of that exuberance which Buffon and others attribute to the sheep of that island. It resembles the Tscherkessian sheep in the form of its head, straight upright ears, and in thickness of fleece; but the quality of the two fleeces is very different, this variety having wool almost as coarse as dog's hair; but the great distinguishing character between them is the tail, which is almost a quarter of a yard shorter than that of the Tscherkes stan. The brachiura, or short-tailed sheep, is reared not only by the northern Russians, but likewise by the Fins and other neighbouring nations. Some of this variety have been transported into Siberia, where they have supported themselves on some pastures, though in poor condition; but through all the southern countries they are in less estimation than the long-tailed and fat-tailed varieties, which are much superior to them for size, fat, and good eating. iv. O. steatopyga, the fat-tailed sheep, has appellations as various as the provinces where it is reared; it is the ovis laticaudata of authors. This is both the most abundant and largest breed of sheep in the world. It is reared throughout all the temperate regions of Asia, from the frontiers of Europe to those of China, in the vast plains of Tartary. All the Nomade hordes of Asia, the Turkomans, Kirguise, Calmucks, and Mongul Tartars, rear it; and, indeed, it constitutes their chief riches, the number they possess being enormous. The flocks of all the Tartar hordes resemble one another by a large yellowish muzzle, the upper jaw often projecting beyond the lower; by long hanging ears; by the horns of the adult ram being large, spiral, wrinkled, angular, and bent in a lunar form. The body of the ram, and sometimes of the ewe, swells gradually with fat towards the posteriors; where a solid mass of fat is formed on the rump, and falls over the anus in place of a tail, divided into two hemispheres, which take the form of the hips, with a little button of a tail in the middle, to be felt with the finger. The uropygium, or fat-rump, which is made up of this oily species of fat, is so very large as to incommode the animal in walking; but, when the same sheep are carried into the interior parts of Russia, the tail loses half its size and weight; nay, sometimes more, from a change in their food and mode of life. This variety, besides the characters mentioned above, have slender legs in proportion to their bodies, a high chest, large hanging testicles, a large prepuce, and tolerably fine wool mixed with hair. Such are the great characteristic marks by which the flocks of all the Tartar hordes resemble one another; but climate, soil, &c., produce some small difference on this variety, whether reared by the Tartars or the Russians, in the western deserts of Great Tartary, from the river Volga to the Irtish, and the Altaic chain of mountains. Mr. Kerr, in his translation of Gmelin's Zoo logical System of Linné, gives more complete and satisfactory classification of this genus than any of the authors above quoted. He enumerates four species and fifteen varieties, viz.— ii. O. Bucharica is by Pallas called Bucharian, from his finding it reared by the Bucharian Tartars in immense flocks. It is also raised by the Persians in great numbers. Pallas regards this as a mixed breed, arising, as he supposes, from the union of the long-tailed and fat-tailed sheep. The head of this variety is like that of the Kirguise; but the muzzle is sharper, resembling the Indian of Buffon: the body is rather staller than that of the Kirguise sheep; the ears are larger and pendant; they have a small uropygium, like that of the Tartar sheep on the Jenisy, especially when begotten by a Kirguise ram; but in general they have a tail fat and broad at the base, with a long narrow appendage, and resembles the tail of the Tscherkessian sheep. iii. O. dolichura, the long-tailed sheep, is named both by the Tartars and Russians Tscherkessian sheep; it is the ovis longicauda of authors. It is a handsome animal, with a noble air, in its native country and the south of Russia, resembling in its habits, horns, fleece, and length of tail, the Spanish, but more particularly the English sheep. Its head is well proportioned, and of an elegant form; ears straight; horns large, even, rounded in the angles, tapering to a point, and bending inwardly towards the back. The rams are seldom without horns, and the ewes have them often bent in a lunar form. The wool, though coarse, is without admixture of hair, which is perhaps but an accidental distinction, and promises to be much meliorated by crossing the breed, and rearing the animal with more care and skill. It is even known to become much finer without the assistance of art, merely from the influence of a temperate climate, as on Mount Caucasus. The tail of the ram is covered with fine long wool, like the Indian sheep described by Buffon, which trails on the ground, so as to efface the prints made by the animal's feet on sand, and it contains often twenty join s or vertebra. In passing from the state of nature to that of servitude, it seems to have lost its native ferocity, together with its coarse fleece. There are sheep in Morocco which belong to this. It delights in the bare rocks of the Asiatic chain variety, on account of the distinguishing character of it, a long tail, although otherwise different, in having an ugly look, head covered entirely with hair, little hanging ears, and remarkably ong wool. i. O. ammon, the argali, or O. fera of Pallas; or the wild sheep of Pennant. The horns are large, semicircularly arched backwards and divergent, wrinkled on their upper surface, and flattish on the under side; the neck has two pendent hairy wattles. Pallas paid particular attention to this species. He says, he found the ovis fera, or wild sheep, in all its native vigor, boldness, and activity, inhabiting the vast chain of mountains which run through the centre of Asia to the eastern Sea, and the branches which it sends off to Great Tartary, China, and the Indies. This wild animal, probably the musimon of Pliny, and the ophion of the Greeks, is called argali, or wild sheep, by the Siberians; and by the Russians kamennoi barrann, or sheep of the rocks, from its ordinary place of abode. just mentioned, where it is constantly found basking in the sun; but it avoids the woods or the mountains, and every other object that would intercept the direct rays of the glorious luminary. Its food is the Alpine plants and shrubs it finds amongst the rocks. The argali perfers a temperate climate, although he does not disdain that of Asiatic Siberia, as there he finds his favorite bare rocks, sunshine, and Alpine plants; nay, he is even found in the cold eastern extremity of Siberia and Kamtschatka. The argali loves solitude, and flees the haunts of man; gradually abandoning a country in proportion as it becomes peopled. The ewe of the argali brings forth before the melting of the snow. Her lamb resembles much a young kid, except that it has a large flat protuberance in place of horns, and that it is covered with a woolly hair, frizzled, and of a dark gray. When pursued, the argali does not run straight forward, but doubles and turns like a hare, at the same time that it scrambles up and over the rocks with wonderful agility. In the same proportion that the adult argali is wild and untameable, the lamb is easily tamed when taken young, and fed first on milk and afterwards on fodder, like the domestic sheep, as has been found on numerous experiments made in the Russian settlements in these parts. This animal formerly frequented the regions about the upper Irtish, and some other parts of Siberia, where it is no longer seen since colonies have been settled in these countries. It is common in the Mongalian, Songarian, and Tartarian mountains, where it enjoys its favorite solitude and liberty. The argali is found likewise on the banks of the Lena, up as high as 60° of lat. N.; and it propagates its species even in Kamtschatka, as noticed before. The argali is also found in the mountains of Persia, and is said to exist in the Kuril islands in great size and beauty. The argali is about the height of a small hart, but its make is much more robust and nervous. Its form is less elegant than that of the deer, and its legs and neck shorter. The male is larger than the female, and every way stouter. Its head resembles that of a ram, with long straggling hairs about the mouth; but no beard. Its ears are rather smaller than those of a ram. The tail is very short. The summer coat consists of short hair, sleek, and resembling that of a deer. The winter coat consists of wool like down, mixed with hair every where an inch and a half long at least, concealing at its roots a fine woolly down, generally of a white color. The color of its coat was in general of a dark grayish brown, with white tips to the longer hairs, and consisted of hair mixed with wool, of a dark iron gray. ii. O. Ammon Europæa, the Corsican argali, is a variety mentioned by Mr. Kerr on the authority of Mr. Pennant, differing from the above chiefly in color; having a large white spot on the neck, and being black on the shoulders. In Corsica it is called mufro. iii. O. aries, the common sheep, has the horns spirally twisted outwards. The disposition of the sheep is so mild and gentle, that, although in its wild state, it fears not to defend itself against the most formidable antagonists; yet, when domestic, it is the most timid and apparently defenceless of all animals. It is of the most extensive utility to man. We are clothed by its fleece, and the flesh is a delicate and wholesome food. The skin, dressed, forms different parts of our apparel, and is used for covers of books. The entrails, properly prepared and twisted, serve for strings for various musical instruments. The milk is thicker than that of cows, and consequently yields a greater quantity of butter and cheese; and in some places is so rich that it will not produce the cheese without a mixture of water to make it part from the whey. The dung is a remarkably rich manure; insomuch that the folding of sheep is become too useful a branch of husbandry for the farmer to neglect. In short, this animal has nothing that does not redound to our benefit. The ram is capable of generation at the age of eighteen months; and the ewe can be impregnated when a year o.d. One ram is sufficient, according to Buffon, for twenty-five or thirty ewes; they have often been known indeed to beget 100 lambs in a single season. He ought to be large and well proportioned; his head should be thick and strong, his front wide, his eyes black, his nose flat, his neck thick, his body long and tall, his testicles massy, and his tail long. White is the best color for a ram. The ewes whose wool is most plentiful, bushy, long, soft, and white, are most proper for breeders, especially when at the same time they are of a large size, have a thick neck, and move nimbly. In this climate, ewes fed in good pastures admit the ram in July or August; but September or October are the months when the greatest part of our ewes, if left to nature, take the ram. They go with young about five months, and generally bring forth but one at a time, though frequently two; in warm climates they may bring forth twice in a year; but in Britain, France, and most parts of Europe, only once. They give milk plentifully for seven or eight months. They live from ten to twelve years; they are capable of bringing forth as long as they live, when properly managed; but are generally old and useless at the age of seven or eight years. The ram, though he lives twelve or fourteen years, becomes unfit for propagating when eight years old. When the male lambs are not intended to be kept for propagation, but fattened for food, they ought to be castrated at the age of five or six months. After castration they are called wedders. The ram, ewe, and wedder, when one year old, lose the two fore teeth of the under jaw; six months afterwards they lose the two fore teeth next to these ; and, at the age of three years, the teeth are all replaced. The age of a ram may likewise be discovered by his horns, which always appear the first year, and frequently as soon as he is brought forth. These horns uniformly acquire an additional ring every year as long as the creature lives. The ewes commonly have no horns, but a kind of long protuberance in place of them; however some of them have two and some four horns. As white wool is most valued, black or spotted lambs are generally slaughtered. In some places, however, almost all the sheep are black; and black lambs are often produced by the commixture of white rams with white ewes. In France there are only white, brown, black, and spotted sheep: but in Spain there is a reddish kind; and in Scotland there are some of a yellowish color. But all these varieties of color are more accidental than those produced by dif ferent races; which, however, proceed from the influence of climate, and the difference of nourishment. In the northern parts of Europe, as Denmark and Norway, the sheep are not good; but, to improve the breed, rams are occasionally imported from England. The rams, ewes, and wedders of Iceland, differ chiefly from ours by arger and thicker horns. Some of them have three, four, and even five horns. This, however, is not common. In Spain, and the southern parts of Europe, the flocks of sheep are kept in shades or stables during the night: but in Britain, where there is now no danger from wolves, they are allowed to remain without, both night and day; which makes the animals more healthy, and their flesh a more wholesome food. Dry and mountainous ground, where thyme and sheep's fescue grass abound, are the best for the pasturing sheep. Sheep are subject to many diseases: some arising from insects which deposit their eggs in different parts of the animal: others are caused by their being kept in wet pasture; for as the sheep requires but little drink, it is naturally fond of a dry soil. The dropsy, vertigo (the pendro of the Welsh), the phthisis, jaundice, and worms in the liver, annually make great havock among our flocks: for the first disease, the shepherd finds a remedy by turning the infected into fields of broom; which plant has been also found to be very efficacious in the same disorder among the human species. The sheep is also infested by different sorts of insects: like the horse, it has its peculiar cestrus or gadfly, which deposits its eggs above the nose in the frontal sinuses. When these turn into maggots, they become excessively painful. The French shepherds make a common practice of easing the sheep, by trepanning and taking out the maggot; this practice is sometimes used by the English shepherds, but not always with the same success. Besides these insects, the sheep is troubled with a kind of tick and louse, which magpies and starlings contribute to ease it of, by lighting on its back, and picking the insects off. Mi. Kerr enumerates fifteen varieties of this species. 1. O. aries Africana, inhabiting Africa, and has short hair instead of wool. 2. O. aries Anglica, the English hornless sheep; without horns; the tail and scrotum hang down as low as the second joint of the hind leg, and the wool is fine. This kind is common in most parts of Britain; those of Lincolnshire are the largest, and very small breeds are found in Wales and Shetland. They have generally either no horns or very small ones; and many of them have very short tails. 3. O. aries barbata, the bearded sheep, or Siberian goat of Mr. Pennant, has a long divided beard, hanging down from the lower part of the cheeks and upper jaw. It is the tragelaphus of Pliny. It inhabits Barbary and Mauritania. The color is a pale rusty brown. 4. O. aries Bucharica, the Bucharian sheep of Pallas already described. 5. 0). aries Capensis, the Cape Sheep, has large pendulous ears, and a large broad tail. The horns are short and bent back; the body and neck are covered with long hair, or wool not curled; the legs are black and naked. 6. O. aries Guineensis, the Guinea, or wat tled sheep, already described. 7. O. aries hispanica, the Spanish sheep, has horns twisted into a spiral, which is lengthened outwards; the wool is very fine and famous all over Europe. 8. O. aries jubata, the Chinese morvant, has a short red and gray mane on the neck; and a long beard on the breast round the neck; on the shoulders are longish red gray hairs; the rest of the body is covered with bright yellow wool, a little curled and soft at the ends, but coarse at the roots; the legs are deep red; the tail is yellow and white, with long coarse hairs. This 9. O. aries laticaudata, the broad-tailed sheep, has a long and very broad tail. kind is common in Syria, Barbary, Ethiopia, Thibet, and Tartary. The tails are so long as to trail on the ground. They are sometimes pointed at the end, but mostly rounded; they Sometimes weigh fifty pounds, and, being composed of a substance between fat and marrow, are reckoned a great delicacy. Those of Thisbet produce the fine wool of which shawls are made. 10. O. aries longicauda, the long-tailed sheep, described before. 11. O. aries nana, the dwarf sheep, has no horns, is of a very small size, and has a turned up nose. This variety is found in Lincolnshire. The wool forms a ruff round its face. The under jaw is protruded; the nose crooked upwards; the ears small and erect. 12. O. aries polycerata, the many-horned sheep; ovis Gotlandica of Pallas: the Iceland sheep of Buffon, has more than two horns. This variety is common in Iceland, Siberia, and Tartary; but in the same flocks in which many are found with three, four, five, or six horns, others have only the usual pair: whence Mr. Kerr thinks they can hardly form a distinct variety. 13. O. aries rustica, the rustic, or blackfaced sheep, is horned, the tail round and short, and the wool white but rather coarse. This is the most common breed of sheep all over Europe; the horns are large, wrinked, turned backwards in a comprised, spiral, screw-like twist, which comes down to the sides of the head, taking several turns, and becoming very large on old rams. The face is covered with short black, dark brown, or gray hair. They are very agile, and exceedingly shy. The mutton is much esteemed. The most perfect breed is found in Tweed-dale. 14. O. aries steatopyga, the fat-rumped sheep, described above. iv. O. pudu, the pudu, or capra puda of Molina, has round, smooth, divergent horns, and inhabits the Cordilleras in South America. It is about the size of a half-year old kid, and lives in flocks on the mountains; whence they descend into the south plains of Chili, when the hills are covered with snow. It resembles a goat, but the horns are small, and turned outwards, like those of a sheep. It has no beard; the female has no horns; the color is dusky. This is the only animal of the genus which seems indigenous to America. v. O. strepsiceros, the Cretan sheep, or Wallachian sheep of Buffon. Described above. This species inhabit Candia, and the other Grecian islands, and are common in Hungary and Austria, where they are called zackl. OUISCONSIN, a river of the United States, which runs south-west into the Mississippi, lat. 43° 40′ N. It is connected with Fox River, which flows into Green Bay by a portage of three miles. Length about 300 miles. OULABAREAH, a trading town of Bengal in Burdwan, pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Hoogly River. On the destruction of the English factory at Hoogly, in 1687, this town was assigned for the residence of the British, but after the expenditure of some money, the president of the factory (Mr. Charnock) took a dislike to the place, and obtained permission to remove to Chuttanutty, a site now occupied by Calcutta. This town, which only consists of thatched houses, is situated eighty miles from the mouth of the river, and twenty below Calcutta. OUNCE, n. s. Fr. once; Lat. uncia. A small weight. The blood he hath lost, Shakspeare. A sponge dry weigheth one ounce twenty-six grains; the same sponge, being wet, weigheth fourteen ounces six drams and three quarters. Bacon. OUNCE, n. s. Fr. once; Span. onza. An animal between a panther and a cat. The ounce, The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole Milton's Paradise Lost. OVOLO, or OVUM, in architecture, a round moulding, whose profile or sweep, in the Ionic and Composite capitals, is usually a quadrant of a circle: whence it is also commonly called the quarter-round. It is usually cut with representations of eggs and arrow-heads or anchors placed alternately. OUPHE, n. s. Į Fairies, black, gray, green, and white, Id. A OU-POEY-TSE a name given by the Chinese to nests made by certain insects upon the leaves and branches of the tree called yen-fou-tse. These nests are much used in dyeing, and the physicians employ them for curing many distempers. Some of these nests were brought to Europe, and put into the hands of the celebrated Geoffroy. After having examined them with the utmost attention, this learned academician thought he perceived some conformity in them to those excrescences which grow on the leaves of the elm, and which the vulgar call elm-bladders : he found these nests so sharp and astringent to the taste, that he considered them as far superior to every other species of galls used by the dyers. According to him, they are the strongest astringents existing in the vegetable kingdom. It is certain that there is a great affinity between the ou-poey-tse and the elm-bladders. The form of both is unequal and irregular; they are covered on the outside with a short down, which renders them soft to the touch: within they are full of a whitish gray dust, in which may be observed the dried remains of small insects, without discovering any aperture through which they might have passed. These nests or bladders harden as they grow old; and their substance, which appears resinous, becomes brittle and transparent; however, the Chinese do not consider the ou-poeytse, notwithstanding their resemblance to elmbladders, as excrescences of the tree yen-fou-tse, upon which they are found. They are persuaded that the insects produce a kind of wax, and construct for themselves on the branches and leaves of this tree (the sap of which is proper for their nourishment) little retreats, where they may wait for the time of their metamorphosis, or at least deposit in safety their eggs, which compose that fine dust with which the ou-poey-tse are filled. Some of the ou-poey-tse are as large as one's fist; but these are rare, and are generally produced by a worm of extraordinary strength, or which has associated with another, as two silk-worms are sometimes seen shut up in the same ball. The smallest ou-poey-tse are of the size of a chestnut; the greater part of them are round and oblong; but they seldom resemble one another entirely in their exterior configuration. At first they are of a dark green color, which afterwards changes to yellow; and the husk, though pretty firm, becomes then very brittle. The Chinese peasants collect these before the first hoar-frosts. They take care to kill the worm enclosed in the husks, by exposing them for some time to the steam of boiling water. Without this precaution, the worm might soon break through its weak prison, which They would immediately burst and be useless. are used at Pekin for giving paper a durable and deep black cole; in the provinces of Kiang-nan and Tche-Kiang, where a great deal of beautiful satin is made, they are employed for the dyeing of the silk before it is put on the loom. The Chinese literati also blacken their beards with them when they become white. The medicinal properties of the ou-poey-tse are very numerous. The Chinese physicians introduce them into the composition of many of their remedies. OUR, pron. poss. Sax. une; Goth. uar; OURSELF', Dan. wor. Of or belongOURSELVES'. ing to us; when placed after the substantive, it is written ours; ourself is a barbarisin formerly used in the regal style or title: ourselves is the plural reciprocal pronoun of we, added to we by way of emphasis, and used also for us, not others, in oblique cases. Not so much as a treaty can be obtained, unless we would denude ourself of all force to defend us. Clarendon. Be ours, whoe'er thou art, Forget the Greeks. Denham. Taxallan, shook by Montezuma's powers, Has, to resist his forces, called in ours. Dryden. Safe in ourselves, while on ourselves we stand, The sea is ours, and that defends the land. Dryden. Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge, it is thinking makes what we read ours: it is not enough to cram ourselves with a great load of collections; unless we chew them over again, they will not give us strength. Locke. We ourselves might distinctly number in words a great deal farther than we usually do, would we find out but some fit denominations to signify them by. He is ours, To administer, to guard, to adorn the state, But not to warp or change it. We are his, To serve him nobly in the common cause, True to the death, but not to be his slaves. Couper. Long life to the grape! for, when summer is flown, The age of our nectar shall gladden our own; We must die, who shall not? may our sins be forgiven, And Hebe shall never be idle in heaven. Byron. The sword we dread not :-of ourselves secure, Firm were our strength, our peace and freedom sure.— Let all the world confederate all its powers, "Be they not backed by those that should be ours.' High on his rock shall Britain's genius stand, Scatter the crowded hosts, and vindicate the land. Canning. OURAL. See URAL MOUNTAINS. OURALSK, the capital city of the Cossacs of the Oural, is a large and populous place, but irregularly built. The Cossacs are divided into seven regiments, the whole commanded by the ataman of the troops, under the superintendance of the governor-general of Orenbourg, Their occupation chiefly consists in taking fish, which are abundant in the Oural, and are supposed to be of a superior quality to those caught in the Caspian. The place is surrounded with an irregular rampart. Inhabitants 3700. Long. 52° 6' E., lat. 50° 11' N. OURCHA, a town, once a famous city, of Hindostan, in Allahabad, and Bundelcund. The rajah of Ourcha being once the head of all the Bondelah tribes; the present family are of the Rajpoot race, and their ancestor is said to have obtained possession of his dignity by the murder of his predecessor, to which it is stated that he added that of the celebrated Abul Fazil. At his death he was master of fifty-two forts, which, with the territories depending, he divided by will among his eight sons, leaving, however, the largest portion, with the title of rajah, to his eldest son, named Hijar or Jijer Sing. This prince having, in the year 1628, opposed the measures of the emperor Shah Jehan, his country was invaded, and himself and son taken prisoner; but, by the payment of a sum of money, he was released, and restored to his dignity. In 1633 he again rebelled, when another Mogul army, under the command of Aurungzebe, entered the country, and, having taken several of his forts, at length besieged him in his strongest fortress, called Joragur. The rajah, being reduced to despair, put his women and children to death, and issuing from the fort, at the head of his cavalry, cut his way through the besiegers, and, although closely pursued, effected his escape into the province of Gundwaneh, where he and all his followers were put to death by the inhabitants for the sake of the plunder they brought family was raised to the throne by Aurungzebe, with them. After this a relation of the present and this rajah is still the head of the chiefs of Bundelcund. His revenue is about £2000 per annum. OURFA, or ORFA, a pachalic of Asiatic Turkey, forming a part of the ancient Mesopotamia. It is almost entirely encircled by the windings of the Euphrates and the Khabour; and touches north and east on the pachalic of Diarbekir, while on the south and west it is separated by the Euphrates from the deserts of Syria. The southern part is, for the most part, sandy and uncultivated, inhabited by nomade tribes of Arabs. In the north, being more mountainous and diversified, it is better inhabited. This division of Mesopotamia was taken from the emperor Heraclius, by Yezid, the general of the Saracens; seized during the first crusade by Baldwin, brother to Godfrey of Bouillon; and erected into a Christian principality. It was included in the dominions of Saladin, and was subsequently swallowed up in the Turkish empire. The towns are Ourfa, Racca, and Soverick. OURFA, a town of Turkey in Asia, the capital of the above pachalic. Under the successors of Alexander it was known as Edessa, and afterwards became the residence of the Courtneys, when they erected a kingdom in Asia. It was sacked by Zingis in the thirteenth century, and by Timur in the fourteenth. Since falling to the Turks, it has been the residence of a pacha with two tails. It is built on two hills, and in the intermediate valley at the south-west extremity of a fine plain. The town is about three miles in circumference, surrounded by walls, and defended by square towers; and it is adorned by some fine springs, which rise from the hills. The castle is on the south side of the city. The ascent is very steep, and the hill is here about half a mile in circumference, surrounded by a deep ditch cut in the rock, which, when necessary, can be filled with water. On the rock are also the ruins of a building called by the Arabs the palace of Nimrod, consisting of two lofty and fine Corinthian pillars, and having some extraordinary subterraneous apartments. Ourfa contains also a magnificent mosque, dedicated to Abraham, and a handsome but decayed Armenian cathedral. It is the thoroughfare for the caravans which pass from Aleppo into the interior of Persia, and noted for the preparation of Turkey |