452 O L 
O'LDNEY, a (mall ifland near the wefc coaft of Scotland. 
Lat. 58. n. N. Ion. 5. 2.W. 
O'LDYS (William), an hiftorical writer, was the natu¬ 
ral fon of Dr. Oldys, chancellor of Lincoln, and advo¬ 
cate of the court of admiralty. Having lived a diffolute 
life, and expended what property had been left him, he 
became keeper of lord Oxford’s library, of which he 
formed the catalogue when that colle&ion was fold by 
Ofborne.the bookfeller. He was alfo employed to fuper- 
intend the publication of the Harleian Mifcellany. The 
only public poft he ever had was that of Norroy king-at- 
artris. He died in 1761, at the age of feventy-four. His 
principal works are, The Life of fir Walter Raleigh ; 
fome articles in the General Hiftorical Di&ionary; thole 
in the Biographia Britannica figned G; the Britiih Libra¬ 
rian ; Introdudlion to Haywood’s Britifli Mufe ; and the 
Life of Richard Carew the antiquary. 
OLE'A,/! [the celebrated eAkik of the Greeks, whofe 
value, on account of its oil, has rendered it famous 
throughout all antiquity. The word is derived from A<?io;, 
linooth, and alludes probably to the nature and qualities 
of the oil ; for there is no remarkable fmoothnefs about 
the plant, except indeed the upper furface of its leaves. 
OIca is commonly put for the tree ; Oliva for the fruit; 
and Oleum for the juice of the fruit; but this is not con- 
Ifant.] T he Olive-tree ; in botany, a genus of the clafs 
diandria, order rnonogynia, natural order of fepiariae, 
(jafmineae, Jeff) Generic characters — Calyx: perian- 
thium one-leafed, tubular, Tmall, deciduous; mouth 
four-toothed, ereft. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-form ; 
tube cylindrical, the length of the calyx; border four- 
parted, flat; fegments fubovate. Stamina : filaments two, 
oppofite, awl-thaped, fhort ; antherae ereCt. Piftillum : 
germen roundilh ; ftyle fimple, very fhort; ftigma bifid, 
thickifh, with the clefts emarginate. Pericarpium : drupe 
fubovate, frnooth, one-celled. Seed : nut ovate-oblong, 
wrinkled, bilocular.-— EJfential Character. Corolla four- 
cleft, with fubovate fegments; drupe one-feeded. There 
are twelve fpecies, including thole lately brought from 
New Holland. See Noteltea, p. 250. 
1. Olea Europsea, the European olive: leaves lanceo¬ 
late, quite entire; racemes axillary, contracted. 
This is unquestionably the original fpecies of Olea, 
which has been held in all ages as the bounteous gift of 
Minerva to mankind. It has always been confidered as 
emblematical of peace and plenty; indeed, it has been re¬ 
marked, that the great quantity of oil which it produces 
in fome countries, effeCtually realifes the latter of thefe 
bleflings. It is conjeCtured that the olive came originally 
from Alia, being cultivated in moft parts of Paleftine, and 
liavinggiven a name to the celebrated mount near Jeru- 
falem. The following are the varieties of this fpecies : 
a.. O. communis, the common European olive: leaves 
lanceolate, flat, hoary underneath. The w ild olive grows 
naturally in woods, in the fouth of France, Spain, and 
Italy; and is therefore not cultivated. The leaves are 
much fhorter and (lifter than thofe of the cultivated olive. 
The branches are frequently armed with thorns, and the 
fruit is fmall and of no value. 
(3. O. verrucofa, the warted olive : leaves lanceolate, 
flat, villofe underneath ; branches warted. Native of the 
Cape of Good Hope. Given by Thunberg as the com¬ 
mon European olive, of which it is a variety. 
7. O. longifolia, the long-leaved European olive : leaves 
linear-lanceolate, flat, filvery underneath. The inhabi¬ 
tants of the fouth of France chiefly cultivate this, from 
which they make the beft oil, a great branch of trade in 
Provence and Languedoc ; the young fruit is alfo the moft 
efteemed when pickled. 
$■. O. latifolia, the broad-leaved European olive : leaves 
oblong, flat, hoary underneath. This is chiefly cultivated 
in Spain, where the trees grow to a much larger fize than 
the preceding ; the leaves are much larger, and not fo 
white on their under fide. 'The fruit is near twice the fize 
E A. 
of the Provence olive, but of 3 ftrong rank flavour; and 
the oil is too ftrong for moft Englifh palates. 
e. O. ferruginea, the iron-coloured European olive : 
leaves lanceolate, ferruginous underneath. 
C O. obliqua, the twifted-leaved European olive: leaves- 
oblong, bent obliquely, pale underneath. 
i). O. buxifolia, the box-leaved European olive : leaves 
oblong-oval; branches fpreading, divaricating. 
The olive feldont becomes a large tree; but two or 
three Items frequently rife from the lame root, from twen¬ 
ty to thirty feet high, putting out branches almoft their 
whole length, covered with a grey bark. Leaves Itiflf, 
about two inches and a half long, and half an inch broad 
in the middle, gradually diminilhing to both ends, of a 
lively green on their upper fide, and hoary on their under. 
Handing oppoiite. The flowers are produced in fmall 
axillary bunches; they are fmall, white, and have lhort 
tubes, fpreading open at top. The fruit is of an oblong 
fpberoidal form, and of a yellowilh-green colour, turning- 
black when ripe; flefn hardilh, thick, glaucous; Iheil 
bony, ovate-oblong, acuminate at both ends, above at 
the tip marked with two' oblong lateral callufes,' the reft: 
of the furface very obfeurely wrinkled; it is thick, and 
is divided within into two cells; one of them however is 
very frequently obliterated, one only being fertile, and 
that lined with a highly-poliflied cartilaginous cruft. Re¬ 
ceptacle filiform, fpringing"from the bottom of the ceil, 
and fattened to the fide of it, reaching upwards to the 
feed, and inferted a little be’-ow the tip into the umbilical 
fear. Seed oblong, roundifh, acuminate downwards, pale- 
dun or draw-coloured. 
The common mode of making oil from olives in the 
kingdom of Naples, is to ertifti the fruit to a pafte with a 
perpendicular mill-done; running round a trough. This 
pafte is put into flat round bafkets, made of ruffles, piled 
one upon another under the prels. After the firft preffure, 
Raiding water is poured into each baffler, its contents 
flitted up, and the operation repeated till no more oil 
can be fkimmed off the furface of the tubs beneath. By 
this method the oil is feluom pure, keeps ill, and foon 
grows rancid. Another procefs is recommended, which 
is performed by pounding the fruit in a mortar. A 
handful of the crufhed fubftance is thrown into along 
woollen bag, which is rubbed very hard upon a (loping 
board, and then wrung; afterwards hot water is added, 
and it continues to be prefled as long as a drop of oil can 
be drawn from it. This is fuppofed to have been the ori¬ 
ginal mode of extraction ; and, if performed by a fkiiful 
flout workman, to be much more effectual than the com¬ 
mon one. See the article Oil, p. 436. 
Unripe olives pickled, efpecially the Provence and 
Lucca forts, are to many perlons extremely grateful, and 
are fuppofed to excite appetite and promote digeftion. 
They are prepared by repeatedly fteeping them in water, 
to which fome add alkaline Fait or quick-lime, in order 
to fhorten the operation ; after this they are waffled, and 
prelerved in a pickle of common fait and water, to which 
an aromatic is fometimes added. But the principal con- 
fumption of olives is in the preparation of common falad- 
oil. The bed is of a bright pale amber-colour, bland to 
the tafte, and without any finell. It becomes rancid by 
age, efpecially if kept in a warm place. It congeals by 
cold at 38° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, but does not 
become rancid if kept in a degree of cold equal to the 
freezing-point of water. All the mild expreffed oils of 
vegetables are nearly of the fame nature ; a preference 
however is generally given to the moft fluid ; hence the 
oils of olives and almonds are moft commonly directed 
for internal ufe in medicine. Oil, in fome fliape, form* 
a confiderable part of our food, both animal and vegeta¬ 
ble, and affords much nourifhment; but, with fome, oily 
fubftances do not unite with the contents of the llomach, 
efpecially where acids abound. 
Oliye-oil is often fophilticated by a mixture of poppy- 
