is generally very hard and durable. The oak will not bear exposure to the full force of the sea gale, though in ravines and on sheltered slopes oak woods sometimes extend nearly to the shore. The cultivation of this tree in Europe forms one of the most important branches of the forester's art. It is frequently raised at once by sowing the acorns on the ground where the trees are required, the fruit being gathered in the autumn as soon as shed, and perfectly ripe seeds selected; but the risk of destruction by mice and other vermin is so great that transplanting from a nursery-bed is in most cases to be preferred. The acorns shouta de sown in November on well-prepared ground, and covered to a depth of 1 or 2 in.; the seeds germinate in the spring, and the seedlings are usually transplanted when one or two years old to nursery-beds, where they are allowed to grow from two to four years, till required for the plantation. Some authoritics recommend the tap-roots to be cut in the second year, with the view of increasing the ball of fibre; but, if the trees are removed from the seed-bed sufficiently early, the root is best left to its natural development. The oak requires shelter in the early stages of growth; in England the Scotch pine is thought best for this purpose, though Norway spruce answers as well on suitable ground, and larch and other trees are sometimes substituted. The conifers are allowed to grow to a height of from 3 to 5 ft. before the young oaks are planted, and are gradually thinned out as the latter increase in size. The distance between the oaks depends upon the growth intended before thinning the young wood; usually they are placed from 8 to 12 ft. apart, and the superabundant trees cut out as they begin to interfere with each other. The lower branches often require removal, to ensure the formation of a tall straight trunk, and this operation should be performed before the superfluous shoots get too large, or the timber will be injured; but, as with all trees, unnecessary pruning should be avoided, as every branch removed lessens the vigour of growth. Where artificial copsewood is the object, hazel, hornbeam and other bushes may be planted between the oaks; but, when large timber is required, the trees are best without undergrowth. The growth of the oak is slow, though it varies greatly in different trees; Loudon states that an oak, raised from the acorn in a garden at Sheffield Place, Sussex, became in seventy years 12 ft. in circumference; but the increase of the trunk is usually very much slower, and when grown for large timber oak can rarely be profitably felled till the first century of its growth is completed. The tree will continue to form wood for 150 or 200 years before showing any symptoms of decay. As firewood oak holds a high position, though in Germany it is considered inferior to beech for that purpose. It makes excellent charcoal, especially for metallurgic processes; the Sussex iron, formerly regarded as the best produced in Britain, was smelted with oak charcoal from the great woods of the adjacent Weald, until they became so thinned that the precious fuel was no longer obtainable. An important product of oak woods is the bark that from a remote period has been the chief tanning material of Europe. The most valuable kind is that obtained from young trees of twenty to thirty years' growth, but the trunks and boughs of timber trees also furnish a large supply; it is separated from the tree most easily when the sap is rising in the spring. It is then carefully dried by the free action of the air, and when dry built into long narrow stacks until needed for use. The value of oak bark depends upon the amount of tannin contained in it, which varies much, depending not only on the growth of the tree but on the care bestowed on the preparation of the bark itself, as it soon ferments and spoils by exposure to wet, while too much sun-heat is injurious. That obtained from the sessile fruited oak is richer in tannic acid than that yielded by Q. pedunculata, and the bark of trees growing in the open is more valuable than the produce of the dense forest or coppice. The bark of young oak branches has been employed in medicine from the days of Dioscorides, but is not used in modern practice. The astringent principle is a peculiar kind of tannic acid, called by chemists quercitannic, which, yielding more stable compounds with gelatine than other forms, gives oak bark its high value to the tanner. According to Neubauer, the bark of young oaks contains from 7 to 10% of this principle; in old trees the proportion is much less. The acorns of the oak possess a considerable economic importance as food for swine. In the Saxon period the " mast seems to have been regarded as the most valuable produce of an oak wood; nor was its use always confined to the support of the herds, for in time of dearth acorns were boiled and eaten by the poor as a substitute ior bread both in England and France, as the sweeter produce of Q. Esculus is still employed in southern Europe. Large herds of swine in all the great oak woods of Germany depend for their autumn maintenance on acorns; and in the remaining royal forests of XIX 16 England the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages yet claim their ancient right of "pannage," turning their hogs into the woods in October and November. Some trees of the sessile-fruited oak bear sweet acorns in Britain, and several varieties were valued by the ancient Italians for their edible fruit. A peculiar kind of sugar called quercite exists in all acorns. A bitter principle to which the name of detected in the acorn of the common oak; the nutritive portion quercin has been applied by Gerber, its discoverer, has also been seems chiefly a form of starch. A spirit has been distilled from acorns in process of germination, when the saccharine principle is most abundant. The British oak grows well in the northern and middle states of America; and, from the superiority of the wood to that of Q. alba and its more abundant production of acorns, it will probably be much planted as the natural forests are destroyed. The young trees require protection from storms and late frosts even more than in England; the red pine of the north-eastern states, Pinus resinosa, answers well as a nurse, but the pitch pine and other species may be employed. In the southern parts of Australia and in New Zealand the tree seems to flourish as well as in its native home. The oak in Europe is liable to injury from a great variety of insect enemies: the young wood is attacked by the larvae of the small stag-beetle and several other Coleoptera, and those of the wood-leopard moth, goat moth and other Lepidoptera feed upon it occasionally; the foliage is devoured by innumerable larvae; indeed, it has been stated that half the plant-eating insects of England prey more or less upon the oak, and in some seasons it is difficult to find a leaf perfectly free from their depredations. The young shoots are chosen by many species of Cynipidae and their allies as a receptacle for their eggs, giving rise to a variety of gall-like excrescences, from which few oak trees are quite free. Of the European timber trees of the genus, the next in importance This is a fine species, having when young straighter branches than to the British oak is Q. Cerris, the Turkey oak of the nurserymen. Q. Robur, but in old age the boughs generally curve downwards, and the tree acquires a wide spreading head; the bark is dark brown, becoming grey and furrowed in large trees; the foliage sinuated, with pointed, often irregular lobes, the footstalks short, varies much, but in the prevailing kinds the leaves are very deeply and furnished at the base with long linear stipules that do not fall with the leaf, but remain attached to the bud till the following spring, giving a marked feature to the young shoots. The large sessile acorns are longer than those of Q. Robur, and are dark-brown when ripe; the hemispherical cups are covered with long, narrow, almost bristly scales, giving them a mossy aspect; the fruit ripens the first autumn. The foliage in some of the numerous varieties is almost evergreen, and in Britain is retained long after the autumnal withering. This oak abounds all over the Turkish peninsula, and forms a large portion of the vast forests that clothe the slopes of the Taurus ranges and the south shores of the Black Sea; it is likewise common in Italy and Sardinia, and occurs in the south of France and also in Hungary. It was introduced into England by Philip Miller about 1735, and is now common in parks and plantations, where it seems to flourish in nearly all soils. The Turkey oak in southern England grows twice as fast as Q. Robur; in the mild climate of Devonshire and Cornwall it has reached a height of 100 ft. and a diameter of 4 ft. in eighty years, which is about the limit of its profitable growth for timber. The wood is hard, heavy and of fine grain, quite equal where exposed to weather. The ships of Greece and Turkey are to the best British oak for indoor use, but of very variable durability largely built of it, but it has not always proved satisfactory in English dockyards. The heart-wood is dark in colour, takes a fine polish, and from the prominence of the medullary rays is valuable The comparatively rapid growth of the tree is its great recommendato the furniture maker; it weighs from 40 to 50 lb the cubic foot. tion to the planter; it is best raised from acorns sown on the spot, the tree sends down a long tap-root, which should be curtailed by as they are very bitter and little liable to the attacks of vermin; cutting or early transplanting, if the young trees are to be removed. It seems peculiarly adapted for the mild moist climate of Ireland. In North America, where the species of oak are very numerous, the most important member of the group is Q. alba, the white oak, abounding all over the eastern districts to the continent from Lake Winnipeg and the St Lawrence countries of the shores of the Mexican Gulf. In aspect it more nearly resembles Q. Robur than any other species, forming a thick trunk with spreading base and, when growing in glades or other open places, huge spreading boughs, less twisted and gnarled than those of 2a the English oak, and covered with a whitish bark that gives a marked character to the tree. The leaves are large, often irregular in form, usually with a few deep lobes dilated at the end; they are of a bright light green on the upper surface, but whitish beneath; they turn to a violet tint in autumn. The egg-shaped acorns ad zitie are placed singly ada nadw postering or two together on short stalks; they adron at at law aware in most years odvihohaque si no sparingly probrborg juoda 10 duced, but are immons in bodo occasionally borne ata ocisting pup in some abundan ance. On rich wnloams and the malluvial soils of wa ni bariver-valleys, od ovicwhen well drained, danil of the tree attains a large size, often La rivalling the giant oaks of Europe; trunks of 3 or 4 ft. in diameter are frequently found, and sometimes these dimensions are greatly exceeded. The wood is variable in quality and, though hard in texture, is less durable than the best oak of British growth; the heart-wood is of a light reddish brown varying to an olive tint; a Canadian specimen weighs 52 lb the cubic foot. Q. obtusiloba, the post oak of the backwoodsman, a smaller tree with rough leaves and notched upper lobes, produces an abundance of acorns and good timber, said to be more durable than that of the white oak, grained; the acorns are produced in great quantity, and are used by the Indians as food. The red oak, Q. rubra, has thin large leaves on long petioles, the lobes very long and acute, the points almost bristly; they are pink when they first expand in spring, but become of a bright glossy green when full-grown; in autumn they change to the deep purplered which gives the tree its name. Com-po mon throughout the northern and middle states and Canada, the red oak attains a large size only on good soils; the wood is of little value, being coarse and porous, bark is a valuable tanning material. but it is largely used for cask-staves; the o The pin oak, sometimes called the "burr-oak," Q. macrocarpa, is remarkable for its large acorns, the cups bordered on the edge by a fringe of long narrow scales; the leaves are very large, sometimes from 10 in. to 1 ft. in length, with very deep lobes at the lower part, but dilated widely at the apex, and there notched. The tree isod described by Prof. C. S. Sargent (Silva of North America) as one of the widely spread over Dahuria, north China and the adjacent countries; one of the Chinese silkworms is said to feed on the leaves. The chestnut oaks of America represent a section distinguished by the merely serrated leaves, with parallel veins running to the end of the serratures. Q. Prinus, a beautiful tree of large growth, and its subspecies castanea and montana, yield good timber. Q. Chinquapin or prinoides, a dwarf species, often only 1 ft. in height, forms dense miniature thickets on the barren uplands of Kansas and Missouri and affords abundant sweet acorns; the tree is called by the hunters of the plains the "shin-oak." Q. castaneaefolia, represented in fig. 6 וו Asia. quently passed, through many owners, to the duchy of Buckingham, whence it descended to the earls of Winchelsea. A peculiar custom attaching to the manor is to claim a horseshoe from every peer who, for the first time, passes through the town. Flore's House in the main street is an interesting building dating from the 13th century. Oakham school was endowed as a grammar school by Robert Johnson, archdeacon of Leicester, in 1584; it now has classical and modern sides. Not far from the town are the kennels of the Cottesmore hunt. is a native of the woods of the Transcaucasian region of western | Henry II. into the hands of Walcheline de Ferrers, and subseEvergreen oaks with entire leaves are represented in North America by Q. virginiana, also known as Q. virens, the live oak of the southern states; more or less abundant on the Atlantic coasts of the Carolinas and Florida, its true home is the country around the Mexican Gulf, where it rarely grows more than 50 or 60 m. inland. The oval leaves are dark-green above, and whitish with stellate hairs beneath, the margin entire and slightly recurved. The live oak is one of the most valuable timber trees of the genus, the wood being extremely durable, both exposed to air and under water; heavy and closegrained, it is perhaps the best of the American oaks for shipbuilding, and is invaluable for water-wheels and mill-work. The tree in England is scarcely hardy, though it will grow freely in some sheltered places: OAKLAND, a city and the county-seat of Alameda county, California, U.S.A., situated opposite and about 6 m. distant from San Francisco, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Pop. (1890) 48,682; (1900) 66,960, of whom 17,256 were foreignborn, 3197 being Irish, 2742 German, 2026 English, 1544 EnglishCanadians, 1020 Portuguese and 994 Swedish; (1910 census) 150,174. It is the terminus of the Ogden branch of the Southern (formerly Central) Pacific, of the Coast Line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé, and of the Western Pacific railways. Passengers and freight from the East to San Francisco are transferred by ferry from Oakland. A branch of the bay (called Oakland Harbour) divides Oakland from Alameda, and the rail. The evergreen oak of southern Europe is Q. Ilex, usually a smaller tree, frequently of rather shrub-like appearance, with abundant glossy dark-green leaves, generally ovate in shape and more or less prickly at the margin, but sometimes with the edges entire; the under surface is hoary; the acorns are oblong on short stalks. The ilex, also known as the "holm oak "from its resemblance to the holly, abounds in all the Mediterranean countries, showing a partiality for the sea air. The stem sometimes grows 80 or 90 ft. in height, and old specimens are occasionally of large diameter; but it does not often reach a great size. In its native lands it attains a vast age; Pliny attributes to several trees then growing in Rome a greater antiquity than the city itself. The wood is very heavy and hard, weighing 70 lb the cubic foot; the colour is dark brown; it is used in Spain and Italy for furniture, and in the former country for fire-way piers of Oakland run directly out into the bay for more than wood and charcoal. In Britain the evergreen oak is quite hardy in 2 m. toward San Francisco, thus shortening the ferry connexions. ordinary winters, and is useful to the ornamental planter from its Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, a favourite pleasure resort, capacity for resisting the sea gales; but it generally remains of small is the centre of the city's park system. Oakland is the seat of size. Q. Ballota, a closely allied species abundant in Morocco, bears large edible acorns, which form an article of trade with Spain: California College (co-educational, Baptist, opened in 1870), an oil, resembling that of the olive, is obtained from them by ex- and of St Mary's College (Roman Catholic, 1863) for men; pression. Q. Ilex, var. Gramuntia, also furnishes a fruit which, and in the suburban village of Mills College, west of the city, after acquiring sweetness by keeping, is eaten by the Spaniards. In America several oaks exist with narrow lanceolate leaves, is Mills College (non-sectarian, 1871) for women, an institufrom which characteristic they are known as "willow oaks." Qtion of high rank. Electric power for the city is derived from Colgate, on the Yuba river, 219 m. distant. Oakland has important manufacturing interests, the total value of its factory products in 1905 being $9,072,539, 69% more than in 1900. Phellos, a rather large states, is the most im- The site of the present city (as well as that of Alameda and Berkeley) lay originally within the limits of a great private Mexican grant which was confirmed by the United States authorities. A settlement was begun-at first by "squatters" in defiance of the private claim-in 1850; in May 1852 this was incorporated as a town (the name being derived from a wood of oaks in the midst of which the first settlement was made), and in March 1854 it was chartered as a city. In 1869 it was selected as the western terminus of the Central Pacific, a choice which greatly promoted Oakland's commercial importance. The water front was recklessly given away in 1852, and the resulting disputes and litigation lasted for more than thirty years; in 1908 the water front reverted to the city. The population increased more than sixfold from 1860 to 1870, and doubled in 1900-1910. It became the county-seat in 1874. In December 1910 a commission form of government was adopted. OAKUM (O. Eng. écumbe or-acumbe, tow, literally" off-comb The cork oak, Q Suber, the bark of which yields cork (q.v.), is a native of the west Mediterranean area. In Spain the wood is of some value, being hard and close-grained, and the inner bark is used for tanning. From its rugged silvery bark and dark-green foliage, it is a handsome tree, quite hardy in Cornwall and Devonshire, where it has grown to a large size. The valonia of commerce, one of the richest of tanning materials, is the acorn of Q. Aegilops, a fine species indigenous to Greece and the coasts of the Levant, and sometimes called the "Oak of Bashan." The very large acorns are remarkable for their thick cups with longings "), a preparation of tarred fibre used in shipbuilding, for reflexed scales; the leaves are large, oblong, with deep serratures terminating in a bristle-like point. The cups are the most valuable portion of the valonia, abounding in tannic acid; immature acorns are sometimes exported under the name of "camatina." The allied Q. Vallonea of Asia Minor likewise yields valonia. From Kotschy, op. cit. Plate VII. Some oaks are of indirect importance from products formed by their insect enemies. Of these the Aleppo gall (see Galls) is yielded by Q. infectoria, a native of Asia Minor and western Asia. Q coccifera, a small bush growing in Spain and many countries around the Mediterranean, furnishes the kermes dye (KERMES). Q. persica, or according to some Q. mannifera, attacked by a kind of Coccus, yields a sweet exudation which the Kurds collect and use as manna, or as a substitute for honey or sugar in various confections (see MANNA). OAKHAM, a market town, and the county town of Rutland, England, 94 m. N, by W. of London by the Midland railway. Pop. (1901) 3294. The church of All Saints ranges in style from Early English to Perpendicular, belonging in appearance mainly to the latter style. Of Oakham Castle, founded in the reign of Henry II., the principal remnant is the notable Norman hall, used as the county hall. The manor came in the time of caulking or packing joints of timbers in wood vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships. Oakum is made by preference from old tarry ropes and cordage of vessels, and its picking and preparation has been a common penal occupation in prisons and workhouses. White oakum is made from untarred materials. OAMARU, a municipal borough on the east coast of South Island, New Zealand, in the county of Waitaki and provincial district of Otago; on the main railway between Christchurch (152 m. N.E.) and Dunedin (78 m. S.S.W.). Pop. (1906) 5071. It is the outlet of the largest agricultural district in New Zealand. A breakwater and mole, constructed of blocks of concrete. enclose a commodious basin, forming one of the safest harbours in the colony. The export of frozen meat is important. The town is built of white Oamaru limestone. Brown coal is obtained at the entrance of Shag valley, 40 m. S. The district is famed for its stock, and the fine quality of its grain; also for the character of the English grasses laid down there, which flourish in a rich black loam on a limestone formation ships shown on the Assyrian sculptures at Koyunjik (Layard), the date of which is about 700 B.C. The same form is seen on some of the early vases, but in some that are attributed to two centuries later the form is modified, and the oar blade proper begins to take shape. OANNES, in Babylonian mythology, the name given by | as oars. Paddle-shaped also are the oars of the Phoenician Berossus to a mythical being who taught mankind wisdom. He is identical with the god Ea (q.v.), although there may not be any direct connexion between the two names. Berossus describes Oannes as having the body of a fish but underneath the figure of a man. He is described as dwelling in the Persian Gulf, and rising out of the waters in the daytime and furnishing mankind instruction in writing, the arts and the various sciences. The culture-myth on which the account of Berossus rests has not yet been found in Babylonian literature, but there are numerous indications in hymns and incantations that confirm the indentification with Ea, and also prove the substantial correctness of the conceptions regarding Oannes-Ea as given by Berossus. (M. JA.) The types exhibited in the representations of the Roman galleys are generally heavy and clumsy enough in appearance. Still they are veritable oars, not paddles. The material of which the ancient oars were usually made was pine, which then, as now, was most suitable for the purpose, being tough and comparatively light and easily shaped as regards loom and blade. The oars of the Attic trireme were, if we may judge by those of which only we have the measurement recorded, not much longer for the upper bank than those of a modern racing eight, while those of the middle and lower banks could not have been much longer than those used now in the whalers and dinghies of the Royal Navy. As the oarsmen on either side probably sat in the same vertical plane, the inboard portion of the oars amidships was longer than the inboard of those fore and aft, having to conform to the curvature of the vessel's sides (cf. Aristotle, Mechanica, v.). No doubt in vessels of larger size the upper tiers of oars would be longer, and, if we are to believe Callixenus, as cited by Athenaeus, in the great ship of Ptolemy the oars of the upper tier were over 50 ft. in length with handles leaded so as to equalize the weight inboard and outboard. OAR (A.S. ár; M. Eng. ore; Lat. remus; Gr. èper μós: Sans. aritra; Fr. rame; Ital. Span., Port. rama), the instrument used for propelling a boat in rowing (q.v.). The word "oar" is probably derived from an old root ar, meaning to drive, to force away (cf. ar-ar-e, aratrum, plough). Such an appellation would easily be suggested by the visible difference in the action of the power employed by means of the oar against a thowl, or rowlock, from that of the more primitive paddle, where the power is gained by the action of one hand against the other. In the development of rowing from paddling the task of shaping the instrument of propulsion must have followed gradually the necessities indicated by use. In rowing, as well as in paddling, the leverage is of the second order, in which the weight lies between the power and the fulcrum. The point at which the power pressed the arm of the lever against the weight in rowing It is difficult to trace any detail of difference between the would soon attract attention by the frequent breakage of the oars of the Roman period and those of the Byzantine and paddle so employed. Experience would demand a thicker loom, medieval galleys. In the medieval galley by the invention of the and would soon teach the desirability of increasing the leverage" apostis," a framework on which the thowls were fixed, sufficient where possible, and upon this would arise naturally the practical questions of the length of the oar, of the breadth of the blade, and of the right proportion of the parts of the oar, inboard and outboard, to each other. Then would also occur the problem of how to keep this proportion, which in practice would be liable to disarrangement by the slipping outward of the oar during the recovery from each stroke. Hence would arise the use of the thong (τροπός, τροπωτήρ), familiar to ancient Greek and modern Levantine, and, in northern and western waters, the invention of the "button," with which in various shapes the rowing world is now provided. Other devices, such as a hole bored in a piece of wood attached to the oar, or even a metal ring, will, in different localities, be found answering the same purpose. In the early stages of the transition from paddling to rowing, the oar would naturally be used at an acute angle vertically to the boat's side. In paddling the upper hand is used to push from you, the lower hand to pull towards you. But in rowing both hands are used to pull towards you. As long as the oar was used at an acute angle vertically to the boat's side, the position of the upper hand room was given for the play of longer oars, and, as the necessity of combining speed with greater carrying power in the galley became pressing, the arrangement alla scaloccio came into vogue, employing four or five or even seven men to each of the long Table showing Oars used in Royal Navy. Oars. Length. Thickness. Length. er: 7:: ure Blades. Material. Breadth. No. allowed. 18 16 14 12 14 14 12 10 10 Description of 1. Launches, 42'. 2. Pinnaces, 36' 16 2-12 17-16 5'4" 1521-11 3. Cutters, 16-15 5'0 30' 15-14 28 15-14 26' 15-14 gig, 20' 15-14 4. Galleys 32' 5. Gigs, 15-14 17-16 30' 17-16 28' 17-16 Notes. (1) Since 1893 some curved or spoon-bladed oars have been made at Devonport. (2) There is no record of buttons being used, but on fir oars, which were covered with canvas on the loom, it was sometimes customary to work a Turk's head at the end of the canvas for ornament. (3) As regards sweeps, they used to be made of ash and were 30 ft. long. They were used last in training brigs, but there is no record of them for the last twenty years. on the oar would have to be reversed, as it would more easily grasp the oar with the wrist turned | sweeps by which the galleys and galleasses were propelled. inward towards the body. In many of the earlier representations For these large oars we hear of ash and beech being used as of rowing this position of the upper hand seems to be indicated. well as pine. This distinction should not be lost sight of, as the position of the hands on the oar affects not only the character of the stroke, but also the requirements as to the length of the oar and the breadth of the blade. The form of the oars given in the representations of early Egyptian ships is suggestive of paddles used In the Mediterranean the galley propelled by oars long remained the principal type of war vessel. In the Atlantic, and in the northern seas, it was otherwise. The employment of artillery on board ship gradually determined a change in the method of propulsion. The use of sails became necessary, and remained dominant until the introduction | said above, far from satisfied with the present average oar, and of steam (see SHIP). But as late as the time of the Spanish are using shorter patterns, 11′ 10′′ or 12′ 0′′ over all, 3′ 7′′ inboard, Armada, and even later, large sea-going vessels were provided and 7" blades. with long sweeps which came into use when sailing was not available. In our own time, in the lighters on tidal rivers, may be seen long oars, plied by one or two or more men, which recall the type of oars once in general use in large galleys three centuries ago. The oars used by the Northmen were, to judge by the remains discovered along with old Viking ships at Gokstad and elsewhere, very similar to those in use at the present time in the fishing boats around our coasts. Those of the large craft were, to judge by the length of one found whole, somewhat over 18 ft. in length with a 5-in. blade and a diameter of 3 in. halfway down the loom. Some smaller oars, evidently used for boats, measured 11 ft. with a 4-in. blade. The oars were of pine, and the looms of some of them showed a groove cut for a clamp at the place where the oar rested on the sill of the rowlock. Comparing these oars with the measurements given below of oars now in use in the Royal Navy, it is apparent that there is no great difference in type between them. Single grooved oars were first made in America. But with the single groove a side weakness is often developed in the loom, and hence the double girder, invented by G. Ayling, has generally superseded the single groove, though many oarsmen prefer the box loom by the same inventor. It is clear, however, that no finality has been reached in the making of oars. Tubular oars, first introduced at Henley by the Belgian crew in 1906, are now being tried, with circular or quadrangular bores, strengthened by the insertion of an aluminium shell. developments in oar-making for racing purposes and river work, For much of the information above given respecting the recent the writer is indebted to Messrs Ayling & Sons of Putney, whose patented inventions and improvements are well known to rowing (E. WA.) men. OASIS (Gr. daois, the name given by Herodotus to the fertile spots in the Libyan desert: it probably represents an Egyptian word, cf. Coptic ouake, ouih, to dwell, from which the Egyptian Arabic wa is derived), a fertile spot surrounded by desert. For example, where the high plateau of the Libyan desert descends into a longitudinal valley between Syrtis and the Nile delta there are a few spots where the water comes to the surface or is found in shallow wells. It may come to the surface in springs, upon the artesian principle, or it may collect and remain in mountain hollows. These areas are of small extent and are closely cultivated, and support thick forests of date-palms. All kinds of tropical vegetables, grains and small fruits grow under cultivation, and land is so precious in these limited areas of great richness and fertility that very narrow pathways divide each owner's plot from his neighbour's. Wherever oases are found they present similar features, and are naturally the halting-places and points of departure of desert caravans. Passing on to oars used on rivers and fresh water generally, we find the type differs considerably from that of the oars used in sea-going craft. The chief difference consists in the shape of the blade, which, instead of continuing the straight line of the loom in its expansion to its proper breadth, is fashioned in a curve calculated to offer a rigid resistance to the water during the stroke. The loom below the button is not rounded but is more of an oval to the front with a flat back. From the oval front a spine runs down into the blade, in some cases to nearly half its length. During the last few years the so-called “girder" oars, with much thicker looms but double grooved along their length, have been used for racing purposes. This invention gives additional strength and stiffness, without increasing the weight of the oar, which varies a little but is usually about 8 lb. OAST (O. Eng. dst, cf. Dutch eest," kiln "; the Teutonic root is The blades vary much in breadth, as indeed do the oars in total aidh- "to burn"; the pre-Teutonic idh- is seen in Lat. aestus, length, and in proportion of inboard to outboard. The neces-"heat," aestas, " summer," Gr. altos, "burning heat"), a kiln, sities of the sliding seat in racing boats have given rise to much particularly one used for drying hops; the word usually appears difference of opinion among rowing men as to the right proportion. in the term "oast-house," a building containing several of such In the middle of the 19th century the use of square looms kilns (see Hop). "Oast" is also sometimes used of a kiln for inboard, and of a button to turn inside and against the thowl, drying tobacco. was common, and most oars had a small slab of hard wood let in below the button, so as to save the oar from wear and tear at the rowlock. But since round looms came into vogue the round leather ear has taken the place of the old square button, and the loom is covered with leather for some inches above and below this so as to protect it from abrasion. Of late the introduction of swivel rowlocks for racing boats has caused a further modification in the form of buttons. Swivel rowlocks have come into general use for sculling boats, pair oars and coxswainless fours. But as yet they do not appear to have captured the racing eight, except in a few instances. Neither crews nor coaches in English waters seem inclined to part with the time-honoured rhythmic music of the oar in the rowlock, which from the days of antiquity even until now has, to practised ears, told its own tale as to the crew being together or not in the stroke. In the case of racing eights, when the round loom oars superseded the square loom, the early patterns were commonly (e.g. in 1857) 12' 6" over all, 3' 8 inboard, with a long blade 4 to 5" in breadth. These were succeeded by a pattern 12′ 6′′ over all, 3′ 6′′ inboard, with a much shorter blade 6" broad. Since sliding seats came in the average oar has been 12′ 4′′ over all, 3' 8 inboard, with 5" to 6" blades. The modern racing oar may be said to date from 1869, the year of the Oxford and Harvard race at Putney. Until very lately no material alteration had taken place in this pattern, except in the matter of width of blade. Some authorities, however, are, as has been See Viking Ship, Nicolaysen (Christiania, 1882). Since 1890 the curved blade seems to have been adopted in some cases in the oars made at Devonport for the Royal Navy. OASTLER, RICHARD (1789-1861), English reformer, was born at Leeds on the 20th of December 1789, and in 1820 succeeded his father as steward of the Thornhills' extensive Fixby estates at Huddersfield, Yorkshire. In 1830 John Wood, a Bradford manufacturer, called Oastler's attention to the evils of child employment in the factories of the district. Oastler at once started a campaign against the existing labour conditions by a vigorous letter, under the title "Yorkshire Slavery," to the Leeds Mercury, Public opinion was eventually aroused, and, after many years of agitation, in which Oastler played a leading part, the Ten Hours Bill and other Factory Acts were passed, Oastler's energetic advocacy of the factory-workers' cause procuring him the title of "The Factory King." In 1838, however, owing to his opposition to the new poor law and his resistance of the commissioners, he had been dismissed from his stewardship at Fixby; and, in 1840, being unable to repay £2000 which he owed his late employer, Thomas Thornhill, he was sent to the Fleet prison, where he remained for over three years. From prison he published the Fleet Papers, a weekly paper devoted to the discussion of factory and poor-law questions. In 1844 his friends raised a fund to pay his debt, and on his release he made a triumphant entry into Huddersfield. Oastler died at Harrogate on the 22nd of August 1861. A statue to his memory was erected at Bradford in 1869. OAT (O. Eng. dle; the word is not found in cognate languages; it may be allied with Fr. eitel, knot, nodule, cf. Gr. oloos swelling), a cereal (Avena sativa) belonging to the tribe Avene@ of the order Gramineae or grasses. The genus Avena contains about fifty species mostly dispersed through the temperate regions of the Old World. The spikelets form a loose panicle. |