antiquity, having been used by the ancient Egyptians, as is seen by paintings on the monuments. (See illustration under Aegyptus, p. 26.)

2.

The name was also applied to a sort of fire-engine constructed on the principle of the siphon, as elaborated by Ctesibius of Alexandria, and which is described and illustrated in the article Ctesibica Machina. See also Pliny , Epist. x. 35; Isidor. Orig. xx. 6; Dig. 32, 7, 12.

Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar:

Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)

This text is part of:

View text chunked by:

Table of Contents:

Sipho

1.

2.