324 
OUT 
O X A 
O X A 
that it b of a brown colour; about the size 
of a kid of Haifa Year old ; with very much 
the appearance of a goat ; but with small 
smooth horns, bending outwards, and without 
any app >arance of beard. It in of a gre- 
garious nature, and when the snow falls on 
the upper parts of the mountains, descends 
into the valleys in large herds, to feed in the 
plains of Chili, at which time it is easily 
taken, and readily tamed. The female is 
without horns. 
OUNCE, a little weight, the sixteenth 
part of a pound avoirdupois, and the twelfth 
part of a pound troy ; the ounce avoirdu- 
pois is divided into eight drams, anil the 
ounce troy into twenty pennyweights. 
Ounce. See Feus. 
OUTLAW,' RY, is being put out of the* 
law, or out of the king’s protection. It is a 
punishment inflicted tor a contempt in re- 
lu .ing to be amenable to the process of the 
higher courts. By outlawry in civil actions, 
a person is put out of the protection of the 
law, so that he is not only incapable of suing 
for the redress of injuries, but may be impri- 
soned, and forfeits all his goods and chattels, 
and tlje profits of his land ; his personal chat- 
tels immediately upon the outlawry, and his 
chattels real, and the profits of his lands, when 
found by inquisition. 1 Salk. 393. 
It seems that originally process of outlawry 
<only lay in treason and felony, and was after- 
wards extended to trespass of an enormous 
nature ; but the process of outlawry at this 
day lies in all appeals, and in all indictments 
of conspiracy and deceit, or other crimes of 
a higher nature, than trespass vi et arm is ; 
but it lies not in an action, nor on an indict- 
ment on a statute, unless it is given by such 
statute either expressly, as in the case of a 
prxnnmire; or impliedly, as in cases made 
treason or felony by statute ; or where a re- 
covery is given by an action in which such 
process lay before, as in case of forcible entry, 
rttaundf. 192. 
Process of outlawry. The exigent must 
be sued in the county where the party really 
resides, for there all actions were originally 
laid ; and because outlawries were at first 
only for treason, felony, or very enormous 
trespasses, the process was to be executed at 
the torn, which is the sheriff’s criminal court; 
and this held not only before the sheriff, but 
before the coroners, who were antient con- 
servators of the peace, being the best men 
in each county, to preside with the sheriff in 
his court, and who pronounced the outlawry 
in the county-court on the parties being 
quinto exactus; and therefore antiently there 
was no occasion for any process to any other 
countv than that in which the party actually 
resided. But the modern practice being dif- 
ferent, the reader is referred to Titkl’s Bract. 
K. B. 
Of the reversal oj outlawries. There are 
two ways of reversing an outlawry: first, by 
a writ of error returnable coram nobis ; se- 
condly by motion founded on a plea, aver- 
in mt, or suggestion of some matter appa- 
rent; as in respect of a supesedeas, omission 
of process, variance, or other matter apparent 
on the record. 
OUTLICKER, in a ship, a small piece of 
timber made fast to the top of the poop, and 
standing out right astern. At the outmost 
end thereof is a hole, into which the standing 
part of the sheet is reeved. 
OUJ^YORKS, in fortification, all those 
works made withoutside the ditch of a forti- 
fied place, to cover and defend it. See For- 
g ification. 
OX. See Bos. 
OXALATS, salts formed by the oxalic 
acid. This genus of salts was first made 
known by Bergman, who described the 
greater number of them in his Dissertation 
on Oxalic Acid, published in 1776. These 
salts may be distinguished by the following 
properties: 1. When exposed to a red heat, 
their acid is decomposed and driven olf, and 
the base only remains behind. 2. Lime- 
water precipitates a white powder from their 
solutions, provided no excess of acid is pre- 
sent. This powder is soluble in acetic acid, 
after being exposed to a red heat. 3. r l he 
earthy oxalats are in general nearly insoluble 
in water: the alkaline oxalats are capable of 
combining with an excess of acid, and form- 
ing supevoxalats much less soluble than the i 
oxalats. > 4. The insoluble oxalats are ren- 
dered easily soluble by an excess of the more 
powerful acids. 
OXALIC ACID. When nitric acid is 
poured upon sugar, and a moderate heat ap- 
plied, the sugar soon melts, an effervescence 
ensues, a great quantity of nitrous gas and 
carbonic acid gas is emitted; and when the 
effervescence ceases, and the liquid in the 
retort is allowed to cool, a number of small 
transparent chrystals appear in it. These 
chrystals constitute a peculiar acid, which 
has received the name of oxalic acid, because 
it exists read} -formed, as Sclieele has proved, 
in the oxalis acetosella, or vvoodsorrel. At 
first, however, it was called the acid of sugar, 
or the saccharine acid. 
Oxalic acid is in the form of four-sided 
prisms, whose sides are alternately larger, 
and they are terminated at the extremities 
by two-sided summits. They are transpa- 
rent, and of a fine white colour, with consi- j 
derable lustre. They have a very acid taste, 
and redden vegetable blues. 
When this chrystallized acid is exposed to ! 
heat in an open vessel, there arises a smoke 
from it, which affects disagreeably the nose 
and lungs. The residuum is a powder of a 
much whiter colour than the acid had been. 
By this process it loses three-tenths of its 
weight, but soon recovers them again on x 
exposure to the air. When distilled, it first 
loses its water of chrystallization, then lique- 
fies and becomes brown ; a little phlegm 
passes over, a white saline crust sublimes, 
some of which passes into the receiver; but 
the greatest part of the acid is destroyed, 
leaving in (he retort a mass one-fiftieth of the 
whole, which has an empyreumatic smell, 
blackens sulphuric acid, renders nitric acid 
yellow, and dissolves in muriatic acid without 
alteration. That part of the acid which sub- 
limes is unaltered. When this acid is dis- 
tilled a second time, it gives out a white 
smoke, which, condensing in the receiver, 
produces a colourless line hrystallizable acid, 
and a dark-coloured matter remains behind. 
During all this distillation, a vast quantity 
of elastic vapour makes its escape. From 
279 grains of oxalic acid, Bergman obtained 
109 cubic indies of gas, half of which was 
carbonic acid, and half carbureted hydrogen. 
Fontana, from an ounce of it, obtained 430 
cubic inches of gas, one-third of which was 
carbonic acid, the rest carbureted hydrogen. 
From these fads, it is evident, that oxalic 
acid is composed of oxygen, hydrogen, atitl 
carbon. 
T he chrystals of oxalic acid are soluble in 
their own weight of boiling water. W ater at 
the temperament of 65.7° dissolves half its 
weight of them. The specific gravity of the 
solution is 1.0393. One hundred parts of 
boiling alcohol dfRolve 56 parts of these dirys- 
tals; but at a mean temperature only 40 
parts. Liquid oxalic acid has a very a rid 
taste when it is concentrated, but a very 
agreeable acid taste when sufficiently diluted 
with water. 
It changes all vegetable blues, except in- 
digo, to a red. One grain of chrystallized 
acid, dissolved in 1920 grains' of water, red- 
dens the blue paper in which sugar-loaves 
are wrapt: one grain of it, dissolved in 3600 
grains of water, reddens paper stained with 
turnsole. According to Morveau, one part 
of the chrystalline acid is sufficient to com- 
municate a sensible acidity to 2633 parts of 
water. 
Its fixity is such, that none of it is sublimed 
when water containing it in solution is raised 
to the boiling temperature. 
Oxalic acid is not affected by exposure to 
the air, or to the action of oxygen gas. The 
effect of the simple combustibles on it lias 
not been tried. 
It is capable of oxidizing lead, copper, 
iron, tin, bismuth, nickel, cobalt, zinc, and 
manganese. 
It does not act upon gold, silver, platina, 
nor mercury. 
Oxalic acid combines with alkalies, earths, 
and metallic oxides, and forms salts known 
by the name of oxalats. 
Muriatic and acetic acids dissolve oxalic 
acid, but without altering it. Sulphuric acid 
decomposes it partly by the assistance of 
heat, and a quantity of charcoal is formed. 
Nitric acid decomposes it at a boiling heat, 
and converts it into water and carbonic acid, 
From this result, and from the products ob- 
tained by distilling pure oxalic acid, it fol- 
lows, that this acid is composed of oxygen, 
hydrogen, and carbon. Fourcroy informs 
i us, that Vauquelin and he have ascertained 
that it is composed of 
77 oxygen 
13 carbon 
10 hydrogen 
100 . 
But the experiments upon which this result 
is founded, have not been published ; so that 
it is impossible to judge of their accuracy. 
Tliy affinities of oxalic acid, according to 
Bergman, are as follows : 
Lime, 
Barytes, 
Strontian, 
Magnesia, 
Potass, 
Soda, 
Ammonia, 
Alumina. 
This acid is too expensive to be employed 
for the purposes of domestic economy ; but 
it is extremely useful in chemistry to detect 
the presence of lime held in solution. For 
this purpose, either a little of the pure acid, 
or of the solution of oxalat of ammonia, is 
dropt into the liquid supposed to contain 
