OAK 
that It was of the deer kind; but as it's horns are 
undeciduoiis, it has a greater affinity to the cow. 
If we may be allowed to judge from the dif- 
pofition of one of thefe animals imported into 
this country, and accurately and minutely dc- 
fcribed by Dr. Hunter, it's manners are gentle 
and hannlefs. Though in it's native wildnefs it 
is faid to be fierce and mifchievous, this creature 
feemed pleafed with every token of familiarity, 
always licking the hand that ftroked or gave it 
bread, and never once attempting to ufe it's horns 
oiTenfively. It feemed to place a ftrong depen- 
dence on it's olfaftory organs, fnuffing keenly, 
and vvith noife, whenever any perfon approached ; 
as alfo when any food or drink was brought to it; 
and was cither fo cautious of, or lb eafily offended 
with finells, that it would not tafte the bread pre- 
fented by a hand ftained with any odorous fubftance. 
The manner in v/hich this creature fights is 
very fingular. It was obftrved at Lord Clive's, 
where two males v/ere put into a fmall inclofure, 
that while at a confiderable diftance from each 
other, they prepared for the attack by falling 
down on their fore-knees, then fhuffling in this 
pofture towards each other; and, when they came 
within a few yards, they made a fpring, and darted 
againft each other. The intrepidity and force 
with which they rulh againft any objedl, appeared 
by the ftrength with which one of them attempted 
to overturn a poor labourer, who was indolently 
reclining on the outfide of the pales of the in- 
clofure: the Nyl-Ghaw, with the rapidity of 
lightning, darted againft the wood-v/ork with fuch 
violence, that he fhivered it to pieces ; and broke 
one of his own horns clofe by the root^ which 
occafioned his death. 
OAK 
At all the Englifh fettlements in India, thefc 
animals are confidered ascuriofities, being brought 
from the diftant interior parts of the country. 
However, the Great Mogul fometimes kills them 
in fuch numbers, as to diftribute quantities of 
them to all hisomrahs; a proof that they are 
plentiful enough near Delhi, and efteemed deli- 
cious food. Thofe which have been imported 
into Europe, have principally come from Surat 
and Bombay: and they feem to be lefs uncom- 
mon in that part of India than in Bengal] which 
gives rife to a conjedture, that they may perhaps 
be indigenous in the province of Guzarat, one 
of the moft weftern and extenfive of the Hin- 
doftan empire. 
The female Nyl-Ghawdiffers fo eflentially from 
the male, that from her appearance we fhould, 
conclude them to be of different fpecies. She 
is much inferior both in height and thicknefs; 
ftie has no horns; her colour is yellowifh; and 
her general form refembles that of a doe. She 
has four nipples; goes nine months with young; 
and generally brings forth only one at a time. Dr. 
Hunter feems to Gonfider the Nyl-Ghaw as a 
new fpecies. 
NYMPH. A term frequently ufed by moft 
naturalifts to exprefs infedts, while they have yet 
only the form of v/orms or maggots. Swammer- 
dam applies it to fignify thofe infefts which are 
produced in their perfedt form from the egg, and 
are fubjeft to no future changes. Others again 
fometimes ule it for the little Ikin in which infedlsi 
are inclofed; both while they are in the egg, and 
alfo after they have undergone the firft apparent: 
transformation. 
OAK-LEAF GALLS, or INSECTS. The 
Infers v/hich breed on the leaves of the 
oak are nu'^ierous, and the fnape of the Galls 
they form is aimoft as various as their fpecies: 
however, fometimes feveral diffim.iiar fpecies of 
flies are feen iffuing from one kind of Galls; and 
this may be accounted for from the ravages the 
ftronger make among the weaker Infeds, which, 
after they have formed their habitations, are 
obliged to relinquifti them to others. 
It might indeed be reafonably fuppofed, that 
when the parent fly had formed a Gall for the ha- 
bitation of her worm offspring, flie had placed it 
in an impregnable fortrefs: but this is not the 
cafe; for it frequently happens that a fly, as fmall 
perhaps as that which gave origin to the Gall, 
produces a worm of the carnivorous kind; 
whereas the other may feed on vegetable juices. 
The former feeds on the proper inhabitant ; and, 
after undergoing it's neceffary transformations, 
appears in the form of it's parent fly, making it's 
■wav out of the Gall. 
On opening thefe Leaf-Galls, which are pro- 
perly the habitation of one animal onlv, it is 
Vol. II. 
common to find two, the ftronger preying on the' 
body of the other, and fucking it's juices as it 
does thofe of the leaf ; but it is impoffible to 
alcertain which is the genuine inhabitant of the 
Gall, and to diftinguifh between the invader and 
the invaded. See Gall-Insect. 
OAK PUCERON. An appellation given by 
naturalifts to a very remarkable fpecies of animal, 
properly of the Puceron kind. Indeed, fuch 
animals in general live on the furfaces of the 
branches and leaves of trees and plants ; but thefe 
bury themfelves in the clefts of the oak, and fome 
other trees, where they live unmolefted by their 
common enemies. 
Thefe creatures are the largeft of the Puceron 
tribe. The winged ones are nearly about the fize 
of the common houfe-fly; and the naked ones, 
or fuch as are deftitute of wings, though inferior 
to the form.er, are neverthelefs larger than any 
other fpecies of Pucerons. The winged and 
naked kinds in thefe, as well as in the other fpe- 
cies of Pucerons, are all mothers ; and great 
numbers of young may be preffed out of the 
bodies of either kind, when gently fqueezed, 
2 L The 
