380 



OXALIDE.E OYSTER. 



to the owl's nest every hour ; and not only during the 

 night, but absolutely during the day. The quids 

 which they cast up, after no more digestible part of 

 the mouse remains, average a bushel in sixteen 

 months ; and each individual pellet of the casting 

 contains the skeletons of about half a dozen mice. If, 

 therefore, every one were to be as zealous in the 

 cause of owls as our delightful naturalist of Walton 

 Hall, cats, and all the discordant din of their cat-con- 

 tinuing operations, might cease ; though how this 

 might affect the plague of black beetles, is well 

 worth the consideration of the domestic naturalist. 

 Owls, cats, and black beetles, hang so equally in 

 the balance, that it would require a conjuror to say 

 which of them would kick the beam. For philo- 

 sophic men in such cases, however, there is always a 

 point d' appui, upon which no mistake can be made 

 as each man is entitled to select that wisdom which is 

 most germain to his own. There is no doubt, how- 

 ever, that barn owls are exceedingly useful birds in 

 their way ; and, perhaps, the best mode of arriving at 

 a rational conclusion with regard to their utility would 

 be, to leave the point at issue to the decision of those 

 farmers which can best judge whether a barn owl is 

 useful about their premises or not. 



That they are useful we firmly believe ; and as 

 they are very handsome birds in the markings of their 

 plumage, they are really ornamental. One should 

 love them, because they do not pass away before the 

 progress of cultivation, but rather increase in numbers 

 as richness and cultivation in the fields increase. 



There are several other owls very much resembling 

 in their manners, and situated in every variety 

 of temperate and tropical latitudes, to which we might, 

 perhaps, have alluded ; but the species of which we 

 have given some notice, afford specimens of all the 

 more striking varieties, and to them we shall, there- 

 fore, restrict our notice of " the birds of wisdom." 



OXALIDE^E. A natural order, containing three 

 genera, viz., Averrhoa, Biophytum, and Oxalis, of 

 which there are above one hundred and twelve 

 species. The Ojcalis, or wood-sorrel, and its typical 

 allies, are herbaceous, or suffruticose (rarely arbo- 

 rescent) plants, with alternate compound leaves, some- 

 times simple by abortion, and occasionally, but very 

 seldom, opposite or nearly whorled. The inflores- 

 cence is axillary, seldom solitary, and the flowers are 

 regular and united. The calyx consists of five per- 

 sistent sepals ; corolla of five deciduous petals, and 

 spirally contorted before expansion ; stamens ten, 

 borne on awl-shaped filaments, often monadelphous at 

 the base ; the anthers are two-celled and innate ; the 

 germen is free and five-celled ; the styles five and 

 distinct, variable in length, with pencil-formed 

 stigmas. The fruit is capsular, seeds few; when 

 young they are enclosed in an integument or arillus, 

 which at maturity bursts elastically, and expels the 

 seeds. 



The Averrhoas differ from the OxaMacccE by their 

 arborescent character. A. bdimbi is the cucumber- 

 tree of Goa. A. carambola is the camrungo of 

 Hindoostan, and also bears an eatable fruit, but 

 which are mostly used green for tarts or stews. The 

 leaves of this tree are sensitive. The leaves of the 

 Biophytum are also irritable. 



OXEYE DAISY is the Chrysanthemum leucan- 

 themum of Linnaeus, a British weed often seen on 

 arable land. 



OXINOE. A genus of molluscs, established by 



Rafiuesque, but we have no certainty respecting its 

 difference from the Sigaretus ; it is, however, asserted 

 by Rafinesque to be an external shell ; but if the 

 branchiae are disposed as he asserts, the distinction is 

 much more considerable: not having the animal 

 before us, we cannot venture to pronounce a judg- 

 ment. 



OXLIP is the Primula elatior of Jacquin, a com- 

 mon British plant found on the borders of fields. 



OXYBAPHUS (Ruiz and Pavon). A genus of 

 herbs, chiefly creepers, natives of South America, 

 belonging to Nyctaginece. These plants thrive during 

 our summer in the open air, but require to be taken 

 up in winter and replanted in the spring. 



OXYCOCCUS (Linnaeus). This a British bog 

 plant, and the O. painstm, or cranberry, of botanists. 

 The flowers are octandrious, and the plant is now ar- 

 ranged as one of the Ericeae. There are several 

 closely-allied bogor moorplants indigenous to northern 

 latitudes. Vaccinium myrtillus is the bilberry ; V. 

 uliginosum, the bleeberry ; V. vitis Idcea, the cowberry ; 

 our present plant is the cranberry. O. macrocarpus 

 is the great-fruited cranberry ; and various other 

 Vacciniums are known as whortleberries. The fruit of 

 all are eatable. 



OXYLOBIUM (Andrews). A genus of ever- 

 green shrubs, natives of New Holland, belonging to 

 Leguminosce. They thrive in loam and moor-earth, 

 and are increased by cuttings or seeds. 



OXYPORUS (Fabricius). A genus of rove-beetles 

 (Uracheiytra), having the maxillary palpi filiform, and 

 the labial terminated by a large crescent-shaped joint ; 

 the body is short and thick ; the antennae thick, per- 

 foliated, and compressed. The species are hand- 

 somely coloured, and of considerable rarity ; they 

 frequent decaying agarics, boleti, &c. The type is 

 the Staphylinus rufus, Linnaeus. 



OXYSTOMA. Is the fifth family of the second 

 order Asiphonobranchiata ; second class Paracephalo- 

 phora, and the varieties or species of the genus Jan- 

 thina constitute it. These shells are described in their 

 alphabetical arrangement. 



OXYTELUS (Gravenhorst). A genus of rove- 

 beetles (Brachelytra}, and the type of the subfamily 

 OxyteMes (see BRACHELYTRA). The species are 

 very numerous, of a black colour, and frequent dung 

 and fungi. 



OXYTROPIS (De Candolle). A numerous 

 genus of European herbaceous perennials, bearing 

 papilionaceous flowers, and belonging to Leguminosce. 

 Some of the species are admitted into the flower- 

 garden for the beauty of their flowers, and where they 

 are easily increased by division or seeds. 



OYSTER (OSTREA EDULIS, Linnaeus and modern 

 authors Common Oyster). Oysters inhabit the 

 European and other seas in countless masses ; the 

 are generally so well known as nutritious and palat- 

 able delicacies, that no description of them is neces- 

 sary in that respect. Medical writers appear to differ 

 respecting their medicinal virtue, but the greater 

 number agree as to their being wholesome, and gene- 

 rally adapted to most constitutions. 



Most of the coasts of England produce oysters in 

 great abundance ; but the coasts of Essex and Suf- 

 folk are chiefly celebrated for their excellence. The 

 oyster fishery is regulated by a particular court, 

 and a long course of custom has established some 

 very curious laws in this branch of commerce. In 

 the month of May the fishing commences by sepa- 



