OLEASTER 



OLIBANUM 



the south of France as a wash to cure cutaneous 

 maladie*. A', wlurnfinn, an Indian species, has 

 larger flower*, which are very fragrant. .V. /'*- 

 cutium (or sclutilum pisciiliinii), a ]>erennial 



B 



Common Oleander (Atrium oleander], 



climber, a native of the Khasia Hills, lias a very 

 tilirous lark, the fibre of which is used in India 

 a8 hemp. The steeping of the stems in poods kills 



fish. 



OI-;ixt<T. See EL^AGNTS. 



Ole Bull. SecHi-M. 



Olcfiant <as or KTIIYI.KXK, ''11,. is the 

 most abundant illuminating constituent in coal- 

 gas. It may IN- oliiaincil by tin- destructive dis- 

 tillation of coal, hut more readily by the action of 

 sulphuric acid on alcohol. It is a colourless ga 

 with a faint odour, lint little soluble in water or 

 alcohol. It may U- lii|iiefied by cold and pressure. 

 With air it forms a ]M>werfully explosive mixture, 

 which, on Ix-ing hnrncd, yields water and carlNmic 

 acid gas. When mixed with an equal volume of 

 chlorine, and kept cool and in the dark, the- two 

 i!Rne* unite, with the production of drops of an oily 

 iiipiid calleil Diitcli Liquid (f|.v. ). 



OleflllOS. See HVDltiiCARBONS. 



Oli'lc Arid i- one of the acids present in olive, 

 almonil, and other oils, in which it is united to 

 glycerine. At temperatures alo\e :,~ ( ]4' C.) it 

 exists an a colourless limpid fluid, of an oily con- 

 si-tcnce, devoid of smell and taste, and (if it has 

 not leen ex|x>sed to air) exerting no aetion on 

 Me colour*. At 40 (4 - 4 C.) it solidities into 

 a tirm, white, crystalline moss, and in this state it 

 undergoes no change in the air; hut when tluid it 



readily absorbs oxygen. IN-C es yellow ami ram-id, 



ami exhihits a strong acid reaction with litmus 

 po|n-r. It i^ vi-ry dillicult to olitain the aciil in a 

 state of purity, in cou>c<|iieiice of the readiness 

 with which it oxidises. It is ohmim-d in a crude 

 form, as a secondary product, in the manufacture 

 of sN-niin can-Mo : I, lit when the pure acid is 

 r|iiircd a lengthy process, starting with almoml 

 oil. must IM- adopt. ,). olcic acid forms normal (or 

 neutral) and acid salts; hut the first compounds of 

 this class that reunite notice me the normal salts 

 of t hi- alkalic*. These are all soluble, and hy the 

 evaporation of their aqueous solution form *<</. 

 Oleate of potash forum a soft soap, which is the 

 chief ingredient in Naples soap; while ideate of 

 wxla i* a hard soap, which enters largely into the 

 composition of .M:HH.-I||<MI soap. Of recent years a 

 large number of oleates have come into "use in 



medicine, which di-|ien<l for their activity on the 

 remarkable ease with which they are ahsorl>cd 1/y 

 the skin. Such are the oleates of /inc. mercury, 

 lead, tin, morphia, &<., which, in this form, pro- 

 duce more rapid results than when applied as oint- 

 ments. 



Olcin is a compound of oleic acid with gl 

 ine, and constitutes the bulk of olive-oil. Along 

 with it are associated stearin ami palniitin. 

 similar compounds of stearic and palmitic acids 

 with glycerine. See FATS. 



Oh'lllis. a genus of Cambrian trilohites highly 

 characteristic of the np|>er iiM-mlM-rs of the system. 



Oleograph. This is n name given to an 

 ordinary cliromo- lithograph which has been 

 ' roughed ' after printing, mounted on canva*, 

 and varnished so as to imitate an oil-painting. 



Sec I.ITH()(iKA|-IIY. 



Oleoinarttariiio. See BITTER. 



OlMlllft>r. or Ki.AiuMKTKii. an areometer or 

 balance for ascertaining the densities of fixed oils. 

 It consists of a very delicat*' thermometer tul>e, 

 the liull> U-ing large in pni|Hirtion to the stem, j 

 weighteil and graduated an to adapt it to t In- 

 tensities of the leading fixed oils. On the s<-ale is 

 marked the principal oils of commerce, with their 

 specific gravity opjiosite. The standard tempera- 

 ture of the oleonicter is .">!> 1'. Those in general 

 use are (lobby's and Lefebre's oleomcici- l-'i-hei's 

 oil-balance, and I iiix's areometer for lighter liquids. 



Ol^ron (anc. Uliarns), an island lying 2 to 10 

 miles oil' the west coast of France, ami forming 

 part of the department of Charente-lnfcrieure. It 

 is 10 miles long by about 5 broad, and is unusually 

 fertile. Pop. IT.T'J'. mostly I'roiestants. On Oleron 

 are the port of l,e Chateau, and the small towns of 

 St I'ierre d'Olcron and Si (iconics d'Oh'-ron. 



'J'/i'r I.uim nr ,1 iiiliinifiits nf dlfron were a code of 

 maritime law compiled at the instance of Kleanor 

 of (iuiennc lieforc she married Henry II. of Kng- 

 land, miKlelli'd on the ]tv<ik of the 'Consulate of 

 the Sea (a maritime code regulating commerce in 

 the Levant), but drawn from the decisions of the 

 maritime court of Olcron, in the duchy of (iuieniie. 

 It was intended for the use of mariners in tin- 

 Atlantic waters, was introduced into F.ngland in the 

 end of the 12th century and into I-'landers in the 

 Kith. The usages and decisions upon which it was 

 based were those observed in the \\ine and oil trade 

 ln-t \vecn lluienne ami the ports of England, Nor- 

 mandy, and Flanders. An English translation was 

 published as Bntti i-u/'th, .sv,i, by T. 1'etytin 1530. 

 Bee IN i I.IIN inOHAii LAW. 



Oljja, ST, a saint of the llus-ian Church, wife of 

 the Scandinavian ( Varangian I HuUe Igor of KiefV, 

 who, after her husband's death (940), governed 

 during the minority of her son. till !>r>3. There- 

 after she repaired to Constantinople, and was 

 baptised, assuming the name of Helena, lleturn- 

 ing to Kus-ia, she lalKiured with much -al for the 

 propagation of her new creed. After her death 

 -he wa canonised, and is now held ill high 

 veneration in the Russian Church. Her festival i 

 held on July '.'I. 



Olili aillllll. a gum resin which flows from 

 incisions in several s|>ccics of Itoswi-llia. gniwing 

 on hare limestone lock- in tin- mountains of 

 Somali Land and the south of Arabia. These 

 trees semi their roots to a great depth into the 

 crevices of the rock (see Itusu I.I.I.IA ; and an 

 exhaustive memoir on this gum -resin 1>\ Sir t ieorge 

 Birdwood, published in the l.iinmiii 'l'niiixi<i-tiiin.i, 

 xxvii. p. 111). Olibanum is the /.'/<//( <if the 

 Hehicvs. Lilmnoa or Lilmnoto* of the Greeks, 

 T/IHX of the Homans, of all whii-h terms the ordinary 

 English translation w Frankincense. (i[. .-.). It 



