O Y S 
OYSTER ISLAND HAR'BOUR, a bay or harbour 
on the Atlantic, on the coaft of Malfachufetts. Lat. 41. 
35. N. Ion. 70. 24.. W. 
OYSTER RIV'ER, a Tandy bay, juft within the fouth 
head of Mercury Bay, in New'Zealand. 
OYSTER RIV'ER, a branch of the Pifcataqua, in 
New Hampfhire. 
OYSTER-SHELL, f. The hard fubftance that en- 
clofes the oyfter.—Another niafs held a kind of oyjler- 
Jhell , and other bivalves. Woodward. —For the properties 
of oyfter-lhells, fee the article Ostrea, p. 34 of this 
volume. 
OY'STER-TIJB, f. A tub to contain oyfters: 
Where oyjlev-tubs in rows 
Are rang’d befide the pofts, there ftay thy hafte. Gay. 
OY'STER-WEN.CH,’ Oyster-wife, or Oyster-wo¬ 
man, f. A woman whole bufinefs is to fell oyfters. Pro¬ 
verbially, a low woman.—Off goes his bonnet to an oyjler- 
weiich. Sliafflefpeare. 
Who can defpair to fee another thrive 
By loan of fixpence to an oyjler-wive? Bp. Hall, Sat. iv. 
The oyjler-women lock’d their fiffi up, 
And trudg’d away, to cry No biftiop. Hudibras. 
OY'STER-WORM. See Ostrea, p. 32. 
OY'STERMOUTH, a feaport and parifti in the hun¬ 
dred ofSwanfea, andcounty of Glamorgan, South Wales, 
is fituated onafmall promontory, which forms the weftern 
boundary of Swanfea-bay, in the Briftol Channel. The 
eaftern extremity of the parifti is called Mumble Point, op- 
pofite to which, at a ftiort diftance from the ftiore, a light- 
la oufe has been lately eredted. This place might be made 
an excellent ftation for fiiippingat a very trilling expenfe, 
either by walling-in the founds between the Mumble 
Head and the ftiore, or by running a pier out under the 
eaft point of Mumble Hill. Veffels bound for Falmouth 
with coals from Svvanfea generally lie here when waiting 
for wind and convoy, frequently to the number of a hun¬ 
dred and fifty fail at one time. Along the ftiore hence to 
Swanfea, a railway has been conftrudted, by which coals 
and manure Are brought down, and lime returned from 
the limeftone quarries,.which are fituated cl.ofe to the vil¬ 
lage of the Mumbles, and wdiere feveral lime-kilns are 
eftabliftied. In digging the ftone ofthefe quarries many 
human bones of large dimenfions have been difcovered; 
and tradition fays this fpot w'as formerly the fite of a 
chapel, but no veftiges of it now remain. Theexiftence 
of fuch a building, however, is not improbable, as the fea 
has made great encroachments on this part of the bay. 
A large wood called Crow’s Wood, frequently mentioned 
in ancient records, has been fubmerged, and traces of it 
are ftill evidentin the fond at low-water. - Vaft quantities 
of fiiell-fifti, but particularly oyfters, are caught, or 
dragged, on the coaft here: hence the origin of the term 
Oyfter-mouth as the defignation of the parifti, which, ac¬ 
cording to the parliamentary returns of 1811, contains 
200 houfes and 761 inhabitants. 
On a knoll or eminence eaft from the church ftand the 
ruins of Oyftermouth-caftle, fuppofed to have been erec¬ 
ted by the Norman Beaumonts, who conquered Gow'er- 
Jand. It has fullered lefs from the ravages of time than 
any ruin in this part of the country, the principal walls 
being as yet in good condition, and moll of the apart¬ 
ments entire. The general figure is polygonal, and the 
ramparts are confpicuoufty lofty ; but there are no flank- 
Sng-t6wers except on each fide of the entrance-gateway. 
Here, according to tradition, the chancery-court for the 
feignory of Gower was anciently held. This edifice is 
now the property of the duke of Beaufort, as lord of the 
feignory; and it is much reforted to by parties of plea- 
fure from Swanfea and the neighbourhood. In one of 
the dungeons of the caftle is a circular ftone pillar, into 
which almoft every vifttor fticks a pin, conformably to an 
O Z A 171 
old cuftom, pra&ifed from time immemorial. The whole 
ruin is covered with a profufion of ivy. 
Weftward from Oyftermouth is the parifti of Pen-Arth, 
part of which is conjedlured to have been anciently the 
fife of a confiderable town, as many foundations of 
houfes are dug up among the fands, and there is ftill a 
village to the fouth of them, called South-gate, and alfo 
afann-houfe to the north, called Norton or North-town. 
Here are alfo very extenfive remains of a caftle fituated 
near the mouth of a fmall rivulet, which divides the pa¬ 
rifti of Pen-Arth from that of Pen-Maen. The gateway 
is almoft entire, and is a very fine fpecimen of ancient 
architecture. Between this fortrefs and the fea, on the 
fands, is a rock called “ The Three Clift's,” from there- 
femblance to three fugar loaves placed in a line. In the 
centre of this rock is a curioufiy-formed arch, fuppofed 
to have been excavated by the fea ; and not far from hence 
is a lingular cavern in the cliff, called “ Bacon’s Hole.” 
This cavern is fituated nearly midway between the water 
and the fummit of the rock, and is inacceffible from be¬ 
low in any ftate of the tide ; but there is a narrow and 
very fteep path leading down to it from above, by which, 
though the attempt is fraught with the utmoft danger, 
many perfons defcend. Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 
1811. 
OZABA'LA, a town of Japan, in the ifiand of Niphon : 
thirty-fix miles north of Meaco. 
OZZE'NA, f. [from 0^7, Gr. a fetid fmell.] A foul ul¬ 
cer fituated within the cavity of the nofe, and frequently 
accompanied with caries. 
OZA'MA, a river of Hifpaniola, which runs into the 
fea below St. Domingo. See Is abell a River, vol.xi.p. 394, 
OZ'ANAM (James), an eminent French mathemati¬ 
cian, was defeended from a family of Jewifti extraction 
which had been long converted to the Chriftian faith, and 
fome branches of which had held different offices in the 
parliament of Provence. He w'as born in the fovereignty 
of Dombes, in the year 1640. Being a younger foil, his 
father defigned him for the church, that he might enjoy 
fome fmall benefices which belonged to the family. In 
the courfe of his education, fome mathematical books 
happening to fall into his hands, at firft excited his cu- 
riofity, and then infpired him with a love for that fcience ; 
and, though he had no mafter to inftrudt him, he made fo 
great a progrefs in it, that, at the age of fifteen, he wrote 
a treatife of the mathematical kind, which was never 
printed, but contained things which he thought proper 
to infert in the works that were afterwards publiftied by 
him. Out of obedience to his father, rather than from 
inclination, he ftudied divinity four years ; but, upon the 
death of that parent, he gave up his theological purfuits, 
and devoted himfelf entirely to the mathematics. Af¬ 
terwards he went to Lyons, where he commenced mathe¬ 
matical tutor for his fupport, and acquired many pupils, 
and a confiderable fhare of reputation. Here he was fe- 
duced into a paflion for gaming, which w'as increafed by 
the fuccefs he met with ; yet his love of play did not ori¬ 
ginate in avaricious principles, and he difplayed, upon 
many occafions.a remarkable generality of temper. For¬ 
tunately, M. Dagueffeau, father of the chancellor, invi¬ 
ted M. Ozanam to Paris, with a promife of his counte- 
nance-and recommendation. Such a flattering patronage 
M. Ozanam eagerly accepted, and fet out without delay 
for the capital. On his journey thither, he fell into 
company with an unknown gentleman, who became an 
admirer of his fcientific accompliftiments, and alfo.acci¬ 
dentally difcovered his fondnefs for gaming; upon which 
he remonftrated freely wdth him on the ruinous conle- 
quences of fuch a habit, alluring him, that, by the pro¬ 
per exercife of his talents and qualifications, he might 
not only rife to high reputation, but make a fortune, at 
Paris, In that city he was received with ftrong marks 
of efteem ; and he foon afterwards married a young lady, 
with little or no fortune, but who had infpired him with 
