ONAGRACEAE 



kiang and the African wild asses in 

 its smaller size, sandy-coloured 

 hair, shorter legs, and narrower 

 ears. It has a black stripe down the 

 centre of the back, and occasion- 

 ally it is striped on the shoulders 

 and legs. See Ass. 



Onagraceae. Natural order, 

 chiefly of herbs, mostly natives of 

 the temperate regions. They have 

 regular flowers, consisting of a two 

 or four-lobed calyx and two or four 

 petals. The fruits are seed-cap- 

 sules or berries, the latter as a rule 

 being edible. Well-known genera 

 are fuchsia, evening primrose 

 (Oenothera), and willow-herb (Epi- 

 lobium). They are of little econo- 

 mic importance. 



Oncidium. Extensive genus of 

 epiphytes of the natural order Or- 

 chidaceae, natives of tropical 

 America and the West Indies. With 

 a few exceptions, they have pseudo- 

 bulbs from which the leaves pro- 

 ceed. As a rule the flowers are large 

 and showy, borne in sprays or clus- 

 tered in spikes, but a few have soli- 

 tary, long-stalked flowers. 



Onega. River of Russia. Rising 

 in Lake Lacha, it flows N.E. and 

 then N.W. into the Gulf of Onega. 

 In length about 245 m., it runs 

 parallel with Lake Onega, about 

 200 m. to the E. There are also a 

 town and a gulf of this name. The 

 town, in the govt. of Archangel, 

 stands at the mouth of the river, 

 and the gulf is an arm of the White 

 Sea, with a length of 80 m. 



Onega. Lake of N.W. Russia, 

 the second largest in Europe. It is 

 in the govt. of Olonets, between the 

 White Sea and Lake Ladoga, with 

 which it communicates by means 

 of the Svir. Its length is 145 m. and 

 average breadth 40 m. It contains 

 numerous islands and an abun- 

 dance of fish, and is connected by 

 the Vytegra with the Mariinskaya 

 canal-system, and the Onega canal 

 has been constructed along its S. 

 shore to avoid the difficulties of 

 navigation. In June-Aug., 1919, 

 fighting took place around it 

 between the Allies and the Bol- 

 shevists. See Murman Expedition. 



Onehunga. Town and port of 

 North Island, New Zealand. On 

 Manukau Harbour, it is the W. out- 

 let for Auckland, 7 m. away. It is 

 proposed to join the two ports by a 

 canal. Woollen mills, shipping, and 

 the export of timber and farm pro- 

 duce are its important industries 

 Pop. 5,900. 



Oneida. Lake of New York, 

 U.S.A. It lies about 12 m. N. of 

 Syracuse, and is 24 m. long and 5 

 m. broad. The Oneida river drains 

 it to the Oswego river, a feeder 

 of Lake Ontario. Sylvan Beach, 

 on the E. side of the. lake, is a 

 favourite holiday resort 



5846 



Oneida. City of New York, 

 U.S.A., hi Madison co. It stands on 

 Oneida Creek, 26 m. E. of Syracuse, 

 and is served by the New York, On- 

 tario, and Western, and the New 

 York Central rlys. It contains a 

 high school, and has canneries, iron- 

 works, carriage, wagon, furniture, 

 and cigar factories, and flour mills. 

 Oneida was settled in 1834, incor- 

 porated in 1848, and chartered as a 

 city in 1901. Pop. 10,500. 



Oneida Community. Com- 

 munistic society originally founded 

 in Vermont, U.S.A., by John Hum- 

 phrey Noyes, and restarted at 

 Oneida, Madison co., New York, 

 1847. It has a religious basis, 

 Noyes alleging N.T. authority for 

 the doctrine that selflessness could 

 be attained by holding all things in 

 common. Even marriage was not 

 a permanent relation in the com- 

 munity, but Noyes expressly dis- 

 claimed free love doctrines. Gov- 

 ernment was carried on by means 

 of a system of mutual criticism. In 

 deference to outside opinion the 

 Oneida theory of marriage was 

 given up in 1879, the community 

 was dissolved, and in 1881 it was 

 reorganized as a cooperative limited 

 company. See The Berean, J. H. 

 Noyes, "1847 ; The Oneida Com- 

 munity, A. Eastlake, 1900 ; Ameri- 

 can Communities and Co-operative 

 Colonies, W. A. Hinds, 1908. 



O'Neill, EUGENE GLADSTONE 

 (b. 1888). American playwright. 

 Born in New York, Oct. 16, 1888, 

 he was edu- 

 c a t e d at 

 Princeton and 

 Harvard uni- 

 versities, en- 

 gaged in busi- 

 n e s s in the 

 U.S.A. and S. 

 America, and 

 spent two 

 Eugene O'Neill, years at sea, 

 American playwright an experience 

 which provided much material for 

 his dramatic work. He became 

 known as a promising dramatist by 

 his one-act play, Thirst. 1914. His 

 other works include In the Zone, 

 1918, produced at the Everyman 

 Theatre, London, 1921 ; The Moon 

 of the Caribbees, 1919; Beyond the 

 Horizon, 1919. 



O'Neill, SHANE (c. 1530-67). 

 Irish chieftain. Son of Con O'Neill, 

 1st earl of Tyrone (c. 1484-c. 1559), 

 he was excluded from the succes- 

 sion by his father in favour of 

 Matthew, his brother, possibly 

 illegitimate, whom he murdered in 

 1558. He resisted the government 

 of the earl of Sussex, but was 

 recognized by Elizabeth as heir 

 to Tyrone, visiting London in 

 1562. His remaining years were 

 spent in fierce wars and harryings 



ONION 



in the N., chiefly against the-Scots 

 settlers in Antrim and the O'Don- 

 nells. With a traitor's price on 

 his head, he was murdered, June 2, 

 1567, by the MacDonnells, whom 

 he defeated at Ballycastle in 1565. 



Onesimus. Christian convert. 

 He was a slave who ran away from 

 Philemon at Colossae and made 

 his way to Rome. There he met 

 S. Paul, who converted him to 

 Christianity and sent him back to 

 his master with a letter, the Epistle 

 to Philemon (q.v.), and also men- 

 tioned him when writing to the 

 church at Colossae. 



One-Step. American dance, 

 popular also in England, where it 

 was introduced about 1910, and in 

 France. In the U.S.A. it is also 

 known as the Castle Walk, after 

 the dancing-master who invented 

 it. It is virtually a running walk, 

 performed to rag-time music. See 

 Dancing. 



One Thousand Guineas. 

 Second of the five classic English 

 horse-races. It is for three-year-old 

 fillies, and is run annually at New- 

 market over the Rowley mile on 

 the Friday of the first spring meet- 

 ing. The race was founded in 18.14. 

 See Horse-racing. 



Ongar. Market town of Essex, 

 England. In full Chipping Ongar, 

 it is on the Roding, 23 m. from 

 London, with a station on the G.E. 

 Rly. There was a castle here in the 

 Middle Ages, and of it a few traces 

 remain. High Ongar is a village 

 near. Market d&y, Sat. Pop. 1,400. 



Onion (Allium). Hardy bulbous 

 plant of the natural order Liliaceae. 

 The plants are perennial, though 

 onions and leeks for edible purposes 

 are raised annually from seed. 

 Native of Asia, A. cepa is the 

 parent species of the garden onion, 

 and has been cultivated for ages. 



The onion requires a light, loamy 

 soil, richly manured. The seed 

 should be sown in rows about 12 ins. 

 apart early in spring, covered only 

 lightly, and the surface of the 

 soil beaten down hard and firmly. 



Onion. Varieties in common use. 

 1. Long-keeping. 2. White Span- 

 ish. 3. Giant Rocca. 4. Blood red 



By courtesy of Sulton & Sons 



