OSSIFICATION 



589O 



OSTEND 



was lured away by the daughter of 

 the king of the Land of Youth, 

 where he spent 300 years, and on 

 his return became old and decrepit. 

 Meeting S. Patrick, he recounted 

 the events of the past to him. See 

 Finn ; Gaelic Language and Litera- 

 ture ; Macpherson, James ; consult 

 also the Poems of Ossian, J 

 Macpherson, new ed., 1896 ; Ossian 

 and the Ossianic Literature, A T. 

 Nutt, 1899. 



Ossification. Formation of 

 bone. Natural ossification is the 

 process by which the cartilage 

 formed in the developing organism 

 in ulero is gradually converted 

 into bone, and the primitive tissue 

 of the skull is formed into the 

 bones of the skull. Ossification 

 also occurs in the process of repair 

 of fractured bones, a mass of new 

 bony tissue called callus being 

 formed between and around the 

 broken surfaces. In certain diseases 

 of the joints ossification of tissue 

 occurs, and in extreme cases the 

 articular surfaces may become 

 firmly united, and all movement 

 in the joint lost. See Bone. 



Ossington, JOHN EVELYN DENI- 

 SON, VISCOUNT (1800-73). British 

 politician. Born at Ossington, 

 N o 1 1 ingham- 

 shire, Jan. 27, 

 1800, and edu- 

 cated at Eton 

 and Christ 

 Church, O x- 

 ford, in 1823 

 he became 

 Whig M.P. for 

 Newcastle- 

 under - Lyme. 



Speaker of the 



Viscpunt Ossington, 



British politician 



After si a ur 



House of Commons, 1857-72, when 

 he retired and was created Vis- 

 count Ossington. The title became 

 extinct on his death, March 7, 

 1873. The Speaker's Commentary 

 on the Bible was brought out at 

 his suggestion. 



Ossining. Village of New York, 

 U.S.A., in Winchester co. Situated 

 on Tappan Bay, on the Hudson 

 river, 30 m. N. of New York City, 

 it is served by the New York 

 Central and Hudson River rly. 

 Just S. of the village is the Sing 

 Sing state prison. Ossining was 

 settled about 1700, and was incor- 

 porated in 1813. Formerly known 

 as Sing Sing, its name was changed 

 in 1901. Pop. 10,700. 



Ossory. Name of an old Irish 

 kingdom. It existed for nearly 

 1000 years, falling to pieces just 

 before the English conquest of 

 Ireland in the 12th century. It was 

 part of the modern province of 

 Leinster, roughly that now covered 

 by King's County, Queen's County, 

 Kilkenny, and Carlow. In 1527 



Piers Butler, afterwards 8th earl 

 of Ormonde, was created earl of 

 Ossory, and the title is still borne 

 by the marquess of Ormonde. 

 Ossory is the name of a bishopric 

 in the R.C. and Anglican churches, 

 both cathedrals being at Kilkenny. 

 Ossovietz. Town and fortress 

 of Poland, also known as Osowiec. 

 It is on the river Bobr, 30 m. N.W. 

 of Bielostok. Its position in the 

 valley of the river, dominating 

 railways and important roads, 

 rendered it of strategic importance 

 during the Great War. 



The Germans first laid siege to 

 Ossovietz, Sept. 25, 1914, but the 

 swampy ground prevented them 

 from bringing up their heavy guns, 

 and a direct assault was impractic- 

 able. After bombarding the place 

 for four days, having suffered con- 

 siderably at the hands of the gar- 

 rison, they withdrew on Oct. 1-2. 

 The second siege began in Feb., 

 1915. The Russians were again re- 

 treating from East Prussia to the 

 line of the Bobr, and foiled in an 

 attempt to turn the fortress, the 

 Germans again besieged it. Heavy 

 frost had made the terrain firm 

 ground, and able now to bring up 

 their heavy guns, they began to 

 bombard it on Feb. 25. The con- 

 crete of the forts, however, with- 

 stood continual shelling, and on 

 March 21, 1915, the Germans re- 

 moved some of their batteries, and 

 the bombardment died down. In 

 April they made further efforts to 

 take the fortress, but with no better 

 success. 



With the loss of Kovno, on Aug. 

 19, 1915, the main Russian defence 

 of the Niemen was gone, and 

 Ossovietz on the Bobr formed a 

 salient. By this time the Russians 

 in the centre were retreating all 

 along the line, and the evacuation 

 of Brest Litovsk was in contem- 

 plation. In these circumstances 

 there was a withdrawal, and on 

 Aug. 20 Ossovietz was abandoned 

 to the Germans. 



Ostade, ADRIAN VAN (1610-85). 

 Dutch painter. Born at Haarlem, 

 he studied under Frans Hals (q.v.), 

 and spent the 

 whole of his 

 life at Haar- 

 lem, dying 

 there April 

 27, 1685. A 

 prolific painter 

 of peasant 

 genre, he was 

 influenced in 

 Adrian van Ostade, turn by Adrian 

 Dutch painter Brouwer and 

 Rembrandt. His brother Isaac 

 (1621-49) painted landscapes. 



Osteitis. Inflammation of com- 

 pact bone. The term osteomyelitis 

 is used when the central or 



medullary cavity of the long bone 

 is involved. The commonest cause 

 is injury to the bone, with or with- 

 out an open wound. An acute 

 inflammation of the bone some- 

 times occurs in sickly children, 

 and may follow scarlet fever. 

 Chronic inflammation may follow 

 an acute attack of inflammation 

 or tuberculosis or syphilis. 



Ostend (Flemish, Oostende), 

 Town of Belgium, in the prov. of 

 W. Flanders. It lies in flat country 

 on the N. Sea 

 coast, 14 m. W. 

 of Bruges, with 

 which it is con- 

 nected by rly. 

 and canal. Ostend 

 is the principal 

 sea-bathing resort 

 of Belgium, 

 Ostend arms attracting visitors 

 from many countries, and has a 

 large kursaal, racecourse, theatres, 

 and many other attractions. The 

 digue, which forms the chief 

 promenade, stretches to Maria- 

 kerke, 3 m. to the W. It has also 

 the principal fishing fleet of the sea- 

 board, and is a seaport of import- 

 ance, with cross-Channel service 

 to Dover, and the terminus of 

 express lines to many parts of 

 Central Europe. Its oyster-beds 

 are famed, and there is a local lace 

 industry. The town is mostly 

 modern. The hotel de ville is an 

 early 18th century building on the 

 Place d'Armes ; the large modern 

 Gothic church of S. Peter and S. 

 Paul was built in 1907. The Pare 

 Leopold, with ornamental waters, 

 lies in the centre of the town. 



Ostend is recorded as connected 

 by canal with Bruges as early as 

 1284 ; as a port and fishing har- 

 bour it dates from the 16th cen- 

 tury. It suffered severely in the 

 long siege of 1601^4, when it was 

 captured by the Spanish general 

 Spinola. Its fortifications were 

 demolished in 1865. In the Great 

 War it was occupied by the British 

 in Aug. -Oct., 1914, and was entered 

 by the Germans on Oct. 14, 1914. 

 An important centre of the coastal 

 defences and of the submarine 

 campaign, Ostend was frequently 

 bombarded from land, sea, and air 

 by the Allies, and militarily im- 

 portant parts suffered considerably. 

 Pop. 43,000. 



Ostend, ATTACK ON. British 

 naval -operations, April-May, 1918. 

 During the Great War the Germans 

 used Zeebrugge and Ostend as 

 naval bases for submarines and 

 light destroyers. To counter their 

 attacks the British determined to 

 obstruct the entrance of these two 

 harbours. On April 22 the expe- 

 dition set out from Dover, and on 

 the night of the 22nd-23rd, simul- 



