OIL BEETLE 



lard, and margin-in.-, 

 .,000; total, l:a<>7-',iNKt. 

 Oil . \iiiiniil, 



Vegetable, Kential and .Mm.-r.il, 

 \ Milrli.-ll. ll"i; IVtr..ltMim. 

 li. Redwood, :tnl .-,1. iu:i : ml 

 . < Production. I: II. .I|HI-<II 

 ui.| !..(}. Huntley, 1910 ; Petroleum 

 . A. Campbell, 1018; 

 Popular Oil Oology, V. / 

 1920 ; Animnl nnd Vegetable Oil*. 

 -..1 \Vn\e*. C. Mi ii -I in, 1920 ; 

 Oil Fuel. !:. Hutli-r. Itli <!. 1921. 



Oil Beetle. Family of beetles 

 possessing an apparent " neck " 

 between head and thorax. The 



1 



Oil Beetle. Male and, right, female of Meloe violacea 



name is especially applied to the 

 genus Meloe, of which Great 

 Britain possesses seven species. 

 When alarmed, a reddish oily 

 fluid exudes from the joints of their 

 legs, probably serving as a defence 

 against enemies. The larvae are 

 parasites in the nests of wild bees. 

 See Beetle, colour plate. 



Oilcake. Term originally 

 applied to linseed cake (q.v.). It 

 is now used also for other kinds of 

 cake rich in oil. See Coconut Cake ; 

 Cotton Cake; Earth-nut Cake; 

 Palm-nut Cake ; Rape Cake. 



Oil City. City of Pennsylvania, 

 U.S.A., in Venango co. It stands 

 on the Allegheny river, 130 in. l>y 

 rly. N. by E. of Pittsburg, and is 

 served by the Pennsylvania and 

 other rlys. Its buildings include 

 the city hospital and the Standard 

 Oil Co.'s building. Situated in tin- 

 Pennsylvania oil region, it is con- 

 cerned chiefly with the refining of 

 petroleum. Settled in 1825, Oil 

 City was incorporated in 1803 and 

 chartered as a city in 1871. Oil 

 was first discovered in the locality 

 in 1859. Pop. 21,300. 



Oilcloth. Name given to a 

 type of floor covering. It consists 

 of coarse canvas coated on both 

 sides with a thick oil paint. Tin- 

 canvas is prepared for the paint 

 by passing it through lii|ii<l 

 glue, varnish, etc., pressing be- 

 tween heavy rollers, drying, and 

 nibbing with pumice-stone. The 

 paint is applied in a number of 

 coats, each being smoothed with 

 pumice-stone, and the final pattern 

 applied by machinery in 

 analogous to printing. The quality 

 of the oilcloth depends chiefly upon 

 thenumberof scparatecoateof paint 

 applied. See Floorcloth ; Linoleu m. 



P83I 



Oil Engine. Name given to 

 a type of internal combustion 

 engine. The term in chiefly used for 

 those engine* which bum heavy 

 oil, requiring special heating or 

 spraying arrangement* in order 

 to make them vaporise and form 

 the explosive mixture, I.i-Jit <>il, 

 MO I petroleum, is easily 

 vaporised at atmospheric tern- 

 peratures. The heavy oil may be 

 vaporised either in the cylinder, 

 or outside it. All heavy oil engines 

 work on principle** similar to those 

 descrUed under Internal Com- 



Dilution Engine, the 



* chief difference 

 J being in the me- 

 thods necessary to 

 vaporise the oil 

 before an explo- 

 sive mixture can 

 be formed in tin- 

 cylinder. The oil 

 is usually forced 

 under pressure 

 through a spraying 

 nozzle, mixed with hot air, when 

 it becomes vaporised ready for 

 exploding by the ordinary electric 

 spark. See Diesel Engine ; Internal 

 Combustion Engine ; Locomotive. 

 Oilfield. Term used to describe 

 a region of the earth which yi-M- 

 mineral oil, whether directly in the 

 liquid form, or contained in oil-bear- 

 ing rocks. See Baku ; Petroleum. 

 Oil-gas. Gas obtained by the 

 dry distillation of oil. Of high 

 luminosity in a compressed form, 

 it was supplied in London in 1815 

 as an illuminant. It was made by 

 Taylor's patent, and it was from 

 the liquid hydrocarbons, which 

 separated out from oil-gas when 

 compressed, that Faraday first pre- 

 pared benzene, a discovery which 

 laid the foundation of the aniline 

 colour industry. Coal - gas being 

 much cheaper than oil-gas, its 

 manufacture was discontinued, 

 until revived by Pintsch, in 1871, 

 for illuminating carriages. 



Oil Palm (Elaeig guineensu). 

 Tree of the natural order Palmae, 

 n.-uive of W. Africa. It grows to a 



\t 



I 





Oil Palm. Crown of leather-like foliate, 

 ituet, part o! trait htad 



OIK 



'f about 30 ft., with a stoat 

 stem bearing at ite extremity a 

 crown of magnaVent feather-like 

 leaves, 15 ft. long. The male and 

 female flowers are borne twually 

 by separate tree*, bat sometimes 

 on the same tree. The bright red 

 fruit*, which yield palm oil. form 

 large, oval beadsi The oil ie ob- 

 tained principally from the ex- 

 ternal fleshy coat, by boiling the 

 fruits in water, and skimming the 

 orange-red butter-like fat off the 

 surface. The seed, which is en- 

 closed in a hard shell, also yields 

 oil under pressure. It is used as 

 a lubricant and also in the 

 making of margarine. 



Oil Riven Protectorate. Name 

 formerly applied to the coastal 

 district* in t.ie estuary of the Niger. 

 In 1885 the Berlin Conference 

 acknowledged that a British Protec- 

 torate had been virtually esUbUahed 

 over these regions, and an order in 

 council defined the boundaries of 

 the territory. The British com- 

 missioner was stationed at Old 

 Calabar. In 1893 the Oil Rivers 

 Protectorate became part of the 

 Niger Coast Protectorate, after- 

 wards the Protectorate of S. 

 Nigeria. See Nigeria. 



Oil Shale. Name given to shale 

 which contains petroleum. The 

 oil is not, in general, present in 

 sufficient quantities to make it 

 commercially profitable to ex- 

 tract. There are extensive oil shale 

 deposits in N. America, notably in 

 Utah and New Brunswick, and 

 deposits are worked in Scotland, 

 France, and New South Wales. 

 See Oil; Shale. 



Ointment. Preparation con- 

 suiting of an active drug mixed 

 with a fatty substance, intended to 

 be applied to an external surface. 

 The substances most frequently 

 used as the basis of an ointment 

 are lard, olive oil, wax, paraffin, 

 and hydrous wool fat. 



Oise. Dept. of France. In the 

 N. of the country, its area is 2,272 

 sq. m. The surface is hilly, and 

 across the dept. flows the Oise. 

 Other rivers are the Aisne, Breche, 

 Nonette, and Ourcq. The soil is 

 fertile. Wheat and other cereals 

 are grown, cattle are reared, and 

 there are many dairy farms. Here 

 .-IP' the forests of Chant illy and 

 Compline. The chief town is 

 Beauvais ; others are Chant illy. 

 Noyon. Clermont, Compiegne, 

 (Veil, and Senlia. Partly overrun 

 liy t he ( ;. nnans in Aug. -Sept., 1914, 

 and again in .June -Oct., 1918, there 

 was furious tiuhtin^ in the dept. at 

 l.oth time". 1'op. 411.000. J- 



Oise. Kiver of France. Rising 

 near Chiinay. in the Ardennes, in 

 lU-L'ium, it enters France, and after 

 flowing past Guise receives the 



