OUTPOSTS 



5OO3 



OVEN BIRO 



Outposts. Troops detached for 

 tli, (.nitertion ..( a force at rest. 

 I ni. mi iy tmnisli piquets and 

 rapports \\lu> hold the outpost lino 

 tance. Cavalry and cyclists 

 keep the enemy under observation, 

 l>v means of patrols, who move out 

 before dawn, at which time the 

 infantry stand to arms. Outposts 

 ti.nht "iily to gain time for the main 

 body to get under arms and move 

 ti> tliu position which the com- 

 mander has selected for defence. 

 They are withdrawn when the main 

 body marches, and the duty of 

 protection is then assumed by the 

 advanced guard, Hank guard, and 

 rear guard. 



Outram, SIR JAMES (1803-63). 

 British soldier and administrator. 

 Born at Buttcrley Hall, Derby- 

 shire, Jan. _'.i, 



^g*^ I 1803, he joined 

 & ^ the Kast India 

 Company in 

 1819. He took 

 part in the 

 British cam- 



Afttr T. Brigtloc* 



paign in 

 Afghanistan, 

 1839, was at 

 the capture 

 of G h a z n i, 

 and rode 

 in disguise 

 irom Kalat to Karachi, over 350 

 m. In 1843 he defended Hyder- 

 abad against a strong force of 

 Baluchis. He was appointed chief 

 commissioner of Oudh, and in 1857 

 commanded the Persian expedi- 

 tion. In the Indian Mutiny he 

 joined Havelock on Sept. 15, helped 

 to relieve the residency at Luck- 

 now, and held it until relieved by 

 Sir Colin Campbell. He was made 

 a baronet, and is known as the 

 Bayard of India. Outram died 

 March 11, 1863, and was buried in 

 Westminster Abbey. See Indian 

 Mutiny ; consult also Lives, Sir F. J. 

 Goldsmid, 1880; L. J. Trotter, 1903. 

 Outrigger. Light boat, some- 

 times used for racing purposes. 

 Its rowlocks are supported by 

 brackets, rigged out, or projecting 

 from the sides. See Boat ; Canoe. 



Outworker. One who works 

 for an employer, elsewhere than 

 in a factory or workshop. An 

 equivalent term is home-worker. 

 The evil of the system in the 

 United Kingdom, as revealed by 

 the inquiry, 1888-90, into con- 

 ditions in the sweated trades, has 

 resulted in the establishment of 

 sanitary workshops, subject to 

 government inspection, where 

 Much work is done that was 

 formerly done in the living-rooms 

 of poor homes. In recent years 

 cottage industries, such as lace- 

 making, have been revived under 

 conditions more favourable than 



those prevailing in the poorer 

 districts of large towns. See 

 Sweating System ; Trade Board. 



Ouzel. Name for several birds 

 ({ tin- thrush family (Turdida.-). 

 It is represented in Britain by the 

 ring-ouzel (Aferula torquata) and 

 the water-ouzel (Cinclua aquaticiu). 

 The former is a large moorland 

 blackbird, with a white crescent 

 across its breast. It is a migrant, 

 reaching England from Africa in 

 April, and leaving again in autumn. 

 Its nest, eggs, and habits are much 

 like those of the common black- 

 bird. The water-ouzel or dipper 

 is a resident, and is moru liko 

 a thrush with a short tail. See 

 Dipper. 



Ovaherero. Collective name of 

 the Herero people, laving in the, 

 coastal plains of the South-West 

 Africa Protectorate, their sp<-e< h is 

 a Bantu dialect. Formerly called 

 Cattle Damaras, their name is 

 sometimes improperly extended to 

 the Hill Damaras, who have Hot- 

 tentot characteristics and speech. 

 See Hereros. 



Oval, THE. Ground of the Surrey 

 County Cricket Club. It is on the W. 

 side of the Kennington Park Road, 

 London, S.E., and covers about 

 9 acres of the site of the park of Sir 

 Noel Caron, a Dutch ambassador 

 to England in the 17th century. 

 Opened as a cricket ground, April 

 16, 1846, it is held on a lease from 

 the duchy of Cornwall. It was the 

 centre of the old Surrey cycle race 

 meetings. See Kennington. 



Ovambo OR OVAMPO. Negroid 

 people in the South-West Africa 

 Protectorate. Numbering in 1913 

 60,000, in the fertile Ovamboland 

 steppes N.E. of the Hereros, they 

 are distinguished from this allied 

 people by their scantier dress, 

 more peaceable disposition, and 

 agricultural pursuits. Their tribes 

 occupy scattered groups of pali- 

 saded homesteads, with granaries 

 and chicken-houses on pile sup- 

 ports. Their two Bantu dialects, 

 Ndonga and Kwanyama, are 

 spoken also in S. Angola. 



Ovamboland OR AMBOLAND. 

 Country of South-West Africa. 

 Inhabited by the Ovambos, it is 

 situated on both sides of the 

 boundary between Portuguese 

 West Africa and the South-West 

 Africa Protectorate, mainly in the 

 latter. The native population is 

 estimated at 156,000, and the 

 area is about 16,000 sq. m. The 

 country is arid, and there are 

 no running streams except the 

 Cunene in the extreme N. Many 

 natives own cattle. Before the 

 British occupation in 1915 the 

 only Europeans in the country 

 were missionaries of the Finnish 

 and Rhenish Missionary Societies, 



the Germans in 1906 closing the 

 country to travellers and settlers. 

 See South -Went Africa. 



Ovar. Town of Portugal, in 

 l>rov. It stands near the N. 

 end of the lagoon of Aveiro, 21 m. 

 by rly. 8. of Oporto, and 15 m. N. of 

 A \ it iro. It has fisheries, and trades 

 in timber, onions, wine, cereals, 

 and vegetables. Pop. 11,000. 



Ovary. Claud in the female in 

 which arc maintained the ova or 

 cells, which, after fertilisation by 

 the spermatozoa, develop into new 

 individuals. The ovaries are two 

 in number, and are situated in the 

 pelvis, one on each side of the 

 uterus. Each gland is oval in 

 shape, and about 1} in. in length. 



The ovary consists of fibrous 

 tissue crowded with a number of 

 rounded cells or oScytes, and 

 vesicles called Graafian follicles. 

 The Graafian follicle enlarges and 

 ultimately bursts, thus releasing a 

 ripe ovum. This process is known 

 as ovulation, and occurs about 

 once every four weeks, being 

 closely associated with menstru- 

 ation, though the precise relation- 

 ship is not fully known. The ovum, 

 after being set free, enters the 

 Fallopian tube, where fertilisation 

 most frequently occurs, and then 

 passes into the uterus, where 

 further development takes place. 

 Removal of the ovaries (ovario- 

 tomy) after puberty leads to cessa- 

 tion of menstruation, and possibly 

 some degree of atrophy of the uterus 

 and breasts. Ovaritis or oophoritis 

 is inflammation of the ovary. 



In botany, the ovary is the 

 base of the pistil, containing the 

 carpel or carpels, in which are 

 the ovules or rudimentary seeds. 

 See Flower. 



Ovation (Lat. ovare, to rejoice). 

 In ancient Rome, a minor celebra- 

 tion of victory accorded to a suc- 

 cessful general who was not con- 

 sidered worthy of a full triumph. 

 See Triumph. 



Oven. Chamber made of brick, 

 stone, or iron, and heated either 

 from without or within, in which 

 articles may be baked. As part of 

 a kitchen range for cooking food, 

 the heat is external, the fire being 

 to one side, and the other sides sur- 

 rounded with flues through which 

 the heat passes. Internal heating is 

 used in a gas oven by means of 

 rows of gas jets, also in a brick 

 oven, in which a fire is burnt until 

 the heat is sufficient, when the 

 ashes are withdrawn, the food in- 

 serted, and the door closed. Ovens 

 are used in making pottery, in 

 metallurgy, and chemical opera- 

 tions. See Furnace. 



Oven Bird. Popular name for 

 the genus Furnariua of S. Ameri- 

 can birds, resembling tree-creepers, 



