OSTEND 



-I l? 



OSTRICH 



OS 'TEND, a fashionable watering-place in 

 the Belgian province of West Flanders, situ- 

 ated on the North Sea seventy-seven miles 

 northwest of Brussels. During the summer 

 months in normal times from 16.000 to 20.000 

 visitors crowd its heautiful promenades along 

 the sea walk, which is lined with wonderful 

 shops, or enjoy the concerts in its magnificent 

 Kursaal, the center of the social life during the 

 season of gayety. But all are not on pleasuiv 

 -end, for it is an important fishing 

 station, and cod and herring fishing as well as 

 the cultivation of oysters constitute an indus- 

 try of considerable importance. The city is 

 also a port of first rank, a terminus of several 

 branch railways which have connections with 

 important systems on the Continent, and a sta- 

 tion for steamers making daily trips between 

 England and the mainland. 



Ostend was established in the ninth century 

 and is memorable for a protracted siege by the 

 Spaniards, lasting from 1601 to 1604. In 1865 

 its fortifications were demolished. It, too, 

 played a conspicuous part in the great War of 

 the Nations (which see). After the seizure of 

 Louvain, in 1914, the British marines landed 

 at Ostend to check the German raiders, and 

 during the first days during which Brussels was 

 imperiled it was temporarily the seat of the 

 Belgian government. It was seized, however, 

 and partly destroyed by the German army, and 

 later was repeatedly bombarded by the aero- 

 plane fleet of the allies. Its normal permanent 

 population is 43,000. 



OSTEND MANIFES'TO, a dispatch signed 

 at Ostend, Belgium, October 9, 1854, by James 

 Buchanan, John Y. Mason and Pierre Soule, 

 at that time United States ministers to Great 

 Britain, France and Spain, respectively. The 

 Manifesto declared that if Spain would not 

 sell Cuba, the United States would acquire it 

 by force and prevent its being Africanized, like 

 Ilayti. The.-e ministers met here at the sug- 

 gestion of President Pierce. Nothing came of 

 the Manifesto, as it was condemned by all 

 political parties in the United States. 



OSTEOPATHY, osteop'athi, one of the 

 most recent methods advanced for curing cer- 

 tain forms of disease without the use of drugs. 

 The founder, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, of Bald- 

 win, Kan., believed that the body contains 

 within itself the remedies for all disease, and 

 that the bones could be "used as levers to re- 

 lieve pressure on nerves, arteries and veins." 

 Osteopathy teaches that the principal cause of 

 disease is obstruction of the free circulation of 



the blood and lymph by bone displacement, 

 and that by proper manipulation of the affected 

 parts normal conditions may be restored. The 

 operations are applied chiefly to the nerve cen- 

 ters, especially those along the spine, particular 

 attention being given to the adjustment of 

 bones and ligaments not in normal position. 



Though many schools teach the principles of 

 osteopathy, its. efficacy in the cure of all kinds 

 of disease has been contested by members of 

 the medical profession. Since this system was 

 formulated in 1875, it has been legalized in 

 practice by twenty-three states and has over 

 7,000 practitioners in the United States and 

 Canada. The first American college was opened 

 at Kirksville, Mo., in 1892. 



Consult Hulett's Text-Book of the Principles of 

 Osteopathy; Still's Osteopathy: 7,v,sra/r/i and 

 Practice; Hazzard's Practice of Osteopath)/. 



OSTRACISM, os'trasiz'm, from the Greek 

 word ostrakon, a tablet of earthenware, is the 

 name handed down from the ancient Greek 

 custom of casting votes by means of an earth- 

 enware tablet or a shell, the method by which 

 Athenian citizens were banished for a political 

 offense. It was not meant as a punishment, in 

 every case, but sometimes was employed as a 

 precaution taken to preserve peace. Banish- 

 ment usually lasted about ten years, after which 

 the citizen might return to his estate. The- 

 mistocles, Cimon and Aristides all suffered os- 

 tracism at some period (see the biographies of 

 each of these Athenians in these volumes). 



Aristides, called "the Just," a statesman and 

 general, in 488 B. c. opposed Themistocles' naval 

 policy, being ardently in favor of keeping Ath- 

 ens a land power. He was ostracised in 485 

 B.C., but returned from exile to aid Athens 

 against the Persians. At the time of his banish- 

 ment a man of the people came to him and 

 asked for help in writing "Aristides" on his 

 tablet. "Why," said Aristides, "has he ever 

 wronged you?" "No," replied the man, "but I 

 am tired of always hearing him called the 

 Just." 



Ostracism is not practiced to-day, but ban- 

 ishment was resorted to in Russia prior to the 

 revolution of 1917. In English-speaking na- 

 tions one is ostracized, that is, given to under- 

 stand that his social activities are unwelcome, 

 if he has openly violated moral codes. 



Consult Gilbert's The Constitutional Antiquities 

 of Athens and Sparta. 



OS'TRICH. The ostrich, largest of living 

 birds, with its elevated back, padded toes, ex- 

 tremely small head and long neck, is such a 



