or SEIGLIO, a town of Naples, in the province of Calabria Ultra, on a promontory of the same name, at the Strait of Messina, 11 miles N.N.E. of Reggio. At the utmost point of the land stands the castle on a steep cliff; behind this the town is built on a neck of land, pictur esquely rising in zig-zag terraces from the sand on either side. It contains numerous fountains, and some very handsome buildings; has important silk manufactories, a considerable trade, and an extensive fishery. Scylla suffered very much from an earthquake in 1783. Here is the once dreaded rock Scylla, of classical fame; but it is now passed without danger or fear by the navigator. Pop. 4560.

SCYLLA and CHARYBDIS, the names of two rocks in the Strait of Messina, fancifully described as sea-monsters by Homer, and after him by many of the best poets both in ancient and modern times. These descriptions are plainly intended to typify some objects of imminent danger and terror; and though it would be absurd to seek too minutely for a local habitation of such creations of the fancy, it is not improbable that the idea was originally derived from the exaggerated rumours about rocks and eddies that would be brought home by such adventurous seamen as had the courage, in their frail uncovered boats, to attempt the passage. Scylla is represented in different forms, with six heads, or with three, or with a fish's tail encircled by ever-howling dogs. She dragged vessels on the fatal rocks; while Charybdis, on the other side, engulfed them in the water, which she alternately sucked in and ejected from her capacious jaws. In modern language, Scylla and Charybdis have passed into a proverbial metaphor, expressing the difficulty of avoiding opposite extremes or dangers.