20 O S T 
by the open air. The main trunk is ufually as thick as 
a man’s leg; and the branches that grow out from it are 
thickeft near the trunk, and thinner as they feparate from 
it. The thinneft are about the fize of a man’s finger. 
The ofteocolla found in the earth is at fir ft foft and 
duftiie; but in half an hour’s time, if expofed to the air, 
it becomes as hard as we find it in the (hops. The method 
to take up a perfeft piece for a fpecimen, is to open the 
ground, clear away the fand, and leave it fo for an hour 
or thereabouts ; in this time it will harden, and may be 
taken out whole. It is certain that the ofteocolla is pro¬ 
duced at this time; for, if a pit be cleared of it, there 
will more grow there in a year or two, only it will be 
fofter, and will not harden fo eafily in the air as the 
other. 
The above account is chiefly from the Phil. Tranf. 
N® 39. for the year 166B. And, in a fubfequent volume, 
for 1739, tw0 furgical cafes are given, in which the ex¬ 
hibition of ofteocolla as medicine and as food, was fup- 
pofed to have contributed very confiderably to the for¬ 
mation of bone, fo as to reftore what had been loft by 
compound frafture and exfoliation. Mr. Ambrofe Bearer, 
of Norimberg, (Phil. Tranf. 1748.) endeavours to prove, 
that ofteocolla is the petrified root of the black poplar- 
tree, Populus niger. But fee the experiments of Mar- 
graf, in the Mem. of the Berlin Academy for 1748. 
OSTE'OCOPE, f. [from the Gr. oreov, a bone, and 
y.ovlu, to cut.] Pains in the bones, or rather in the nerves 
and membranes that encompafs them. 
OSTEOL'OGER, f. A defcriber of the bones.— Of- 
teologers have very well obferved, that the parts apper¬ 
taining to the bones, which ftand out at a diftance from 
the bodies, are either the adnate or the enate parts. 
Smith on Old Age. 
OSTEOL'OGIST, f. An anatomift ; one (killed in of- 
teology. 
OSTEOL'OGY, f. [from the Gr. ej-iov, bone, and 
*oyo?, a difcourfe.] A defcription of the bones.—Richard 
Farloe, well known for his acutenefs in difleftion of dead 
bodies, and his great fkill in ofteolugy , has now laid by 
that praftice. Tatler. 
OSTEOSPER'MUM, f. [from the Gr. orsov, bony, and 
crn-epya, feed ; in allufion to its hard bony feeds.] In bo¬ 
tany, a genus of the clafs fyngenefia, order polygamia 
neceffaria, natural order of compofitae difcoidete, (corym- 
biferae, Jujf.) Generic characters—Calyx s common Sim¬ 
ple, hemifpherical, many-leaved ; leaflets awl-fhaped, 
Small. Corolla: compound rayed; corollets, herma¬ 
phrodite very many in the difk ; females about ten in 
the ray. Proper of the hermaphrodite tubular, five¬ 
toothed, the length of the calyx ; of the female ligulate, 
linear, three-toothed, very long. Stamina: in the her¬ 
maphrodites ; filaments five, capillary, very lhort ; an¬ 
ther cylindrical, tubulous. Piftillum : in the herma¬ 
phrodites ; germen very fmall; ftyle filiform, fcarcely 
the length of the ftamens; ftigma obfolete: in the fe¬ 
males, germen globular ; ftyle filiform, the length of the 
ftamens ; ftigma emarginate. Pericarpium : none ; calyx 
unchanged. Seeds : in the hermaphrodites, none; in 
the females, folitary, fubglobular, coloured, at length 
hardened, inclofing a kernel of the fame fliape ; pappus 
none. Receptacle: naked, flat.— EJfential Charader. 
Calyx Ample, or in two rows, many-leaved, almoft equal. 
Seeds globular, coloured, bony, (berried or nucamenta- 
ceous, Gartner.) Down none; receptacle naked. There 
are feventeen fpecies, all natives of the Cape of Good 
Hope. 
1. Ofteofpermum fpinofum, or prickly ofteofpermum : 
fpines branched. This is a low (hrubby plant, which fel- 
dom rifes above three feet high, and divides into many 
branches; the ends of the (hoots are befet with green 
branching fpines ; the leaves are very clammy, efpecially 
in warm weather; they are long and narrow, and fet on 
without any order. The flowers are produced fingly at 
the ends of the (hoots; they are yellow, and appear in 
O S T 
July and Auguft. It is very nearly allied to the next 
fpecies. The fruit hangs down on an oblong peduncle, 
and confifts of duflcy-purple, bony, globular, berries, 
difpofed in a ring. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Cultivated in 1700 by Dr. Uvedale. It flowers from Fe¬ 
bruary to Oftober. 
2. Ofteofpermum pififerum, or fmooth ofteofpermum : 
leaves lanceolate, mucronate, fubpetioled, fmooth, fer¬ 
rate; branchlets angular-toothletted. Stem four or five 
feet high, dividing into many branches towards the top, 
which fpread out flat on every fide; they have a purplilh 
bark. Leaves of a thick confidence, and fucculent, al¬ 
ternate, of a light-green colour, from two to three inches 
long, and one inch broad in the middle ; more pointed 
than in the reft. Berry oval, at firft green, then red, but, 
when fully ripe, of a dark-purple colour, having a thin 
pulp, which covers one hard feed. It produces tufts of 
yellow flowers at the extremity of the (hoots, from 
fpring to autumn ; and frequently ripens feeds. It was 
cultivated in 1757 by Mr. Miller. 
3. Ofteofpermum moniliferum, or poplar-leaved ofteo¬ 
fpermum: leaves obovate, ferrate, petioled, fubdecur- 
rent. This rifes with a flirubby (talk feven or eight feet 
high, covered with a fmooth grey bark, and dividing 
into feveral branches. Flowers in clufters at the ends of 
the branches, fix or eight coming out together on 
petioles an inch and a half long; they are yellow, and 
(haped like thofe of ragwort (Senecio Jacobsea), having 
about ten ligulate florets in the ray. This plant flowers 
but feldom in England ; the time of its flowering is July 
or Auguft. It was cultivated here in 1714. 
4. Ofteofpermum ilicifolium, or holm-leaved ofteofper¬ 
mum : leaves oblong, tooth-angulate, rugged, half-em¬ 
bracing ; branches grooved. Leaves feflile, angular, with 
three teeth on each fide, rolled in at the edge ; above 
rugged, beneath villofe. 
5. Ofteofpermum ciliatum, or fringe-leaved ofteofper¬ 
mum : leaves elliptic-lanceolate, crenate, ciliate. This 
is a woolly (hrub, with oblong, toothed, ciliate, leaves. 
6. Ofteofpermum junceum, or reedy ofteofpermum : 
leaves linear, acute, keeled, aidant; panicle terminat¬ 
ing. Stem five feet high, upright, ftiff and ftraight, 
even. Leaves awl-(haped or linear, ftiff, even, feflile, 
very remote. 
7. Ofteofpermum triquetrum, or three-fided ofteofper¬ 
mum: leaves linear, three-lided. Stem fuffruticofe; 
leaves even, a finger’s length, abundant. Flowers-from 
the uppermoft axils, folitary, yellow. 
8. Ofteofpermum corymbofum: leaves lanceolate,. 
fmooth ; flowers panicled. Stem upright, the thicknefs 
of a finger. Leaves alternate, feflile, ftiff, a finger’s 
length, on the flowering branches fmaller, rugged at the 
edge. Flowers yellow. Seeds oblong, larger than grains 
of wheat. 
9. Ofteofpermum imbricatum: leaves ovate, blunt, 
imbricate. Stem two feet high. Peduncle terminating, 
filiform, the length of the flower; one-flowered, pubef- 
cent, leaflefs ; corolla yellow. It differs from O. polyga- 
loides, in not having the leaves lanceolate, or acute, or 
keeled; and the peduncles without a linear leaflet. 
10. Ofteofpermum herbaceum : leaves ovate, fubfeflile, 
fpatulate, ferrate 5 ftem herbaceous. This refembles a 
Verbefina. Leaves exaCtly fpatulate. 
11. Ofteofpermum niveum : leaves ovate, petioled, 
toothed, woolly. The whole herb is covered with a thick 
and very white lanugo. 
12. Ofteofpermum perfoliatum : leaves ovate, petioled, 
angular-toothed, tomentofe underneath, petioles perfo¬ 
liate-embracing. This is lingular in having the petiole 
dilated at the infertion, like a little wheel round the ftem. 
13. Ofteofpermum polygaloides: leaves lanceolate, 
fcattered, decurrent, fmooth, quite entire, axils woolly. 
Stalk about four feet high, dividing into many fmall 
branches. The flowers come out at the end of the 
branches, Handing fingly on peduncles about an inch 
z long. 
