Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/152

 ONO

O N Y

'I The fme-leav'd, bicomated onion, with dufky col'eur'd flowers. 12. The little rufh-leav'd, purple flowered onion 13. The purple- flowerd, globular-headed, fine-leaved anion, Town. In ft. p. 382.

Onions are much eaten, and it would be well if they were yet morefo; they attenuate tough humours, cleanfe the ftomach, and excite appetite, and in ibme degree promote the menfes. But they are apt to breed flatulencies, and, if" eaten too large- ly, to affect the head and difturb the fleep afterwards. An onion boiled to a perfect foftnefs, is recommended by many as a cataplafm for ripening peftilential buboes. A frefh cut onion rubbed on the part till it become red, and itch, is faid to be a cure fbrbaldnefs. A mixture of equal parts of juice of onions and fpirit of wine, is efteemed a cure for deafnefs, a few drops being put at times into the ears : An anion cut in two, and macerated an hour in the fame fpirit, is a good ap- plication for the hcad-ach. A cataplafm of roafted onions and butter is an excellent application for the piles. The three forts of onions propagated for the fake of their roots for winter ufe, are the Strafburg onion, the red Spanifli onion, and the white. Thefe are to be propagated by lowing their feeds in the latter end of February, in a dry, and fomewhat fandy foil, yet rich : in about a month's time the plants will appear, and, in a fortnight after that, they will be forward enough for hoeing, which muff, be done with a very fmall hoe, cutting up all the weeds, and leaving the onions two inches a- funder ; this fhould be done in a dry feafon, and the ground will then be clear of weeds for a month. At the end of this time, they mull be hoed again, and cut to three inches apart; and a month after this, to four inches, at which diftance they will thrive well, and grow very large. Toward the latter end of July, the onions will have arrived at their full growth, which is known by their leaves hanging down, and fnrivel- ing; and they muft at this time be pulled up* and fpread on a dry place, and turned every day, to prevent their ftriking frefh roots ; in a fortnight's time they will be dry enough to houfe, and fliould be wiped clean, and fpread thin in an upper loft, or garret.

The differences between thefe fpecies are not effential, they often degenerating into one another; and even the large Por- tugal onion, after a few years, with us, will lofe itfeif fo far that no one would imagine it came of that race. Miller's Gardener's Diet. Welch Onions, a fort of onions propagated by gardener?, for the ufe of the table in fpring; they never make any bulb, and are therefore only to be eaten green in fallads. They are propa- gated by fowing their feeds toward the end of July in beds of a dry, but rich foil ; and in three weeks after fowing, they will appear above ground : they muft be kept carefully cleared from weeds. About October all their leaves die away, which has ocafioned fome to think the whole plantation loft, and to dig up the ground for fome other ufe ; but if they are fuffered ■ to ftand, they will fhoot up again very ftrong in January, and from that time will grow very vigoroufly, and refift all wea- thers, and will be fit to draw for young cniam in March, and are extremely green and fine, and more valued at market at that feafon than any other kind ; but they are much ftrongcr than any other onions, and have very much of the tafte of gar- lick. I'd. ibid. OxiQN-Jhell, in natural hiftnry, a name given by authors to a rcculiar kind of oijicr, which is of a roundifh figure, and very thin, and tranfparcnt, and rcprefents very exactly a piece of the peel of an onion. SeeOsTREA. ONISCUS, in ichthyology, a name given by Atfueneus, and others of the Greek writers, to the accipenfer, or jlurgeon. See

ACCIPENSER.

On rsc us is alio the officinal name of the whiting. Dale, Pharm. p. 372.

Onjscus, in zoology, is alfo a name ufed by fome to exprefs the common millepedes, called in Englifh wood lice, and jhvs. Jl- drov* dc Inf. p. 632.

ONGBRYCHIS, cock 's-bead, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : the flower is of the papilionaceous kind, and its piftil finally becomes a fhort pod, ofacrefted form* and in fome fpecies echinatedj this contains a kidney fhaped feed. To this it is to be added, that the flow- ers grow in a denfe fpifce.

The fpecies of ombrychis enumerated by Mr.Tonrnefort, are thefe: i. The great, vetch-leaved onobrychis, with bright red flowers, and an ecbinated fruit. 2. The great, vetch- leaved onobrychi;, with pale red flowers, and echinated fruit. 3. The great, vetch-leaved onobrychis, with echinated fruit, and with white flowers. 4. The ftone onobrychis, with lone;, and narrow, vetch-like leaves. 5. The Ieffer onobrychh, with echinated fruit. 6. The Ieffer ombrychis, with a very large, and remarkably echinated fruit. Tcum. Inft.

ONOCENTAL'R.US, a fabulous animal, fuppofed to be a com- pound of a man and an afs. ./Elian 3 fpeaks of onoemtaurs. It was half man, and half afs, as the centaur was half man, and ha!fhoife b. — [ a Lib. 7. cap. 9. b Cat/net, Diet. Bibl J

GNOCROl ALUS, in zoology, the name of a very remarkable

bird, commonly known among us by the name of the Pelican.

- It isofthefize of a goofe, or larger ; and is of a greyifh

wkite all over, except that the neck looks a little yellowifh, and the middles of the back feathers are blackifh. The bill is remarkably long, and hooked at the end, and has under it a lax membrane extended alfo to the throat, and makes a bag or fack capable of holding a very large quantity. Its feet are web'd, as in the duck, and goofe, all the toes being jo-ned by the membrane. There is one very lingular thing in this bird, which is, that its hones arefohd, containing no marrow, and are all pellucid. Ray's Ornithol. p. 246. ONOS, in ichthyography, ft name given by fome authors to the erglcfinw, or common haddock. IP'illughlys Hilt. Fife. p. tyo. See the article /EglefinuS. Onos is ufed by Athseneus, and many other of the Greek wri- ters, to the fifh which we call the hake, the ajeilus minor of authors ; called by Bellonius, Gefner, and fome others, the mcrlucius. ONYX, (Cyrf.) in natural hiftory, the name of a genus of the femipellucid gems; the characters of which arcj that they have varioufly coloured zones, but none of red, thefe mak- ing them fardonyxes; and that they are formed of chryftal debafed, but by a very fmall admixture of earth, and com- posed either of a number of flat plates, or of a (cries of coats made by incruftation round a central nucleus; the different coloured ones being covered with a coat of the bafis or com- mon matter of the ftone, and feparatcd from one another by, and alternately variegated with, thin veins of that matter, in form of other zones.

As there have been many difputes about what were properly the gems of the anticnts, the cnyv has not been iefs per- plexed than the reft. The characters here afiigned them will diftinguifh them, however, from all other ftones; and will not let the careful obferver eafily be deceived, when he fees a ftone in its rough and native ftate ; but they will not fo well ferve the lefs nice enquirer from being impofed upon in purchafing onyxes when cut and wrought. Our lapidaries feem to have had a defign of banifhing the diftinctions of the agate and onyx out of the world ; for as the zones are the moil obvious character of the onyx, they have found an eafy way to make pieces cut properly out of maffes of agates re- femble them. Agates, though never plated or formed of regular zones, are frequently veined in ftrait narrow lines, and a piece of one of thefe agates cut perpendicularly to the fite of thefe veins, gives the very figure of the zones of an onyx, -. The white Gambay agate is what they ufually choofe for this purpofe ; fuch pieces of this ftone as have the black dendrite; in them, when properly cut out from the reft; of the mafs, are their Mocoa ftones ; but other parts of the fame ftone, which have not thefe delineations, but have ftrait clofe veins are cut out in a proper direction, and fold for onyxes. Thefe may always, however, be diftinguifhed by their wanting the proper degree, purity, and tranfparence ; and by this, that the common pale auricular onyxes, whnjh are the kind thefe moft refemble, have always a peculiar blueifh caft, which is not found in thefe counterfeits.

We have four fpecies of the onyx now in ufe among our la- pidaries. The firitis a blueifh white one, with broad white zones. This was the true onyx of the antients, and is cornpofed of a blueifh white onyx, variegated with white and brown zones. It is fometimes found cornpofed of flat and even plates of thefe, laid clofely on one another, and fometimes is in form of a pebble, cornpofed of a central nucleus of pure chryftal, or nearly pure, furrou tided with thofe crufls which form the zones. It is very common In the Eaft-Tndies, and is found alfo in New Spain, and fometimes in Germany and Italy, tho'of much fmaller value, and lefs brightnefs, hard- nefs, and tranfparence.

The fecond is a very pure onyx, with fnow white veins, which is exceeding bright and tranfparcnt, and tho' cornpofed only - of two colours, is inferior to very few of the onyxes in beau- ty. It is always found in the form of a roundifh pebble, ufually about the fize of an egg, and cornpofed of feveral coats of a blueifh white, and a fine and pure white, laid evenly round a central neuleus of pure, but mattery chryftal ; the whole is very bright, and the blueifh part very little lefs tranfparent than pure chryftal; the nucleus is generally of an angular form, and the coats or zones being all exactly of the fame fhape, make a very beautiful appearance. It is found only in the Eaft-Indies, and is very much efteemed in Italy, but with us is not fo much regarded as it deferves.- The third fpecies is the jafponix, which, fee under its pro- per head.

The fourth is the brown cnyv, with blueifh white zones. This is a very clear and pure ftone, but is fo much lefs beautiful than the other kinds, that tho' very common in the Eaft Indies, it is very feldom feen or regarded amor* us. Hill's Hift. of Fof. p. 49 o. Onyx, in conchyliology, the name given by the curious to a fpecies of voluta, found In cabinets, but never met with in that 1 late on the fea mores. The true account of this is, that the {hell in this elegant form owes its appearance to art, havingbeen polifhed, and having had its outer coat taken off. With this outer coat which is of a dufky yellow, it is often kept in the fame cabinet under another name, be'in"

then