500 O N S 
Siberia. Willdenow tells us this may be eafily known 
from all the other fpecies, by its leaves having very long 
ftalks ; its chillers being terminal and compound, with¬ 
out any braCtes ; and its calyx equal in length to the co¬ 
rolla. This is omitted by Mr. Profeflbr Martyn. 
11. Onofma molle : downy; fegments of the corolla 
fomewhat ovate. Found in the country of Tennelfee 
about Nalhville. This appears to have much refemblance 
to the former, but the whole herb is hoary with foft whi- 
tifli hairs. Leaves oblong-oval, with a central rib, and 
two pair of lateral ones, fpringing more or lefs from its 
bafe. Corolla like the laft, but with broader fegments. 
This fpecies belongs to a genus called by Michaux Onnf- 
modium, from its likenefs to Onofma. That genus con- 
fift-s but of two fpecies ; of which the firft is the Lithof- 
permum Virginianum, and the other is theprefent fpe¬ 
cies. To avoid multiplying genera, we have therefore 
placed it here. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants, being natives 
of rocks, are bell cultivated on a wall or rubbifh. Sow 
the feeds fc-on after they are ripe, laying the llalks over 
the place, to (hade them from the fun. When the plants 
are well eftablifhed, if they are permitted to fcatter their 
feeds, they will maintain themfelves very well. In the 
common ground they are fliort-lived, and apt to rot. 
ONO'VA, a town of Hungary: four miles north of 
Pancfova. 
ONRE'AGH, a river of thecounty of Tyrone, Ireland, 
which rifes on the borders of Fermanagh, and, flowing eaft- 
ward, joins its waters to the Cameron. 
ONRUST', a fmall ifland near the coaft of java. This 
ifland lies about three leagues north-weft of Batavia. It 
is nearly of a circular form, and about 4800 feet in cir¬ 
cumference, and about fix or eight feet above the level of 
the water. In the centre of the ifland is a fort with four 
baftions and three curtains, warehoufes, and other 
buildings; on thefe fortifications are fixteen pieces of 
cannon of different fixes. Here is alfo a church, ere&ed 
in the year 1730. The Dutch Eaft-India Company have 
ten or twelve large warehoufes always full of goods, as 
pepper, japan, copper, faltpetre, tin, &c. On the north 
fide of the ifland are two faw-mills; and on the fouth fide 
there is a long pier-head, on which are three large wood¬ 
en cranes, ereCted for the purpofe of fixing mails in fliips, 
or unftepping them. Three fliips can lie here, behind 
each other, alongfide of the pier, in deep water, to be 
repaired, or to receive or difcharge their cargoes. There 
is another pier, a little more to the weftward, called Japan 
Pier, where one more fhip can lie to load or unload. “ It 
would be injuftice,” fays Capt. Cook, “ to the officers and 
workmen of this yard, not to declare, that, in my opinion, 
there is not a marine yard in the world, where a fhip can 
be laid down with more convenience, fafety, and difpatch, 
or repaired with more diligence and fkill.” Although 
this ifland is but fmall, the number of inhabitants is fup- 
pofed to be near 3000, among whom are 300 European 
workmen. 
ONS, a fmall ifland in the Atlantic, near the coaft of 
Spain. Lat. 42. 23. N. Ion. 8. 55. W. 
ONS EN BRA'YE, a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Oife : feven miles weft of Beauvais. 
ON'SALD, a town of Sweden, in the province of Hal- 
land : four miles fouth-fouth-weft of Kongfback. 
ON'SET, f. Attack; ftorm; aflault; firft brunt.—As 
well the foldier dieth, which ftandeth ftill, as he that 
gives the braveft onfet. Sidney .—Without men and provi¬ 
sions, it is impoflible to fecure conquefts that are made in 
the firft onfets of an invafion. Addijon. 
Him fpying, with frefn onfet heaffail'd, 
And kindling new his courage, feeming queint, 
Struck him fo hugely, that, through great conftraint, 
He made him ftoop. SpenJer. 
Something added or Jet on by way of ornamental appen¬ 
dage. This fenfe, fays Nicholfon, is ftill retained in 
4 
C) N T 
Northumberland, where onfet means a tuft. —A begin¬ 
ning : 
I will with deeds requite thy gentlenefs; 
And for an onfet, Titivs, to advance 
Thy name and honourable family, 
Lavinia will I make my emprefs. Tit. Andronicus^ 
To ON'SET, v.a. To fet upon ; to begin. Not ufed .— 
This for a while was hotly onfetted, and a reafonable price 
offered, but foon cooled again. Carew. 
ONSLAUGHT, f. [on and fay; on-ylagan, Sax.] 
Attack; ftorm; onfet. Notin uje. —The feveral duels, 
onflaughts, dorms, and military appearances. Guyton on 
D. Quixote. 
They call’d a council, which was bed, 
By liege or onf aught, to invert 
The enemy ; and ’twas agreed 
By ftorm and onf aught to proceed. Hudibras. 
ON'SLOW, a county of North America, in the ftate 
of North Carolina, near the coaft. The inhabitants 
amount to 5474, including 1757 flaves. Swanfborough 
is the chief town. 
ON'SLOW, a town of Nova Scotia: forty-two miles 
north of Halifax. 
ONTA'RIO, a large and fertile county of North Ame¬ 
rica, in the ftate of New York, bounded north by the 
lake Ontario, w'eft by the Genneffee-river, and fouth by 
Steuben county. This county is well watered by the 
Genneffee, and alfo by its tributary ftreams, and a num¬ 
ber of fmall lakes. The chief town is Canandarepoa, 
fituated at the north-weft corner of Canandarqua-lake, 
fifteen miles weft of Geneva. The number of inhabi¬ 
tants is 12,584. 
ONTA'RIO, one of the grand chain of lakes, in North 
America, which divides the United States from Upper 
Canada; fituated between 43.15. and 44. N. lat. and 76. 
30. and 80. W. Ion. It is of a nearly elliptic form, its 
greatell length being from fouth-vveft to north-eaft, and 
its circumference about 600 miles. The divifion-line 
between the ftate of New York and Canada on the north 
partes through this lake ; and leaves within the United 
States, according to Mr. Hutchins’s calculations, 
2,390,000 acres of the water of the lake. It abounds 
with excellent fifli, particularly theOfwego bafs, weighing 
three or four pounds. Its banks are in many places fteep, 
and the fouthern fhore is covered principally with beech- 
trees. This lake communicates with Lake Erie by the 
river Niagara; it receives the waters of Genneflee-river 
from the fouth, and of Onondago at Fort Ofwego from 
the eaft, by which it communicates, through Oneida- 
lake and Wood-creek, with the Mohawk-river. On the 
north-eaft it difcharges itfelf into the river Cataraqui, 
which takes the name of St. Lawrence at Montreal, and 
by this river into the Atlantic Ocean. Its iflands are 
fituated at the eaftern end, and the chief of them are in¬ 
cluded in the Britifh county of Ontario, as enumerated in 
the next article. 
ONTA'RIO, a county in Upper Canada, containing 
the following iflands in Lake Ontario : viz, Tonti, called 
Amherft-ifland ; Ifleau Foret, called Gage-ifland j Grand 
Ille, called Wolfe-ifland ; and I fie Couchois, called Hovve- 
ifland ; and alfo all the iflands between the mouth of the 
Garoqui to the eafternmoft extremity of the late tovvnftiip 
ofMaryfburg, called Point Pleafant. 
ON'TES, a town of Swilferland ; fourteen miles fouth 
of -Seyffel. 
ONTOL'OGIST, f. [from ontology.'] One who confi- 
ders the afteCtions of being in general; a metapbyfician. 
ONTOL'OGY, _/! [from the Gr. o»to$, being, and'Xoyo.-, 
a dilcourfe.] The fcience of the affections of being in ge¬ 
neral; metaphyfics.—The modes, accidents, and rela¬ 
tions, that belong to various beings, are copioufly treated 
of in met.aphyficks, or more properly ontology. Watts's 
Logic. 
Ontology 
