sifac

[Native name.] Zool.: The Mad a gas can white indris, regarded by the natives as sacred. *sif-file-ment, s. [Fr., from siffler =to whistle.] The act of whistling or hi ing; a whistling sound, or a sound resembling a whistle. "Uttering nought else but siflements." Brewer: Lingua, i. 1. sift, v. t. [A. S. sift an, syftan, from sife a sieve (q. v.); Dut. ziften to sift; zift = a sieve.] I. Literally : 1. To separate by means of a sieve, as the finer parts of a substance from the gro er; to pa through a sieve; to operate upon with a sieve. "And fresh mold sifted and strewed over with riddles, an inch thicke and no more." -P. Holland: Pliny, bk. xvii., ch. x. 2. To part, as by a sieve; to separate. "When yellow sands are sifted from below, The glitt'ring billows give a golden show." Dryden. (Todd.) II. Fig .: To examine minutely or critically; to scrutinize. "Those who have not sifted this question to the bot tom."-Horstey: Sermons, vol. ii., ser. 17. sift-er, s. [ Eng.sift; -er.] 1. One who sifts; that which sifts; a sieve. 2. An implement with meshes, fine or coarse, according to circumstances, for separating mate rials according to size, used for sifting ashes from cinders; flour from lumps, .; sand from gravel, dust or smaller seeds from grain, and for various other purposes. sig, s. [Cf. A. S. sihan, seón; Ger. seigen, scihen =to filter.] Urine; stale urine. ( Prov.) IMG:content-1443.png:[blocks in formation] 1. To make a deep, single respiration, as the result or involuntary expre ion of grief, sorrow, or the like; hence, to grieve, to mourn. "He whose virtue sighed to lose a day." Pope: E ay on Man , iv. 147. IMG:content-1444.png:[blocks in formation] "I gave my time for nothing, on condition of his giv. quality , i. 385. ing me a sight into his busine "-H. Brooke: Fool of II. Physiol.: The eye is a camera consisting of a series of lenses and media arranged in a dark chamber, the iris serving as a diaphragm, and the object of the apparatus is to form on the retina a distinct image of external objects. [EYE.] Light falling on the retina excites sensory impulses, and these, IMG:content-1445.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1446.png:[blocks in formation] "An internal emotion, which acting on the diaphragm, and that upon the lungs, produces a sigh."-Goldsmith: Hist . Earth , vol. ii., ch. v.