Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/38

LEFT OLFACTORY NERVES 18 OLIVE about 5 broad, and is unusually fertile. On Oleron are the port of Le Chateau, and the small towns of St. Pierre d'Ole- ron and St. Georges d'Oleron. OLFACTORY NERVES, in anatomy, the fifth pair of cerebral nerves ramify- ing on the Schneiderian membrane, pro- ducing the sense of smell, and also sensi- bility to the nose. OLIFANT RIVER, a forked stream of Cape Colony, South Africa; rises in the mountains N. E. of Cape Town, and, after a N. W. course of 150 miles, en- ters the Atlantic. Area of drainage basin, 13,000 square miles. Another stream bearing the same name rises in the Transvaal, and goes E. to join the Limpopo. OLIGARCHY, a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the hands of a small exclusive class; the members of such a class or body. OLIGOCENE, in geology, a term em- ployed by Beyrich to designate certain Tertiary beds of Germany (Mayence etc.). OLIPHANT, LAURENCE, an English writer; born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1829. Of good family and posi- tion, he roamed over the earth, deeply in- terested in the mystic philosophy of the East. He published a dozen books, in- eluding three novels; several works of a politico-military nature, such as "A Nar- rative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan" (I860) ; and various journalistic and philosophic books, like "Episodes in a Life of Adventure" (1887) and "Scientific Religion" (1888). He died in Twickenham, England, Dee. 23, 1888. OLIPHANT, MARGARET (WIL- SON), a Scotch novelist; born in Waly- ford, Scotland, in April, 1828; lived in Liverpool, London, Rome, and for nearly 30 years in Windsor, England. She was a most prolific authoress, publishing over 110 books, besides numerous articles and essays. She excelled in delineating character, and had a keen sense of hu- mor. Among her most important works are "Caleb Field" (1851); "Harry Muir" (1853); "The Quiet Heart" (1856); "Adam Graeme of Mossgray" (1857) ; "The Makers of Florence" (1874); "A Beleaguered City" (1880); "The Vic- torian Age of English Literature" (1892); "A Little Pilgrim in the Un- seen" (1882); etc. She died in Wim- bledon, England, June 25, 1897. OLIVA, in zoology, olive; a genus of Buccinidss. Shell cylindrical, polished; .spire very short, suture channeled; ap- erture long, narrow, notched in front; columella callous, striated obliquely; bodywhorl funrowed near base. No op- erculum in the typical species, O. por- phyria. Large foot and mantle lobes; eyes near tips of tentacles. Known species 120, from subtropical coasts of America, West Africa, India, China, and the Pacific. In palaeontology, 20 fossil species, commencmg in the Eocene Ter- tiary. OLIVA, a village in Prussia, in the province of East Prussia, not far from Danzig. In a Cistercian abbey in this village a peace was concluded, May 3, 1660, which terminated the war between Sweden, Poland, the emperor, and Bran- denburg. OLIVAREZ, GAsPARO DE GUZ- MAN, COUNT OF, DUKE OF SAN LU- CAR, an Italian statesman; born in Rome, Italy, where his father was am- bassador, Jan. 6, 1587. He became the COUNT OF OLIvArEZ friend of Philip IV., his confidant in his amours, and afterward his prime minis- ter, in which capacity he exercised almost unlimited power for 22 years. OlivArez showed ability for government; but his constant endeavor was to wring money from the country that he might carry on wars against Portugal, France, and the Netherlands, provoked insurrections in Catalonia and Andalusia, and roused the Portuguese to shake off the Spanish yoke in 1640. The king was obliged to dismiss his favorite in 1643. He was or- dered to retire to Toro (Zaniora), and died there July 22, 1645. OLIVE, in botany, Olea europcea, the leaves are oblong or lanceolate, smooth