OX Y 



529 



O Y is 



vj*aead, round horns, placed at the ex- 

 UeuiiUes of the salient line or ridge which 

 separates the forehead from the occiput, 

 ^me have regarded it (Cuvier says er- 

 roneously) as a variety of the Aurochs 

 ,.. urus, Gm.). 



OXAL'IC ACID. An acid which takes 

 its name from its existing in considerable 

 quantity in the juice of the wood-sorrel 

 (oxalis acetosella). This juice is almost 

 pure bioxalate of potash, and in a crys- 

 tallised state forms an article of com- 

 merce, under the name of salt of sorrel, 

 or very erroneously, salt of lemons, and 

 was long supposed to be analogous to tar- 

 tar. The acid, however, is obtained most 

 readily and most economically from 

 sugar, by the action of nitric acid. It 

 crystallises from its solutions; the crys- 

 tals are quadrilateral prisms, the sides of 

 which are alternately broad and narrow, 

 and summits dihedral ; they effloresce in 

 dry air, and deliquesce slightly in damp 

 air. The acid acts as a violent poison in 

 the quantity of two or three drachms. 

 The best antidote is lime in some conve- 

 nient form, as chalk. 



OX'ALIS. "Wood-sorrel. A very exten- 

 sive genus of herbaceous plants. Decan- 

 dria Pentagynia. Name from e|u?, acid, 

 on account of the acidity of its juice. Out 

 of 77 species enumerated, two are British, 

 of which the 0. acetosella is the best 

 known, being, from its peculiar grateful 

 acid taste, snaLii used in salads. See 

 OXALIC ACID. 



OX'GANO, Germ, ochs, and gang, walk. 

 Formerly used to signify as much land as 

 an ox could plough in a season. 



OXIDA'TION. The process by which me- 

 tals and some other elements are con- 

 verted into oxides by combination with 

 oxygen. See OXIDE. 



OX'IDE. A substance combined with 

 oxygen, without being in the state of an 

 acid. As many substances are suscep- 

 tible of several degrees of oxidisement, 

 several terms have been used to distin- 

 guish them : thus we have the black and 

 red oxides of iron and of mercury, the 

 white oxide of zinc, and the black oxide 

 of manganese ; but, in the new chemical 

 nomenclature, the terms protoxide, deu- 

 toxide (or binoxide), tritoxide, signifying 

 the first, second, and third stages of 'oxi- 

 disement, are substituted for the old spe- 

 cific names. And if only two oxides of a 

 substance arc known, the appellation 

 protoxide denotes that at the minimum, 

 and peroxide that at the maximum. 



OXTCOC'CCS. The cranberry. A genus of 

 permanent plants. Octandria Monogy- 

 nia. Name from o!-'j;, acid, and xcxxe,-;, 

 berry. There are two American and one 

 British species, the 0. palustri*. 



OX'TIE.N from /?, acid, and finis.*, 



to generate. An elementary body which 

 exists sometimes in a solid, but whir> 

 can be examined only in the gaseou* 

 form : it is never distinctly perceptible 

 to the human senses except in its com- 

 binations. It forms 21 per cent, by vo- 

 lume of the atmosphere, being the con- 

 stituent essential to the support of animal 

 and vegetable life and combustion. In 

 combining with substances in the process 

 of combustion, it forms oxides and acids, 

 from which latter circumstance it takes 

 its name of oxygen or acid generator (see 

 ACID). The act of combining with bodies 

 is called oxidisement or oxygenation. Oxy- 

 gen, when isolated, has all the mecha- 

 nical properties of air; it is void of 

 taste, colour, and smell. Sp. gr. T1026 

 compared to air, as 1. It is procured by 

 the action of heat from chloride of pot- 

 ash, red oxide of mercury, and black 

 oxide of manganese. Nitrate of potash 

 and red oxide of lead also yield it. 

 Bleachers give the name oxygen to thin 

 aqueous solutions of chlorine ; and bleach- 

 ing by means of chlorine was long named 

 orygen bleaching; these absurd names 

 originated in the same error which gave 

 rise to the following chemical names. 



Ox'roENATED-MURiATic, 1 Names ori- 



OX'YMURIATIC. } ginally given 



by the French chemists to chlorine, from 

 a theoretical error regarding that ele- 

 ment, by them supposed to be muriatic 

 acid united with an equivalent of oxygen. 

 This mistake was rectified by Sir H. 

 Davy. 



OXYQENA'TIOX. A term sometimes used 

 synonymously with oxidisation and oxi- 

 disement ; but, in its wider sense, it in- 

 cludes every case of union with oxygen, 

 whatever the product may be ; whereas 

 the other terms are applied only when an 

 oxide is formed. 



OXYHYD'ROOEN BLOWPIPE. A blowpipe 

 in which one volume of oxygen with two 

 of hydrogen are burned while issuing 

 from a small aperture. They produce an 

 intense heat. 



OXYMO'RON. O%v/Mu$4v. A rhetorical 

 figure, in which an epithet of a quite con- 

 trary signification is added to a word, as 

 cruel kindness. 



OXYMU'RIATES. An old name for those 

 compounds now called chlorides. 



OXY'OPT, from ojyj, acute, and anj/, the 

 eye. The faculty of seeing more acutely 

 than is usual, from a preternatural sensibi- 

 lity of the retina. 



OXYPRCS'SIC ACID. An old name for 

 the chlorocyanic acid. 



OXYSUL'PHURET. A sulphuret of a me- 

 tallic oxide. 



OXYTAR'TARATB. An old name tor th* 

 acetate of potash. 



O'YEB AND TBRMINER'. In law, & court 

 2 M 



