368 



05TUACI&M OSWEGATCHIE. 



Their jaws are each armed with ten or a dozen coni- 

 i-.il u-elli. They have but little flesh, but their liver 

 is large, and furnishes a great quantity of oil. This 

 genus is not well understood by naturalists, and re- 

 quires close study ; all the species of it are inhabi- 

 tants of warm countries, and differ exceedingly in 

 form and size. Most of them are armed with spines. 



OSTRACISM ; a judgment of the assembly of the 

 people in Athens, which checked the influence of 

 powerful citizens by an exile of ten years. If any 

 person was regarded as obnoxious, every citizen who 

 was of this opinion wrote the name of the person to 

 be banished on a shell (ifr^eutn), which he deposited 

 in the place appointed in the forum. This place 

 was enclosed by wooden balustrades, and had ten 

 gates, at which the ten tribes of Athens entered at 

 the assemblies of the people. The archons counted 

 the shells deposited by the citizens, and if at least 

 6000 were in favour of the banishment of the accused, 

 the banishment took effect ; otherwise, he was ac- 

 quitted. Persons were exiled by the ostracism for 

 ten years, and, after the expiration of this period, 

 the exiled citizen was at liberty to return to his country, 

 and take possession of his wealth, and all his civil 

 pri v ileges. To this sentence no disgrace was attached ; 

 for it was never inflicted upon criminals, but only upon 

 those who had excited the jealousy or suspicion of 

 their fellow-citizens, by the influence which they had 

 gained by peculiar merit, wealth, or other causes. 

 Aristotle and Plutarch called the ostracism the medi- 

 cine of the state. Still it was often used by bad and 

 envious men to accomplish their unlawful designs, 

 and to destroy the influence of patriotic citizens. 



OSTRICH (struthio). No bird is, perhaps, more 

 celebrated than the ostrich, not only from the beauty 

 and value of its plumage, but also from its great size 

 and peculiar habits. It is generically distinguished 

 by its straight and depressed bill, and the shortness 

 of its wings, which are unfitted for flight. The Afri- 

 can or true ostrich (S. camelus) is from seven to nine 

 feet high from the top of its head to the ground 

 most of this, however, is made up by the great length 

 of its neck. Its head is small, and both it and the 

 neck are destitute of feathers, having only a few 

 scattered hairs. The feathers on the body are 

 blackish ; those of the wings and tail are white, 

 sometimes marked with black. The wings are fur- 

 nished with spurs. The thighs are naked, and the 

 legs hard and scaly. The ostrich inhabits the burning 

 and sandy deserts of Africa in large flocks. This bird 

 appears to have been known from the earliest ages : 

 it is constantly alluded to in the Old Testament, and 

 was one of the forbidden articles of food to the Jews. 

 Fashion has set too high a value on the. feathers of 

 the ostrich to admit of his remaining undisturbed, 

 even in the desolate regions which he inhabits. An- 

 ciently, also, it appears that this bird was sought for 

 to grace the table of the epicure ; thus that prince of 

 gourmands, Heliogabalus, caused the brains of 600 

 of them to be served up at one meal. The hunting 

 of the ostrich is exceedingly laborious, as he is far 

 swifter than the fleetest horse. The mode adopted 

 by the Arabians and Moors is to pursue the bird as 

 long as possible, when the chase is taken up by ano- 

 ther on a fresh horse, till the bird is worn down. 

 This is the more readily done, as the ostrich, instead 

 of pursuing a straight course, runs in a circuitous 

 direction. It is also said that they are taken by a 

 iiunter covering himself with one of their skins, and 

 then approaching them sufficiently near to surprise 

 them. They are tamed, and are bred in some parts 

 of Africa. The female lays from ten to twelve eggs 

 in a hole in the sand ; and, although she does not in- 

 cubate them continually, no bird has a stronger affec- 

 tion for its offspring, or watches its nest with more 



assiduity. Contrary to the general opinion, she al- 

 ways broods over her eggs at night, only leaving 

 them during the hottest part of the day. If the eggs 

 be touched by any one during the absence of the 

 birds, they immediately discover it, on their return, 

 by the smell, and not only desist from laying any- 

 more in that place, but likewise destroy all that may 

 have been deposited. Barrow states that in the in- 

 terior of the eggs there are frequently found small, 

 oval-shaped pebbles, of a pale yellow colour, and ex- 

 ceedingly hard. The eggs are said to be a great 

 delicacy, and prepared for the table in various ways. 

 The ostrich, in a tame state, swallows, with the 

 greatest voracity, rags, leather, iron, or stone. Doc- 

 tor Shaw says, " I saw one at Oran that swallowed, 

 without any seeming uneasiness or inconvenience, 

 several leaden bullets, as they were thrown upon the 

 floor, scorching hot from the mould." 



The American ostrich (S. r/iea) is very closely 

 allied to the preceding, and may be considered its 

 representative in the western continent. This bird 

 inhabits various parts of South America to the south- 

 ward of the equator, but is principally found on the 

 great plains in Buenos Ayres and the adjoining 

 states. It is not as large as the African ostrich, and 

 is of a uniform gray colour, except on the back, 

 which has a brown tint. The back and rump are 

 furnished with long feathers, which are not as rich 

 and full as those of the true ostrich, and are but, little 

 esteemed as articles of dress or ornament, being 

 principally used for brushes for driving away flies, or 

 cleaning articles from dust. This bird possesses the 

 same remarkable speed as the former species, and its 

 running is accompanied with a singular motion of its 

 wings. It raises one, which it holds for some time 

 stretched out, then depresses it, and erects the other. 

 It is taken by chasing it on horseback, and catching 

 it with the lasso, or by means of balls connected by a 

 strip of hide, and thrown in such a way as to entangle 

 its legs. It discovers the same indiscriminate vora- 

 city as the ostrich, and the size of the articles it can 

 swallow is astonishing : one that was in Philadelphia 

 a few years ago could swallow a whole onion, the 

 diameter of which was apparently larger than that of 

 its own neck. The distension produced by this root, 

 as it descended to the stomach, could be readily 

 traced. The natural food of this bird is fruit, grain, 

 and, in fact, most vegetable substances. The indi- 

 vidual just alluded to fed eagerly on grass or clover. 



OSTROG ; an affix of several Russian geographi- 

 cal names, signifying strong. 



OSTROGOTHS. See Goths. 



OSTROLENKA ; a village in Poland, thirty-one 

 leagues north-east from PlocK, with 1850 inhabitants. 

 This place is celebrated for a battle between the 

 French and the Russians, February 25, 1806, and a 

 battle between the Poles, under general Skrzynecki 

 and the Russians, under marshal Diebitsch, May 

 26, 1831. This engagement was very sanguinary, 

 and the Poles were at length obliged to retreat. 



OSTROV (Russian) signifies island; for instance, 

 Lissie-Ostrova (Fox Islands). 



OSTRYA. See Iron-Wood. 



OSWEGATCHIE; a township of St Lawrence 

 county, New York, on the St Lawrence river. The 

 principal village is the post-borough Ogdensburgh, 

 which stands on the St Lawrence, directly nortli of 

 the mouth of Oswegatchie river. It is the. capi- 

 tal of the county, and contains the county buildings. 

 It is also a port of entry and delivery, and has a 

 custom-house. Ogdensburgh has considerable com- 

 merce and manufactures. Its distance from Albany 

 is 209 miles ; and it stands opposite Prescot and Fork 

 Wellington, in Canada. Population of Oswegatohi*. 

 3934. 



