or SIPH, in Ancient Geography, the name of a wilderness or desert in the tribe of Judah, where David was fugitive; lying to the south-east of Hebron; so called from Ziph or Siph, a twofold town in this tribe; the one more to the south towards Idumea, on the confines of Eleutheropolis, (Jerome;) the other eight miles to the east of Hebron, towards the Dead sea, inclining southwards, because near Mount Carmel. Here was a mountain, mentioned 1 Sam. xxiii. 14. in which David abode, said by Jerome to be rugged, dismal, and always overcast. Ziphim, Ziphai, or Ziphenes, the inhabitants of Ziph, ver. 19.

ZIRCHNITZER-see, otherwife called the Lake of Csiernitz, in Carniola, is about one German or four English miles in length, and half as much in breadth, contains three beautiful islands, and is encompassed at some distance with mountains and forests. But what is most remarkable is, that it disappears generally once a-year, about St John's or St James's day, running off through holes or pits in the bottom; sometimes it disappears twice or thrice a-year, and sometimes even in winter if the weather be dry. On the other hand, it has been known to continue two or three years without running off. Of the holes or pits, there are five much larger than the rest, each of which successively, when the water runs off, stands empty five days; so that the whole lake becomes dry in 25. As soon as the beginning of the ebb is observed, the fishing in the pits begins, which belongs to five feignories. The fish, which are carp, tench, pike, eels, and two other sorts called schleien and ruten, are caught by laying nets over the holes. Mr Keyser tells us, that upon the ringing of a bell at Zirknitz, when the waters begin to fall, the peasants, both men and women, run to the pools quite naked.

ZIRON, a mineral substance containing a peculiar earth. See MINERALOGY Index.