Oryzoryctes 
Oryzoryctes (o-ri-zo-rik'tez), H. [XL. (.1. K. 
Gray, INTO), < Gr. fipv^a, rice, + ii/"' 1 '* 7 '/';, a dig- 
ger: see Oryctes.] A genus of Hmall mole-like 
insectivorous maraniuis i>{ M.-iil;ij;;i>c'iir, some- 
times giving name to a subfamily Ori/im-i/rHmr 
of Ci-nli lit/ir, more | >rc>| rly ranged with Orni/tilr 
in a subfamily (Ifiii/nliinf ( l'<iiiiiini</<iliilii': so 
named from burrowing in rice-fields. There 
arc 12 specioH, O. hova and (). tetradactulus. Also 
written, incorrectly, Orizorictes and Ori/^m ictcx. 
Oryzoryctinae (o-ri'Ko-rik-H'ni!), . y</. [NL., 
< (>r>i:orijctex + -J<e.J A sulit'iimily of small 
insectivorous mammals of Madagascar, framed 
for the reception of the genera Microgale and 
' irijzoryctes. 
05 1 (os), .; pi. onsa (os'ii). [L. os (oss-), some- 
times ossum, ossu, pi. ossa, also ossua, a bone ; 
cf.Qr. bareov, a bone.] Bone; abono Osbullse. 
Same as bullet, 5. Also called tympanic 6Ha. Os calcla, 
the bone of the heel : same as calcaneutn wlilwlare. OB 
capitatum. Same as magnutn, 3. Oa centrale, a bone 
of the carpus, Interposed between the bones of the proxi- 
mal and distal rows, in reptiles and amphibia, and some 
mammals. Os cloacae, the bone of the cloaca ; an azy- 
gous median bone in relation with the cloaca and ischio- 
pubic symphysis of various lower vertebrates, as among 
Sauna and Batrachia. Oa cordls, the bone of the heart, 
an ossification in the septum of the heart of some ani- 
mals, as the ox. Os coronse, in vet, mrg., the coronary 
bone, small pastern, or middle phalanx of a horse's foot. 
See cut under honf. Os coxae, the hip-bone or haunch- 
bone; the innominate bone. See innoininatum, 1. Oa 
f aid for me, the falciform carpal vesicle of Talpince; the 
falcate accessory bone of the wrist of moles. OS furca- 
tortum. .Same an furcatnrium. Os hamatum, the un- 
ciform bone. Os humeri, the humerus. 08 nyoides, 
or OS hyoideuin, the U-shaped bone or tongue-Done. 
OS Incffi, a name given by Tschudi to the anomalous hu- 
man inUjrparietal bone. Os incisiyuin, the prcmaxilla. 
Os iiuiominatum. Same as innominatttm, 1. Os 
lacrymale. Same as lacrymal, 1. Os lingus, os lin- 
guale, the hyoid bone. Os lunare. Same aslunare. 
ps magnum. Same as maynwn, 3. Os marsupiale, 
in marsupial animals, a prepubic hone developed In the 
abdominal muscles in relation with the pouch and its 
contents. Os mastoldeum, the mastoid. Oa mira- 
blle, the penis-bone. Os odontoldeuin, the odontoid 
bone of many reptiles a bone which when ankylosed 
with the second cervical vertebra, as Is usual in higher 
vertebrates, becomes the odontoid process of the axis. 
Os orbiculare. a minute ossification at the tip of the 
long process of the incus. Os pedlcellatum. Same 
as os quadratum. OS pedis, in vet. surff., the coffin- 
bone or distal phalanx of a horse's foot. See cut under 
hoof. Os penis, the penial bone, an ossification of the 
fibrous septum of the penis of many animals, as the 
dog. Os planum, the smooth surface of the ethmoid 
bone, forming part of the inner wall of the orbit; the 
orbital plate of the ethmoid bone. OB priapi, the os 
penis. Os pubis. Same as pulnt. Os quadratum, 
the suspensorium of the lower jaw in birds. Also called 
hypotympanic. Ossa suprasternalia, two small ossi- 
fications sometimes found above the manubrium of the 
breast-bone; the episternal bones. Ossa suturarum, 
bones of the (cranial) sutures : another name for Wormi- 
an bones. Ossa Wormiana, Wormian bones; Irregular 
bones developed, sometimes in great numbers, in certain 
sutures of the skull. Os seplse, the bone of a sepia or 
squid; cuttlebone; cuttle. See calamary, sepiost. Os 
suffraginis, in vet. sura., the large pastern or proximal 
phalanx of a horse's foot. See cut under solidunyulate. 
Oa tarsale. Same as lacrymal, 1. 08 transversale, 
the cross-bone or pessulus of the syrinx of a bird. See PCS- 
sulus. Os tranaversum, a peculiar bone of the skull of 
certain reptiles. See cut under Ophidia. Os tribasilare, 
the united occipital and sphenoid bones. Virchow. Os 
triquetrum, a three-cornered bone; a Wormian bone. 
Oa unguis, the nail-like bone ; the human lacrymal bone. 
05 2 (os), w. ; pi. ora (o'ra). [L. os (or-), mouth: 
see oral,] A mouth; a passage orentrance into 
any place: an anatomical term; specifically, 
the mouth of the womb. Angulua oris. See on- 
guliti. Os tlncte, in anat., same as os uteri. OS uteri, 
the orifice of the uterus. Os uteri exteruum, the 
lower end of the cervical canal; the os tincee. Also sim- 
ply cw uteri. Os uteri internum, the upper end of the 
cervical canal. 
05 3 (os), . [Sw. as, pi. dsar.] In geol., a Swed- 
ish term for certain elongated ridges of detrital 
material, generally considered to be of glacial 
origin, or in some not yet clearly explained way 
connected with the former presence of ice in 
the region where they occur. Some of these ridges 
in Sweden are over a hundred miles in length, and so reg- 
ular in form that they are not infrequently used as roads. 
In Scotland they are called frames, in Ireland eskan. See 
cskar. 
Os. In client., the symbol tor osmium. 
0. S. An abbreviation (a) of old style; (b) of 
Old Saxon; (c) of old series. 
Osage orange. See Madura. 
osannat, interj. and . An obsolete form of 
Itosanna. 
osannet, interj. and n. A Middle English form 
of liosanmt. 
Osborne beds or series. See series. 
Oscan (os'kun), n. and a. [< L. Osci, pi. of Oscus 
(adj. 0*etw), OL. Opscus, Obncus, whence also L. 
Opiciis, Oscan: see defs.] I. w. 1. One of an 
Italic race occupying a great part of southern 
Italy in ancient times. 2. A language, akin 
262 
4105 
to the Latin and I'mbrian, spoken in 8am ni- 
um, Campania, etc. It had not entirely disap- 
peared as a spoken tongue in the time of the 
earlier emperors. 
II. n. Of or pertaining to the Oscans or 
their language: as, the Oncaii cities; the O.iran 
language; an Oscan inscription. 
OScheal (os'ke-al), <i. [< Gr. toxi, the scrotum, 
+ -a/.] Pertaining to the scrotum. 
OSCheitis (os-ke-i'tis), n. [NL., < Gr. oax'l, the 
scrotum, 4- -ills.'] In pnthol., inflammation of 
the scrotum. 
OSCheocele (os'ke-o-sel), n. [< Gr. oa^eov, taxi, 
the scrotum, + 'nf/n, tumor.] A tumor of the 
scrotum ; a scrotal hernia. 
OSCheoplasty (os'ke-o-plas-ti), H. [< Gr. 
the scrotum, + nvtaorof, verbal adj. of x 
form.] Plastic surgery of the scrotum. 
oscillancy (os'i-lan-si), n. [< L. oscillan(t~)s, 
ppr. of oscillare, swing (see oscillate), + -cy.] 
A swinging or oscillating state or condition; 
the state of swinging to and fro. Bailey, 1727. 
Oscillaria (os-i-la'ri-a), n. [NL. (Bose), < L. 
oscillum, a swing: see oscillate.] A genus of 
confervoid algte, typical of the order Oscillari- 
iirt'ir. They grow in dense slimy tufts attached to other 
algoo or various other floating bodies, and have the fila- 
ments generally embedded in structureless Jelly. They 
live in stagnant water or on damp ground, a few species 
even occurring in thermal or mineral springs, and exhibit 
an oscillating or wavy motion, whence the name. Also 
called Oacillatoria. 
Oscillariaceae (os-i-la-ri-a'se-e), n. pi. [NL.. 
< Oscillaria + -aeea.] An order of confervoid 
algte, typified by the genus Oscillaria. forming 
dense felted masses of delicate blue-green 
threads in running or more abundantly in stag- 
nant fresh water, rarely in salt water, and some- 
times in thermal springs. The only certainly known 
method of multiplication is by means of hormogones. 
Also called Oscillatoriacece. 
oscillate (os'i-lat), v. ; pret. and pp. oscillated, 
ppr. oscillating. K L. oscillatus, pp. of oscillare 
( > It. oscillare = Pg. oscillar = Sp. oscilar = F. 
osciller), swing, (. oscillum, a swing, usually iden- 
tified with oscillum, a little face or mask hung 
to a tree and swaying with the wind, dim. of os, 
mouth, face: seeos 2 .] I. intrants. 1. To swing; 
move backward and forward ; vibrate, as a pen- 
dulum. 
A Jar of water, if you shake it, has a perfectly definite 
time in which it oscillates, and that is very easily measured. 
W. K. Clifford, Lectures, I. 201. 
Hence 2. To vary or fluctuate ; waver. 
His [the Nabob's] weak and unprincipled mind oscillated 
between servility and insolence. Macaulay, Lord Clive. 
His ITyndnll's] position . . . obliges him to oscillate 
between materialism and pantheism, and to present a 
strange aspect of Inconsistency. 
Dawson, Nature and the Bible, p. 196. 
Oscillating blower, cylinder, engine. See the nonns. 
OscUlatlng bob. Same as balance-bob. Oscillating 
machine. Same as cradle printing-machine (which see, 
under cradle). Oscillating piston. See piston. =Syn, 
2. Vacillate, Waver, etc. See flmtuate. 
II. trans. To cause to swing or move back- 
ward and forward ; cause to vibrate or swing 
to and fro. 
The cam, which oscillates the valve, has two V-shaped 
recesses. Elect. Ret. (Amer.X XIII. 3. 
oscillation (os-i-la'shon), n. [= F. oscillation 
= Sp oscilacion = Pg. oscillaySo = It. oscilla- 
zione, < L. oscillatio(n-), a swinging, < oscillare, 
swing: see oscillate.'] 1. The act of oscillating ; 
a kind of vibration in which a,bodyof sensible 
size swings backward and forward, not by vir- 
tue of its own elasticity merely; a swinging 
like that of a pendulum. 
If we give to a pendulum at rest a slight impulse, or a 
strong impulse, the oscillation* will be respectively small 
or large ; but for the same pendulum the duration of each 
oscillation will be always the same. Blaserna, Sound, p. 2. 
2. Variation or fluctuation, in general; waver- 
ing. 
In this human world there is a wide margin for iM'illn- 
tion. Theodore Parker, Ten Sermons, Justice and her 
[Conscience. 
3. Same as vibration in the technical acoustical 
sense. [Rare.] 4. In music, same as beaft, 7 
(a), or beating, 5. [Bare.] Amplitude of a simple 
oscillation. See amplitude. Angular oscillation, gy- 
ration. Axis of oscillation of a pendulum, see orisi . 
Center of oscillation. See centeri. Forced oscil- 
lations, oscillations imparted to a body by an intermit- 
tent or oscillatory force, and having a different period from 
those the body might have without such a force. Thus, 
a pendulum of given construction, at a place where grav- 
ity has a given intensity, will oscillate in a certain tune, if 
left to itself. But by imparting an oscillatory motion 
to its support, it may be forced to perform oscillations of 
a widely different period. = Bvn. Swaying, etc. See ri- 
bration. 
oscitate 
OSCillative (os'i-lu-tiv), . [< oscillate + -ice. ] 
Having a tendency to oscillate; vibratory. /.. 
Tut/tor, (/in/,. Diet.) 
oscillator (os'i-la-tor), n. [< NL. oscillator, < 
L. (wcillarr. swing; see iw<lliitr.~\ 1. One who 
or that which oscillates. 2. One of the Oxcil- 
laturin. 3. In much., any oscillating machine 
or part of a machine, as the oscillating shuttle 
of a sewing-machine, or the mechanism by 
which a power-hammer is vibrated or tilted. 
Oscillatoria (os'i-la-to'ri-a), . [NL. (Vau- 
cher), < L. oscillare, oscillate: see oscillate.] 
Same as Oscillaria. 
Oscillatoriacese (os'i-la-to-ri-a'se-e), n. pi. 
[NL., < Oscillatoria + -acece.] Same as Oseil- 
luriaccee. 
oscillatory (os'i-la-to-ri), . [= F. oscillatoire 
= Sp. osalatorio = Pg. oscillatorio ; as oscillate 
+ -ory.] Moving backward and forward like a 
pendulum; swinging; oscillating: as, an ogcil- 
latory movement. 
The great tidal-wave, which travels around the earth, 
Is an oscillatory wave, and not a wave of translation. 
Huxley, Physiography, p. 180. 
Oscillatory combination, in mineral., the formation of 
an apparent crystalline surface by the combination of two 
different planes occurring alternately in successive nar- 
row lines. 
oscine (os'in), a. and n. [Short for oscinine.] 
I. a. Of or pertaining to the Oscines: applied to 
those Passeres which are acromyodian and to 
their type of structure : as, an oscine bird ; an 
oscine syrinx. Also oscinine, oscinian. 
II. . An oscine bird ; a member of the 0e- 
nes. 
Oscines (os'i-nez)j n. pi. [NL., < L. oscen 
(oscin-). a singing bird, esp. in auspices, a divin- 
ing bird, < obs-, ob-, before, + eanere, sing: see 
cant?, chant.] A suborder of birds of the order 
Passeres, the Passeres acromyodi, a group of 
singing birds, characterized by having several 
distinct pairs of intrinsic muscles of the syrinx 
inserted into the ends of the upper bronchial 
half-rings, constituting a complex and effective 
musical apparatus. The side of the tarsus Is usually 
covered with a horny plate, meeting Its fellow in a sharp 
ridge behind, and the primaries are nine, or ten In num- 
ber, the first one being short or spurious. The Oscines are 
regarded as the highest or most perfectly developed rep- 
resentatives of the class of birds; they constitute the 
great majority of Passeres, the non-oscine Passerei form- 
ing another suborder. As originally used by Merrem in 
his classification of birds (181 3), Oscines formed one of two 
divisions of that author's Uymenopodes, and was divided 
into Oscines amirostres, equivalent to the modern fringil- 
line and tanagrine birds, and Oscines tenuirostres, embra- 
cing a great variety of tenuirostral, dentlrostral, and cul- 
trirostral birds, together with some, such as Todui and 
Coraciat, now excluded from Oscines. See cut under 
niyhtinijale. 
oscinian (o-sin'i-an), a. [< Oseines + -tan.] 
Same as oscine. A. Newton, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 
41. 
Oscinidas (o-sin'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Oscines + 
-ida:.] A family of IHptera, named by Fallen in 
1820 from the genus Oscinis. 
Oscinine (os'i-nin), a. and . [< Oscines + -ine 1 .] 
Same as oscine. 
Oscinis (os'i-nis), n. [NL. (Latreille, 1804), 
appar. irreg. < L. oscen (gen. oscinis), a singing 
bird: see Oscines.] A genus of dipterous in- 
sects, made the type of the family Oscinidte, or 
placed in the family Chtoropidce. It is composed 
of small or very small dark-colored files, distinguished 
from Chlorops by the extension of the marginal vein to the 
end of the fourth longitudinal vein, and from Siphonella 
by its shorter scutellum and impressed lower face. The 
larvae are mostly leaf-miners, and the flies are usually cap- 
tured in grass. Many European and American species are 
described. O. frit or 0. mstator Is very destructive to grain 
in Europe ; and O. brassicoe and 0. trt/olii respectively dam- 
age cabbage and clover in the United States. 
oscitancy (os'i-tan-si), n. [< oscitan(t) + -cy.] 
1. The act of gaping or yawning. 2. Unusual 
sleepiness; drowsiness; dullness; stupidity. 
Natural osdlancy Inherent in the tribe. 
Swift, Tale of a Tab. 
One man's want of leisure Is no excuse for the oscitancy 
and ignorance of those who have time to spare. 
Locke, Conduct of Understanding, f 37. 
OSCitant (os'i-tant), a. [= F. oscitant, < L. os- 
citan(t-)s, ppr. of oscitare, oscitari, gape, yawn : 
see oscitate.] 1 . Yawning ; gaping. 2. Sleepy ; 
drowsy; dull; sluggish. Decay of Christian 
Piety. 
oscitantly (os'i-tant-H), adv. In an oscitant 
manner; yawningly; drowsily. 
oscitate (os'i-tat), v. i. ; pret. and pp. oscitated, 
ppr. oscitating. [< L. oscitatus, pp. of oscitare, 
oscitari, open the mouth wide, gape, yawn, < 
os, the mouth, + ciere, put in motion : see cite 1 .] 
To yawn; gape with sleepiness. Imp. Diet. 
