<>. MM I. MiI-S 



ONION 



OinmiadM. See CALIF. 



Omnibuses, vehicles for all,' the well-knowi 

 public conveyances. S.i Inn-; since as lliti'J Illatsi 

 nMl, tin- author of the l.rttn* l'i "fmdalc* 



Mbted 1'V soi lohlemcn. obtained ii patent fron 



tlie French king for tin; privilege of running pulilii 

 coaches, containing six per-on-.. each along certiiii 

 streets of Paris, anil preserving it.s own route, lo 

 liv sous |>pr passenger. For two vein's the schcmi 

 proved a great success, luit tin- death of Pascal am 



other canoes occasioned its disUSO. TIlC lil.st ollllli 



bus, built in Paris in Is-.'o, w.-is drawn by tine. 

 horses, anil soon IN-CAIIIC |H>pular. Paris lias also 

 an excellent system of railway buses to contaii 

 eight passengers in-idc ; ||,,. EnglUb railways have 

 rwantiv followed this practice. In England at tlie 

 begimuna of the tilth century stage-coaches were 



used hy business to reach London firnii its 



suburbs. These were succeeded by th<; omnibuses 

 started in London, July LS2SI, hy Mr Shillibeer, 

 formerly a coaehniaker in Paris, and were drawn l>\ 

 three horses, com c\- in;; twi'iity-two penons inside. 

 Smaller and more convenient btUMWera introdiiceil 

 in 1S4!I, which conveyed twelve passengers inside 

 and two out. Outside seats along the centre of the 

 roof followed in 1837, and tlie vehicle was sub 

 sequcntly inncli improved upon l>y Mr Miller ol 

 Hammersmith. Large ommlxuet are in use in 

 GtlMgOW and Manchester and other large towns, 

 and the Ume-hoTM oninilnis wits re introduced in 

 London on the route from Charing Cross to Port- 

 land Koad. Many recent improvements have l>een 

 made in the arrangement of seats outside facing 

 forward, the greater accommodation of the in- 

 terior, and the lightness of the vehicle. The 

 London General Omnibus Company, founded in 

 lvV>, took over 580 omnibuses. In 1891 it had 

 800 omnibuses, employing !MKX) horses and 3000 

 men. Each tms runs alnmt 12 miles daily. The 

 company build for their own use ahout 90 or 100 

 buses annually. The average weight of an omnibus 

 is 30 c\vt., and tin- cost aUmt 1'I50. The mop. 

 recent London Koad Car Company, whose opposi- 

 tion to the older company has resulted in a great 

 reduction of fares, runs '217 buses, ami employs 

 Jijl'.l horses. The average charge per mile by bus 

 i- Ics., than Id. 



Omnium, JACOB. See HIOOINS. 



OmphacltC (Gr. omjilwkv, 'unripe grape"), a 

 pnms.greei, granular variety of the Pyroxenes 

 (q.v.), one of the constituents of Eclogite (q.v.). 



Oinphale. See HERCULES. 



Omsk. chief town of the Russian province of 

 Akmolinsk, stands at the < Ambience of the Om 

 with the lrii-.li, 1800 miles E. of Moseow. It was 

 built in I71ti as a defence against die Kirghiz; 

 but is now of no importance as a fortress. It is 

 tie seat of administration for the Steppe provinces 

 of western Asia. It has a military academy, a 

 liieek and a Koman Catholic cathedral, a museum, 

 governor's jKilace, A..'., and a declining trade with 

 Kirghi/. in cattle, hides, furs, and tea. Pop. 

 I lss7).-i:i.H47; < I Nii.1 (54,750. 



Oil. Se,- ilu.lnroLIS. 



Onntcrr. See Ass, BALLISTA. 

 On:iur:iri-:i-. OVAOKAIII.*:, or fExoTHF.R- 



;;, a natural order of exogenous jilants, con 

 fi-ting chiefly of herbaceous plant", but including 

 a No a few shriilh. ; with simple leaves and axillary 

 or terminal lloweis. There are al>ut 4.VI known 

 C|HH-ics, natjvi-- chiefly of li-mperate i-limates. among 

 which are mime much cultivated for the Ix-aiity of 

 their lloweis, ii.-titicularly tho-e of the genera 

 Fuchsia. (KnotlK'ia (Evening Primrose). Chirkia, 

 and (lodetio. The l!iiiili genera are Epilobium 

 (Willowhcrh) and Circa-a (Enchanter's Night- 



shade). A few s|xx-ies priMtuce edible Iwrries, 

 and the riHpts of one or two are eatahle ; but none 

 are of economic importance. The root of Ixnurtlti 

 ultrrnifolia, found in the marshes of Carolina, and 



called l:,iii-inilii'x //'/../. i> emetic. Some speci- 



Jus~ia-a an- nseil in dyeing in llra/il. 



Olie'jrn. a seajioi [ in the north of Kussia, stands 

 at the |i.ijnt where the river Onega empties into 

 the White Sea, 87 miles S\V. of Archangel. It is 

 entered by aliout 120 vessels annually of a gross 

 burden of 21,000 tons. Pop. 2547. 



Onega, LAKE, in the north of Russia, after 



Ladoga, to the north-east of which it lies, the 

 largest lake in Europe, is 50 niib>> in greatest 

 breadth, 140 miles in length, ami 1000 feet in depth 

 in parts. Area, 3764 sq. m. It is fed by numerous 

 rivers; hut its only outlet is the river Swir, which 

 flows south-west into Lake Ladoga. The northern 

 end is studded with islands and deeply indented 

 with hays. The shores in other parts ;m . Hat and 

 low and regular. Although the water is ice ]mnd 

 generally for 156 days in the vear. the lake is the 

 scene of busy trallic at oilier sea-ons. Communica- 

 tion is promoted by a canal cut parallel to tlie 

 southern shore. Fish abound. Mirages are fre- 

 quent at times. Smveys were completed in ISIKI 

 for a canal to connect Lake Onega with the White 

 Sea; it will I* 145 miles long, 10 feet deep, and 

 63 wide, and is exj>ccted to cost only 800,000, the 

 greater part of the distance being along natural 

 waterways. 



Oiu'iilia. a town on the Gulf of Genoa, 3 miles 

 NE. of Porto Mauri/.io by rail. Pop. 7286. 

 Oiieidn Company. See PERFECTIONISTS. 



OlU'idas (Indians). See IliiH.ii-in.s. 



O'XHJ, Hn:n. SeeTvRosK (E.VKi. OK). 



Onion (Fr. <'</), from Lat. unto, 'a pearl,' 

 but in Coluiuelhi signifying a kind of onion), the 

 name given to a few species of the genus Allium 

 (q.v.), and particularly to .-). ri'/at ( I. at. ,./,), a 

 biennial bulbous rooted plant. The bulb is simple, 

 and in the common variety is solitary, showing 

 little tendency to produce lateral bulbs. The native 

 country of the onion is shrouded in obscurity. It 

 is supposed to be indigenous to India, whence it 

 passed into Egypt, where it was cultivated 2000 

 years before the ( 'hristian era. Thence probably it 

 was transmitted to Greece and Italy, and gradually 

 spread over Europe, in most countries of which it 

 :ias Ix-en cultivated from time immemorial. The 

 mion contains a white acrid volatile oil, holding 

 suliihur in solution, albumen, uncrystallisable sugar 

 ind mucilage, phosphoric acid, both free and com- 

 bined with lime, acetic acid, citrate of lime, and 

 ignin. The acrid qualities, while present in every 

 jiartof the plant, are mo*t concentrated in the bull). 

 \\hen it is cultivated in warm countries the acri- 

 lity dccica>es, while the sacchai inc qualities in- 

 re.-ise ; hence the comparative mildness of Spanish 

 i nd 1'ortnguese on ions. So mild and sweet are these 

 hat the peasantry of Spain and Portugal cat them 



aw with bread. Ind I. tl nion forms a very 



mportant article of food with the ]mor of those 



countries. It is very nutritious and easily digested. 



et does not agree with all stomachs when cooked 



ilheiwise than Uiilcd. In Ixiiling, the essential oil 



s dissipated and the onion thereby rendered more 



grceahlc to delicate stomachs. The onion is 



tiniuliint, diuretic, expectorant, and i tibcfacient. 



'he acid of the juice has the reputation of dis- 



<olving calculus in the bladder. The pulp of the 



mil) by fci mentation is converted into vinegar, and 



yith the addition of dregs of Ix-er \ ields by distilla- 



ion an alcoholic liquor. The pulp of roasted onion 



\itli olive-fiil forms an excellent anodyne and eiiiol- 



lent poultice to suppurating tumours. There are 



