Oviedo y Valdez

Owen

name, 230 miles northwest of Madrid. Ovum (o'vum), the egg' or essential It was founded in 762, has a fourteenth product of the female reproduccentury cathedral and a university, and tive system, which, after impregnation by manufactures of hats, arms, napery, etc. contact with the semen or essential fluid Pop. 48,103.-The province, area 4080 square miles, pop. 627,069, is situated on the Bay of Biscay, and bounded by the provinces of Santander, Leon and Lugo. It has a wild and stormy coast, and a mountainous interior better adapted for pasture than agriculture.

of the male, is capable of developing into a new and independent being. The es sential parts to be recognized in the structure of every true ovum or egg con sist, firstly, of an outer membrane known as the vitelline membrane. Within this is contained the vitellus or yolk, and im

Oviedo y Valdez (o-vi-a'do e vål- bedded in the yolk-mass the germinal deth'), GONZALO vesicle and smaller germinal spot are FERNANDEZ DE, a Spanish historian, born seen. See Ovary, Reproduction. in 1478, and brought up as a page at the Owatonna (o-wa-ton'nå), a city, court of Ferdinand and Isabella. In county seat of Steele 1514 he received a government appoint- County, Minnesota, on Straight River, ment in the newly-discovered island of 70 miles s. of Minneapolis. It has nurs Hispaniola, and with few intervals spent eries, flour mills, and various manufacthe rest of his life there. Named by tures and is an important agricultural Charles V historiographer of the Indies, trade center. Here is a valuable mineral he wrote his Historia General y Natural spring. Pop. (1920) 7252.

de las Indias Occidentales. This and his Owego (o-we'gō ), county seat of

Quinquagenas are two works of great Tioga Co., New York, at junchistorical value. He died at Valladolid tion of Susquehanna River and Owego in 1557. Creek, 21 miles w. of Binghamton. In

Oviparous (ō-vip'a-rus), a term ap- 1779 an Indian village on the site of plied to those animals Owego was destroyed by General Clinton. which produce ova or eggs from which It has various manufacturing industries. the young are afterwards hatched. Where Pop. (1920) 4147. the eggs as in some lizards, some snakes, Owen (o'en), JOHN, English Nonconor as in the land salamanders-are reformist divine, born at Stadham, tained within the body of the parent Oxfordshire, in 1616, studied at Oxford, until such time as the young escape from and on the breaking out of the Civil war them, the animals are said to be ovo- took part with the Parliament. He viviparous. adopted the Independent mode of church

Ovipositor (o-vi-pos'i-tur), an appen- government. He was appointed to preach dage attached to the ab- at Whitehall the day after the execution deminal segments of certain insects, and of Charles I; accompanied Cromwell in used for placing the eggs in situations his expeditions both to Ireland and Scot favorable to their due development, this land; in 1651 was made dean of Christ being sometimes in bark or leaves, or Church College, Oxford, and in 1652 was even in the bodies of other animals. The nominated by Cromwell, then chancellor sting of bees, wasps, etc., is a modification of an ovipositor or analogous structure.

Ovolo (o'vu-lo), in architecture, a convex moulding, generally a quarter of a circle; but in classic architecture there is usually a departure from the exact circular form to that of an egg; hence the name (L. ovum, an egg).

Ovo-viviparous. See Oviparous.

of the university, his vice-chancellor, offices of which he was deprived in 1657. He died in 1683. Owen was a man of

great learning and piety, of high Calvinistic views, and the author of numerous works.

Owen, SIR RICHARD, comparative anat

omist and paleontologist, was born at Lancaster, England, in 1804, and educated in the Lancaster schools and the medical schools of Edinburgh, Paris and Ovule (o'vül), in botany, a rudimen- London. Having settled in the metropolis, tary seed which requires to be he became assistant curator of the Hunfertilized by pollen before it develops. It terian Museum. In 1834 he was appointed is composed of two sacs, one within professor of comparative anatomy at St. another, which are called primine and Bartholomew's Hospital; in 1836 professecundine sacs, and of a nucleus within sor in anatomy and physiology at the the sacs. At one point, the chalaza, the nucleus, and the two coats come into contact, and here there is a minute orifice crled the foramen or micropyle. See B tany.

Royal College of Surgeons, and in 1856 superintendent of the natural history department in the British Museum, from which last post he retired in 1883. Owen was regarded as having been the greatest

Owen

Owl-Parrot

palæontologist after Cuvier, and as a failures. In his later years Mr. Owen becomparative anatomist a worthy suc- came a firm believer in Spiritualism. His cessor to Hunter. He was a voluminous eldest son, Robert Dale Owen (1801writer on his special subjects, and an 77), for a time resident minister of the honorary fellow of nearly every learned United States at Naples, is chiefly known society of Europe and America. Among as an exponent of spiritualism, on which his works are Lectures on the Compara- subject he wrote several works. Another tive Anatomy of the Invertebrate Ani- son, David Dale Owen (1807-60), acquired reputation as a geologist. Owensboro (o'enz-bur-o), a city, county seat of Daviess Co., Kentucky, on the Ohio River, 114 miles s. w. of Louisville, on the Louisville & Nashville and other railroads. It ranks second in the State in the number of industries, chief of which is tobacco. (1910) 16,011; (1920) 17,424.

Pop.

Owens College (o'enz), Manchester,

was established under the will of John Owens, a Manchester merchant, who died in 1846, and left about £100,000 for the purpose of founding an institution for providing a university education, in which theological and religious subjects should form no part of the instruction given. Teaching commenced in 1851, and the present handsome Gothic building for the accommodation of the college was completed in 1873. The increasing Sir Richard Owen. success of the college led to the establishment of a mals; Lectures on the Comparative Anat- new university, Victoria University, to omy of the Vertebrate Animals; History consist of Owens College and several of British Fossil Mammals and Birds; towns, but having its headquarters in History of British Fossil Reptiles; Prin- Manchester. The Victoria University was ciples of Comparative Osteology; On the instituted by royal charter in 1880, with Anatomy of Vertebrates; The Fossil Rep- power to grant degrees in arts, science tiles of South Africa; The Fossil Mam- and law, a supplemental charter, granted mals of Australia, etc. He died in 1892. May, 1883, giving power to grant deOwen, a theorist, born at Newtown, Liverpool, was incorporated with Victoria University College, ROBERT, philanthropist and so- grees in medicine. Montgomeryshire, North Wales, in 1771; University in 1884, and the Yorkshire died there in 1858. Early distinguished College, Leeds, in 1888. There is a by his business talents, at the age of women's department in connection with eighteen he became manar r of a spinning Owens College, the classes being held in mill at Chorlton, near Manchester, and separate buildings. The charter of Vicsubsequently of the New Lanark cotton toria University gives power to grant demills, belonging to Mr. Dale, a wealthy grees to women, and the examinations Glasgow manufacturer, whose daughter are thrown open to them. he married. Here Owen introduced many Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, on

important reforms, having for their object the improvement of the condition of the laborers in his employ. In 1812 he published New Views of Society, or Essays upon the Formation of Human Character; and subsequently a Book of the New Moral World, in which he completely developed his socialistic views, insisting upon an absolute equality among

men.

city and port of

Georgia Bay, at mouth of Sydenham River. It has a fine, well-protected harbor. Besides being a popular resort it has varied industries, including saw milis, foundries, farm implements, mill machinery, turbine water wheels, and other manufactories. Pop. (1911) 12,558; (1921) 12,190.

He had three opportunities of set- Owhyhee (whe), the same

ting up social communities on his own

plan-one at New Harmony in America, Owlglass

another at Orbiston in Lanarkshire, and

Hawaii.

as

or HOWLEGLASS. See

Eulenspiegel.

the last in 1844. at Harmony Hall in Owl-Parrot (Strigops Hampshire, all of which proved signal

habroptilus),

the type and only known

Owls

Owosso

representative of a peculiar group of the or the hollows of trees; and in these situparrot family, is a large bird, a native ations the nests are constructed. They of the South Pacific Islands, and espec- vary greatly in size, the smallest not beially of New Zealand. In aspect and ing larger than a thrush. In their disin nocturnal habits it resembles the owl. tribution, the owls occur verv generally It feeds on roots, which it digs out of over the habitable globe, both worlds the earth with its hooked beak. It sel- possessing typical representatives of the dom flies; it is generally to be seen rest

ing in hollow stumps and logs, and is said to hibernate in caves.

Owls (oulz), a group of birds forming a well defined family (Strigida), which in itself represents the Nocturnal Section of the order of Raptores or Birds of Prey. The head is large and well covered with feathers, part of which are generally arranged around the eyes in circular discs, and in some species form horn-like tufts on the upper surface of the head. The beak is short, strongly curved and hooked. The ears are generally of large size, prominent, and in many cases provided with a kind of fleshy valve or lid, and their sense of hearing is exceedingly acute. The eyes are very prominent and full, and project forwards, the pupils being especially well developed group. The common white or barn owl -a structure enabling the owls to see (Strix flammea) is the owl which has well at dusk or in the dark. The plumage the greatest geographical range, inhabitis of soft downy character, rendering ing almost every country in the world. their flight almost noiseless. The tarsi The genus Asio contains the so-called are feathered, generally to the very base of the claws, but some forms, especially those of fish-catching habits, have the toes and even the tarsi bare. The toes are arranged three forwards and one backwards; but the cute toe can be turned

Long-eared Owl (Asio otus).

horned owls, distinguished by elongated horn-like tufts of feathers on the head. The long-eared owl (Asio otus or Otus vulgaris) appears to be common to both Europe and America. It inhabits woods. The short-eared owl (Asio accipitrinus or Otus brachyotus) frequents heaths, moors, and the open country generally to the exclusion of woods. It has an enormous geographical range. The eagle owl (Bubo ignavus) occurs in Norway, Sweden and Lapland, and over the continent of Europe to the Mediterranean. A similar species (B. Virginianus) extends over the whole of North America. Owls of diurnal habits are the hawk owl (Surnia) and the snowy owl (Nyctea). The hawk owl mostly inhabits the Arctic regions, but migrates southwards in winter. as does the snowy owl, which is remarkable for its large size and snowy plumage. The little owl (Carine noctua), the bird of Pallas Athena, is spread throughout Barn-owl (Strix flammea). the greater part of Eurone. One of the backwards at will, and the feet thus con- most remarkable of owls is the burrowing verted into hand-like or prehensile or- owl (Athena cunicularia) of the United gans. In habits most species of owls are States and the West Indies, which innocturnal, flying about during the night, habits the burrows of the marmots and preying upon the smaller quadrupeds, (which see), or prairie-dogs. nocturnal insects, and upon the smaller Owosso (o-wos'so), a city of Shiawas birds. Mice in particular form a large see County, Michigan, on Shipart of their food. During the day they awassee River, 78 miles N. W. of Detroit. inhabit the crevices of rocks, the nooks It is the trade center of a wide farming and crannies of old or ruined buildings, region, with extensive sugar-beat interests

Ox

Oxford

and varied manufactures, including furni- and narrow, and the summits dihedral. ture, caskets, screen doors, etc. Pop. They are efflorescent in dry air, but at(1910) 9639; (1920) 12,575. tract a little humidity if it be damp. Ox (oks), the general name of certain They are soluble in water, and their acidwell-known ruminant quadrupeds, ity is so great that, when dissolved in subfamily Bovida (Cavicornia). The 3600 times their weight of water, the characters are: the horns are hollow, solution reddens litmus paper, and is persupported on a bony core, and curved ceptibly acid to the taste. Oxalic acid is outward in the form of crescents; there used chiefly as a discharging agent in are eight incisor teeth in the under jaw, certain styles of calico printing, for but none in the upper; there are no ca- whitening leather, as in boot-tops, and nines or dog-teeth; the naked muffle is for removing ink and iron mould from broad. The species are Bos Taurus, or wood and linen. It is a violent poison. common ox; B. Urus, aurochs, or bison of Oxalates are compounds of oxalic acid Europe; B. Bison, or buffalo of North with bases; one of them, binoxalate of America; B. Bubalus, or proper buffalo potash, is well known as salts of sorrel, of the eastern continent; B. caffer, or or salts of lemon.

Cape buffalo; B. grunniens, or yak of Oxalidaceae (oks-al-i-da'se-e), a nat. Thibet, etc. (See Bison, Buffalo, Yak, order of polypetalous exetc.) The common ox is one of the most ogenous plants, of which the genus Ozālis valuable of our domestic animals. Its or wood-sorrel is the type, comprising flesh is the principal article of animal herbs, shrubs, and trees, remarkable, food; and there is scarcely any part of some of them, for the quantity of oxalic the animal that is not useful to mankind; acid they contain. Some American spethe skin, the horns, the bones, the blood, cies have tuberous edible roots. For two the hair, and the very refuse of all these, species see Blimbing and Carambola. have their separate uses. Having been Oxaluria (oks-al-u'ri-a). a morbid conspecially domesticated by man from a dition of the system, in stock which it is probably impossible to which a prominent symptom is the prestrace, the result has been the formation ence of crystallized oxalate of lime in of very many breeds, races, or permanent the urine.

their flesh and hides, some for the rich

COUNT, a Swedish

varieties, some of which are valued for Oxenstjerna (oks-en-sher'na), AXEL, ness and abundance of their milk, while statesman, born in 1583, studied theology others are in great repute both for beef at Rostock, Wittenberg and Jena; and and milk. The name ox is used also in in 1602, after visiting most of the Gera more restricted sense to signify the man courts, returned to Sweden and male of the bovine genus (Bos Taurus) entered the service of Charles IX. In castrated, and full-grown, or nearly so. 1608 he was admitted into the senate; The young castrated male is called a and on the accession of Gustavus Adolsteer. He is called an ox-calf or bull-calf phus, in 1611, he was made chancellor. until he is a year old, and a steer until He accompanied Gustavus Adolphus durhe is four years old. The same animal ing his campaigns in Germany, taking not castrated is called a bull. Besides charge of all diplomatic affairs; and on the European ox there are several other the fall of his master at Lützen (1632) varieties, as the Indian or zebu, with a he was recognized, at a congress assemhump on its back, the Abyssinian, Mada- bled at Heilbronn, as the head of the gascar and South African. Protestant League. This league was held Oxalic Acid (oks-al'ik), an acid together and supported solely by his inwhich occurs, combined fluence and wisdom, and in 1636 he resometimes with potassium or sodium, at turned to Sweden after an absence of ten other times with calcium, in wood-sorrel years, laid down his extraordinary (Oxalis Acetosella) and other plants; powers, and took his seat in the senate and also in the animal body, especially in as chancellor of the kingdom and one of urine, in urinary deposits, and in cal- the five guardia. 3 of the queen. In 1645 culi. Many processes of oxidation of he assisted in the negotiations with Denorganic bodies produce this substance. mark at Bromesbro, and on his return Thus sugar, starch, cellulose, etc., yield was created count by Queen Christina, Oxalic acid when fused with caustic pot- whose determination to abdicate the ash, or when treated with strong nitric crown he strongly but unsuccessfully opacid. Saw-dust is very much used for posed. He died in 1654. producing the acid. Oxalic acid has the Ox-eye. See Chrysanthemum. formula CaH2O; it is a solid substance,

which crystallizes in four-sided prisms, Oxford (oks'férd), a city and county the sides of which are alternately broad borough in England, capital of