O X A 
140 
Wood-forrel has a grateful acid fade, more agreeable 
than common forrel, and therefore proper to be ufed in 
falads : its acid approaches nearly to that of the juice of 
lemons, or the acid of tartar, with which it alfo corre- 
fpondsin its medical effects, being efteemed refrigerant, 
antifcorbutic, and diuretic. An infufion of the leaves, 
or a whey made by boiling the plant in milk, is ufeful in 
ardent fevers, to allay inordinate heat, and to quench third. 
The London College direfts a conferve of the leaves and 
petals to be made by beating them with thrice their weight 
of fine fugar, and orange-peel. It is called Conferva Lu- 
julcc. The expreffed juice depurated, properly evapora¬ 
ted, and let in a cool place, affords a cryftalline acid 
fait in confiderable quantity, which may be ufed wherever 
vegetable acids are wanted. It is employed to take iron- 
moulds and ink-ftains out of linen ; and is fold under 
the name of eflential fait of lemons. This fait, when ge¬ 
nuine, which it feldom is, confifts of the vegetable alkali 
and a peculiar acid, which, according to Bergman, feems 
more allied to the acid offugarthan that of tartar. What 
is fold for it in this country appears fometimes to confift 
of C. tart, with the addition of a fmall quantity of vitri¬ 
olic acid. For taking outfpotsin linen, the ftained part 
is dipped in water, fprinkled with a little of the fait pow¬ 
dered, then rubbed on a pewter plate, after which the 
fpot is wafhed out with warm water. Dr. Beddoes in¬ 
forms us, that the leaves and ftalks wrapped up in a cab¬ 
bage-leaf, and macerated in warm allies until reduced to 
a pulp, have been fuccefsfully applied to fcrophulous ul¬ 
cers. This poultice fhould remain on the fore for twen¬ 
ty-four hours, and be repeated four times. Afterwards 
the ulcer is to be drefl'ed with a poultice made of the roots 
of the meadow-lweet (Spiraea ulmaria) bruifedand mixed 
up with the fcum of four butter-milk. Doubtlefs fome 
of the foreign fpecies may be fuperior to this in the fame 
way. Thunberg fays that Oxalis cernua grows to the 
_greateft fize and greateft abundance of any fpecies at the 
Cape of Good Hope, and that a good fait was prepared 
from it; but he does not inform us in what quantity. 
Twenty pounds of our wood-forrel leaves, frefh, yield 
fix pounds of juice, from which two ounces two drams 
and one fcruple of fait have been obtained. 
Wood-forrel is common in Europe in woods, and oc¬ 
curs alfo among bufhes, in hedges, and on heaths. It is 
called, fays Gerard, wood-four, four-trefoil, ftubwort, 
and forell du bois ; by herbarifts, alleluya and cuckow’s 
meat, “ by reafon, when itfpringeth forth and flowereth, 
the cuckow fingeth moll, at which time alfo Alleluya 
was wont to be fung in churches.” The names Alle¬ 
luya and Lujula, however, are corrupted from the Cala¬ 
brian name Jnliola. It is called Jtubu-ort, probably from 
its covering the ground among the Hubs in coppices 
when they are cut down. In French it is petits ojtitle or 
Jure lie, and pain cl coueou. 
0 . A variety is found with purple flowers. It is faid 
to be a fmaller plant, and to flower later. Dilcovered in 
a hollow lane between Owram and Halifax. 
S'. With digitated leaves. 
92. Oxalis lupinifolia, or lupin-leaved wood-forrel : 
ftyles very (hort; calyx fmooth ; leaflets flat. 93. Oxalis 
flava, or narrow-leaved wood-forrel: llyles very Ihort ; 
calyx capitately-ciliate ; leaflets channelled-converging. 
94 . Oxalis flabellifolia, or fan-leaved vvood-forrel : llyles 
of middling length ; leaflets linear. 95 . Oxalis pedinata ; 
ftyles very long ; leaflets fmooth. 90 . Oxalis fomentofa : 
ftyles very long; leaflets very hirfute underneath. The 
five lall fpecies are natives of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Propagation and Culture. The European and North- 
American forts require no particular culture. If the 
roVs of the common wood-forrel are planted in a moill 
fliady border, they' will thrive and multiply ; and, if kept 
clean from weeds, will require no other care. If the feeds 
of the other forts are fotvn in an open border, the plants 
O X E 
will rife freely; and, if they are permitted tofcatter, there 
will be a plentiful fupply of plants. " v 
The numerous fpecies from the Cape of Good Hope 
mull be planted in pots, which may be Iheltered in the 
dry ftove, or under a hot-bed frame in winter, where 
they may have as much free air as poflible in mild wea¬ 
ther. Moll of them may be eafily increafed by offsets 
from the roots or bulbs which come out from the fide 
of the ftalks, generally in great abundance. Of O. rep- 
tatrix in particular, Jacquin fays, that as it runs along it 
puts forth bulbs in fuch abundance as in a (hort time to 
fill the pots with plants; but that, in four years during 
Which he had cultivated it, he had only a fingle flower; 
which is common in plants that are fuffered to run at the 
roots. 
The forts from the Eaft and Weft Indies, being more 
tender than thefe, require to be placed in a ftove kept to 
a moderate degree of warmth in winter. They are pro¬ 
pagated by feeds, lown in pots, plunged into a moderate 
hot-bed. When the plants come up, let them fingly in 
pots filled with light fandy earth, and plunged intoafrelh 
hot-bed, (hading them from the fun till they have taken 
new root; after which they mult be treated in the fame 
manner as other tender plants from the fame countries. 
Jacquin remarks of O. barrelieri (n. 4.) from South Ame¬ 
rica, that when fowed early in the fpring, it grew luxu¬ 
riantly in the ftoves, produced feed abundantly, which, 
from the elafticity of the capfule, could not be collefted 
without great difficulty, and that it always perilhed in 
the winter ; but that, when it was fown later in the fea- 
fon, it fometimes continued through the winter, and 
flowered the next fpring, but always continued in a lan¬ 
guid ftate. See Portulaca and Rumex. 
OX'BOROUGH, a village in Norfolk, to the foutb-eaft 
of Downham, on the river Oufe, with a fair on March 25. 
Here has been a military fofs, where, on planting an or¬ 
chard at the foot of the hill, the bones of men, and old 
pieces of armour, were dug up in abundance. 
OX'BOW, a fertile traft in the ftate of Vermont, form¬ 
ed by a bend in the river Connecticut, near Newbury. 
OX'EIIALL, or Oxenhall. See Darlington, vol. v. 
OX'EN CREE'K, a river of Maryland, which runs 
into thePotomack in lat. 38. 55. N. Ion. 77. 8. W. 
OX'ENBACH, a town of Auftria : nine miles fouth 
of Ips. 
OX'ENBERG, a village of Denmark, in the ifland of 
Funen, near Allens, where the count of Oldenburg 
was defeated by Chriltian III. in the year 1535. 
OX'ENDEN, a village in Northamptor.fiiire, fouth of 
Harborough. An echo in the fteeple of the church re¬ 
peats thirteen fyllables. 
OX'ENFORD, a village in Surrey, on the river Wey, 
fouth-welt of Godaiming. In Bonfield nunnery, near ir, 
there is a fpring, whofe water was good for fore eyes 
and ulcers ; and about it hart’s-tongue grows in great 
plenty. Near it was dug up, in the lall century, a quan¬ 
tity of old Englifh coins and gold rings. 
OXENSTIER'NA (Axel), a celebrated Swedilh mi- 
nifter, fon of baron Gabriel Oxenftierna, was born at 
Fano in Upland, in 1583. His father having died du¬ 
ring his infancy, he was educated with great care, under 
the infpeftion of a tender mother; and,on leaving fchool, 
was fent for farther improvement to Germany, where lve 
ltudied at Roftock, Wittenberg, and Jena ; and made 
great progrefs in the languages, and in various branches 
of fcience. The principal objedl of his application, how¬ 
ever, was theology, which he profecuted with great dili¬ 
gence ; and in this was encouraged by his relations, who 
intended him for the eccleliaftica! ftate: and, though he 
afterwards devoted himfelf to a fecular employment, he 
retained, during his whole life, a ftrong attachment to 
the lludy of theology, and an ardent defire to promote 
the dijfufloii of the evangelic doctrine. 
When he had finilhed his academic courfes, he paid 
a yifit 
