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O'SSEOUS. (osseous, Lat.) Bony; con- 

 taining bone ; resembling bone. 



O'SSEOUS BRE'CCIA. A mass of fragments 

 of the bones of animals cemented toge- 

 ther by a calcareous gangue, and com- 

 monly found in fissures and caves. 



O'SSICLE. (ossiculum, a little bone, Lat.) 

 A small bone : some of the small bones 

 which enter into the formation of the ear 

 are termed the ossicula auditus. 



OSSI'FEROUS. (from os, a bone, and/ere, 

 to produce, to bear, or contain, Lat.) 

 Yielding bones or fragments of bones ; 

 containing bones. Thus we have ossi- 

 ferous gravel, ossiferous clay, ossiferous 

 strata, ossiferous caves, &c. &c. Large 

 portions of this kingdom are covered by 

 irregular aggregations of gravelly sands 

 and pebbly clays, locally stored with the 

 bones of various land quadrupeds. It is 

 a remarkable fact that the ossiferous caves 

 and fissures are situated almost every 

 where in limestone. 



OSTEOCO'LLA. (from oorsov, a bone, and 

 KoXXa, glue, Gr.) Vegetables of the 

 most delicate texture, when immersed in 

 waters containing carbonate of lime, be- 

 come incrusted, still preserving their form 

 even to their most delicate ramifications. 

 These incrustations somewhat resemble 

 the bone of an animal, and the property 

 has been absurdly attributed to them of 

 facilitating the union of fractured bones. 



OSTEO'LOGY. (from oartbv, a bone, and 

 Xoyoc, discourse, Gr. osteologie, Fr. osteo- 

 logia, It.) A description of the bones ; 

 that part of anatomy which treats of the 

 bones. 



OS'TRACITE. A fossil oyster. 



OSTRJE'A. ) The oyster. A rough, adherent, 



OSTRE'A. $ inequivalved bivalve ; the 

 hinge without a tooth. One muscular 

 impression in each valve. The oyster is 

 found both fossil and recent. Of this 

 genus one hundred and thirty-seven spe- 

 cies have been described in Turton's 

 Linne. Lamarck describes eighteen 

 species as found fossil in the neighbour- 

 hood of Paris. The most extraordinary 

 shell of this genus for size, says Mr. 

 Parkinson, is the large fossil oyster, the 

 recent analogue of which, from Virginia, 

 appears to be depicted by Lister. Some 

 attain to the length of twenty inches. 

 An under valve in Mr. Parkinson's pos- 

 session weighed four pounds, being thir- 

 teen inches in length and three in thick- 

 ness. The recent oyster is found at 

 depths varying to seventeen fathoms, in 

 the ocean and in estuaries. Sometimes 

 attached to rocks and other substances. 



Osus. The termination of words in osus 

 expresses fulness, or the abundant pre- 

 sence of a quality : examples, pilosus, 

 covered with much hair ; setosus, covered 



with thick bristles ; squamosus, covered 

 with scales. 



OU'TCROP. A term used by miners, to ex- 

 press the exposure at the surface of a 

 stratum or strata. 



OU'TLIER. A portion of a stratum de- 

 tached from the principal mass, and lying 

 detached at some distance from it. 



O'VA ANGUI'NA. A species of fossil ci- 

 daris or echinus. 



O'VAL. (from ovum, an egg, Lat. ovale, 

 Fr. ovale, It.) A rounded surface, its 

 two right-angular diameters being of an 

 unequal length, so that its longest trans- 

 verse diameter does not pass through the 

 centre of its longitudinal diameter, but 

 lies nearer to one end. Skuckard. 



OVA'RIUM. } (ovaire, Fr. ovaja, It.) That 



O'VARY. $ part of the body which con- 

 tains the ova, and in which impregnation 

 is performed. In animals, it is only in 

 the organs termed ovaries, that ova are 

 formed. 



In botany, that part of the flower which 

 ripens into the fruit, and contains the 

 seed. 



O'VATE. (ovatus, made like an egg, from 

 ovum, Lat.) Of the shape of an egg ; 

 egg-shaped. 



O'VIDUCT. (from ovum, an egg, and duc- 

 tus, a passage, Lat.) A canal, or duct, 

 through which the ova pass, after impreg- 

 nation, from the ovary to the uterus. In 

 the human subject the oviducts are called 

 the Fallopian tubes. 



O'VIFORM. (from ovum, an egg, and forma, 

 shape, Lat.) Of the form or shape of an 



O'VIFORM LI'MESTONE. Oolite, or roe- 

 stone. 



OVI'PAROUS. (from ovum, an egg, and 

 pario, to produce, Lat. ovipare, Fr. ovi- 

 paro, It.) All animals which lay eggs, 

 enclosed in a calcareous shell, are called 

 oviparous. Oviparous production is thus 

 characterized : the young animal is not 

 attached to the parieties of the oviduct, 

 but remains separated from it by its ex- 

 ternal envelope ; its aliment being en- 

 closed in a sac, which is attached to its 

 intestinal canal. 



OVO'-VIVIPAROUS. Some animals, such as 

 the salamander and the viper, never lay, 

 their eggs, but these are hatched within 

 the body of the parent ; so that although 

 originally contained in eggs, the offspring 

 are brought forth in a living state. Such 

 animals are termed ovo-viviparous. 



OVIPO'SITING. The laying of eggs. 



OVIPO'SITOR. A name given to the ter- 

 minal apex of the abdomen of insects. 



O'VULE. } (dim. of ovum, an egg, Lat.) 



O'VULUM. $ In botany, the seed before it 

 is perfected. The small bodies produced 

 on the margins of the carpel la in the 



