O M P 
attend the fick and wounded; nor had they any water but 
what came from a floop of war that lay abreaft of the fort. 
In this defperate fitnation, they refolved, notwithftanding 
the menaces of the Spanifh commander, to render the 
place as unferviceable as they could. They fpiked-up all 
the guns, deftroying the ftores and ammunition that could 
not be carried oft'; they even locked the gates of the fort, 
after which, they embarked without the lofs of a fingle 
man. All this was performed in defiance of the large 
force that befieged them ; and the exploit, when duly 
conlidered, mult appear not lefs a matter of aftonifiiment, 
than the extraordinary manner in which the fort had been 
taken. The officer who commanded in this remarkable 
retreat, was captain Hulke, of the navy. 
OMO'E, a final 1 Danifh ifiand in the Great Belt: ten 
miles fouth of Corfoer. Lat. 55.10. N. lon.n.jo. E. 
OM'OLEY SI'NAB, a town of Algiers: thirty-four 
miles fouth of Conftantina. 
OMOLOG'ICAL, adj. [from omology.'] Agreeable to; 
correfponding; having proportion. 
OMOL'OGY, f. [from the Gr. op.o?, like, and Aoyo;, 
proportion.] Agreement; fuitablenefs; proportion. Scott. 
OM'OLON, a river of Ruftia, which runs into the Ko- 
lima twenty miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Niznei Novimlkoi. 
OMON'PHON, a fmall ifiand in the Eaftern Indian Sea, 
near the coaft of Samar. Lat. 11.7. N. Ion. 125.45. E. 
OMON'T, a town of France, in the department of the 
Ardennes : ten miles fouth of Charleville. 
OMOPAN'ORATE, or Ompanorate, f. An appella¬ 
tion given to the priefts of the ifiand of Madagafcar. Thefe 
are the fchoolmafters of the country, and teach Arabic 
and writing. They have feveral books; but none of them 
contain more than fome chapters of the Alcoran, and a 
few phyfical recipes. The ompanorates deal much in ta- 
lifmans, and other charms, which they call liitidzi, and 
which they fell to the grandees of the place. They alfo 
make little ftatues, or images, called auli, which they 
confult as oracles, and to which they afcribe various 
powers; as the making rich, deftroying enemies, &c. 
OMOPH'AGI, [formed of the Gr. wp.o?, crude, and 
tpxya, I eat.] Among the ancient geographers, a name 
given to certain nations who fed on raw flefti; as the Scy¬ 
thians, See. . 
OMOPHA'GIA, an ancient Greek feftival, in honour 
of Bacchus, furnamed Omophagos, i. e. Eater of Raw 
Flefti. This feftival was obferved in the fame manner 
with the other feftivals of Bacchus, in which they coun¬ 
terfeited madnefs. What was peculiar to it, was, that 
the worfiiippers ufed to eat the entrails of goats, raw and 
bloody, in imitation of the god, who was fuppofed to do 
the fame thing. 
OMOPHO'RIUM, f. [from the Gr. co[j.o<;, ftioulder, and 
<pe%u, I bear.] A little cloak, anciently worn by the bi- 
ftiops over their flioulders, thereby to reprefent the good 
Ihepherd, who brings home the ftrayed ftieep on his ftioul- 
ders. For this reafon the omophorium w'as put off at the 
opening of the Gofpels ; becaufe, then the true fliepherd, 
Jefus Chrift, was fuppofed prefent in perfon.—Some con¬ 
found the omophorium with the pallium worn by the pa¬ 
triarchs ; but there was this difference, that the pallium 
was a long cloak of purple, and was peculiarly referved 
for patriarchs ; though fince given to fome bifliops, by 
way of diftinftion. Chambers. 
OMOPLA'TA, or Om'oplate,/ [from the Gr. 
a fhoulder, and sAare?, broad.] The fhoulder-blade. 
OM'PHACINE OI'L, a vifeous brown juice, extradited 
from unripe olives. With this oil the ancient uthhtce, 
when going to wreftle, anointed themfelves; and, when 
that gymnaftic exercife was over, they rolled themfelves 
in the fand, which, mixing with the oil and fweat on their 
bodies, conftitufed the ftrigmenta, fo highly efteemed in 
the cure of feveral difeafes. This precious medicine was 
carefully lcraped off the body of the athleta with a kind 
of inftrument fomething like a comb, which was called 
Vol. XVII. No. 1192. 
O M P 4?1 
Jhigills; and, fuch was the demand for the ferapings, that 
they were a very lucrative article of trade. 
OMPHALAN'DRIA, f. in botany. See Omphalea, 
OM'PHALE, in fabulous hiftory, a queen of Lydia, 
daughter of Jardanus. She married Tmolus, who at his 
death left hermiltrefs of his kingdom. Omphalehad been 
informed of the great exploits of Hercules, and wifhed to 
feefo illuftrious a hero. Her with was foon gratified. Af¬ 
ter the murder of Eurytus, Hercules fell fick ; and was 
ordered to be fold as a flave, that he might recover his 
health and the right ufe of his fenfes. Mercury was com- 
miffioned to fell him; and Omphale bought him, and re- 
ftored him to liberty. The hero became enamoured of his 
miftrefs ; and the queen favoured his paftion, and had a 
fon by him, whom fome call Agelaus, and others Lamon. 
From this fon were defeewded Gyges and Crcefus ; but 
other accounts make thefe Lydian monarchs fpring from 
Alcseus, a fon of Hercules by one of the female fervants of 
Omphale. Hercules is reprefented by the poets as fo def- 
perately enamoured of the queen, that, to conciliate her 
efteem, he fpins by her fide among her women, while fine 
covers herfelf with the lion’s lkin, and arms herfelf with 
the club of the hero, and often ftrikes him with her 
fandals,for the uncouth manner with which he holds 
the diltaff, See. Their fondnefs was mutual. As they 
once travelled together, they came to a grotto on Mount 
Tinclus, where the queen dreffed herfelf in the habit of 
her lover, and obliged him to appear in a female garment. 
After they had fupped, they both retired to reft in different 
rooms, as a facrifice on the morrow to Bacchus required. 
In the night, Faunus, or rather Pan, who was enamoured 
of Omphale, introduced himfelf into the cave. He went 
to the bed of the queen, but the lion’s fkin perfuaded him 
that it was the drefs of Hercules ; and therefore he repaired 
to the bed of Hercules, in hopes to find there the objeft 
of his affedtion. The female drefs of Hercules deceived 
him, and he laid himfelf down by his fide. The hero was 
awakened, and kicked the intruder into the middle of the 
cave. The noife awoke Omphale ; and Faunus w'as difeo- 
vered lying on the ground, greatly difappointed and 
afhamed. Lempricre's Claffical DIB. 
OMPPIALE'A,/! [altered by Linmeus,'having been ori¬ 
ginally called Omphalandria in Browne’s Hift. of Jamaica. 
The word is derived from op.<pa.’hos, a navel; and alludes to 
the urnbilicated fiiape of the antherse.] In botany, a genus 
of the clafs monoecia, order monadelphia, natural order of 
tricocceas, (euphorbia:, Jvjf.) Generic characters—I. Male 
flowers. Calyx: perianthium fouror five leaved, ftpreading; 
leaflets, two oppofite larger, ovate, convex, coloured. Co¬ 
rolla : none; nedtary, glands four, or a flefliy ring en¬ 
circling the germen. Stamina: filament one, columnar, 
thick, fliort; antheras two, oblong, incumbent, connate 
at top, polliniferous at the edge ; or one, plano-convex, 
trifid. II. Female flowers, in the fame raceme. Calyx : 
perianthium five-leaved ; leaflets three larger, ovate, en¬ 
circling the germen. Corolla: none. Piftillum: germen 
ovate; ftyle none; ftigma trifid. Pericarpium: capfule 
oblong or roundifh, flefhy, bluntly triangular, three-celled, 
three-valved. Seeds : nuts folitary, ovate, hard.— Ejfen- 
tial Charafter. Male calyx four-leaved ; corolla none ; 
filaments columnar, with the antherae inferted into it. 
Female calyx five-leaved; corolla none; ftigma trifid; 
capfule fiefhy, three-celled ; nuts folitary. 
1. Omphalea axillaris: racemes axillary; leaves diftich, 
ovate, acuminate, fliining, on very fhort petioles ; ftipules 
mucronate; item fhrubby. 2. Omphalea cauliflora: ra¬ 
cemes cauline, fcaly at the bafe; leaves diftich, oblong, 
acute, (hining; ftem ar'oorefcent. Natives of Jamaica. 
3. Omphalea cordata: racemes compound, leafy,-ter¬ 
minating ; leaves fcattered, cordate, villofe underneath, 
biglandular at the bafe ; ftem fcandent. Native of rocky 
coppices in Jamaica, and other parts of the Weft Indies, 
4. Omphalea nucifera : racemes compound, leafy, ter¬ 
minating; leaves fcattered, oblong, very fmooth, biglan- 
6 G dular 
