exation of the entire Punjab, since when the Sikhs have been the
faithful allies of the English, notably in the Indian Mutiny.

SIKKIM (7), a small native State in North-East India, lying on the
southern slopes of the Himalayas, between Nepal (W.) and Bhotan (E.);
under British protection; the ruling family being Buddhist, and of
Tibetan descent.

SILAGE, the name given to green fodder, vegetables, &c., stored in
stacks or pits (or silos) under heavy pressure, the process being known
as ensilage. The practice of thus preserving green crops for fodder dates
from earliest times, but its general adoption in Britain only began in
1882 since when its spread has been rapid. Originally the process in
vogue involved slight fermentation, resulting in "sour silage," but in
1884 it was found that by delaying the application of pressure for a day
or two a rise of temperature took place sufficiently great to destroy the
bacteria producing fermentation, the result being "sweet silage." Both
kinds are readily eaten by cattle.

SILENCE, WORSHIP OF, Carlyle's name for the sacred respect for
restraint in speech till "thought has silently matured itself, ... to
hold one's tongue till _some_ meaning lie behind to set it wagging," a
doctrine which many misunderstand, almost wilfully, it would seem;
silence being to him the very womb out of which all great things are
born.

SILENUS, a satyr who attended Dionysus, being his foster-father and
teacher; assisted in the war of the giants, and slew Enceladus; had the
gift of vaticination; is represented as mounted on an ass and supported
by other satyrs.

SILESIA (4,224), a province of South-East Prussia, stretching S.
between Russian Poland (E.) and Austria (W. and S.); the Oder flows NW.
through the heart of the country, dividing the thickly forested and in
parts marshy lands of the N. and E. from the mountainous and extremely
fertile W.; rich coal-fields lie to the S., and zinc is also a valuable
product; agriculture and the breeding of cattle, horses, and sheep
flourish, as also the manufacture of cottons, linens, &c.; Breslau is the
capital; for long under the successive dominions of Poland and Bohemia,
the Silesian duchies became, in the 18th century, a _casus belli_ between
Austria and Prussia, resulting in the SEVEN YEARS' WAR (q. v.)
and the ultimate triumph of Frederick the Great of Prussia.

SILESIA, AUSTRIAN (602), that portion of the original Silesian
country preser