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 ONESICRITUS, or, of Aegina or Astypaleia (probably simply the “old city” of Aegina), one of the writers on Alexander the Great. At an advanced age he became a pupil of Diogenes the Cynic, and gained such repute as a student of philosophy that he was selected by Alexander to hold a conference with the Indian Gymnosophists. When the fleet was constructed on the Hydaspes, Onesicritus was appointed chief pilot (in his vanity he calls himself commander), and in this capacity accompanied Nearchus on the voyage from the mouth of the Indus to the Persian gulf. He wrote a diffuse biography of Alexander, which in addition to historical details contained descriptions of the countries visited, especially India. After the king’s death, Onesicritus appears to have completed his work at the court of Lysimachus, king of Thrace. Its historical value was considered small, it being avowedly a panegyric, and contemporaries (including even Alexander himself) regarded it as untrustworthy. Strabo especially takes Onesicritus to task for his exaggeration and love of the marvellous. His Paraplus (or description of the coasts of India) probably formed part of the work, and, incorporated by Juba II. of Mauretania with the accounts of coasting voyages by Nearchus and other geographers, and circulated by him under the name of Onesicritus, was largely used by Pliny.

ONION (Fr. oignon, Lat. unio, liberally unity, oneness, applied to a large pearl and to a species of onion), Allium Cepa (nat. ord. Liliaceae), a hardy bulbous biennial, which has been cultivated in Britain from time immemorial, and is one of the earliest of cultivated species; it is represented on Egyptian monuments, and one variety cultivated in Egypt was accorded divine honours. It is commonly cultivated in India, China and Japan. A. de Candolle, arguing from its ancient cultivation and the antiquity of the Sanskrit and Hebrew names, regards it as a native of western Asia.

The onion should be grown in an open situation, and on a light, rich, well-worked soil, which has not been recently manured. In England the principal crop may be sown at any time from the middle of February to the middle of March, if the weather is fine and the ground sufficiently dry. The seed should be sown in shallow drills, 10 in. apart, the ground being made as level and firm as possible, and the plants should be regularly thinned, hoed and kept free from weeds. At the final thinning they should be set from 3 to 6 in. apart, the latter distance in very rich soil. About the beginning of September the crop is ripe, which is known by the withering of the leaves; the bulbs are then to be pulled, and exposed on the ground till well dried, and they are then to be put away in a store-room, or loft, where they may be perfectly secured from frost and damp.

About the end of August a crop is sown to afford a supply of young onions in the spring months. Those which are not required for the kitchen, if allowed to stand, and if the flower-bud is picked out on its first appearance, and the earth stirred about them, frequently produce bulbs equal in size and quality to the large ones that are imported from the Continent. A crop of very large bulbs may also be secured by sowing about the beginning of September, and transplanting early in spring to very rich soil. Another plan is to sow in May on dry poor soil, when a crop of small bulbs will be produced; these are to be stored in the usual way, and planted in rich soil about February, on ground made firm by treading, in rows about 1 ft. apart, the bulbs being set near the surface, and about 6 in. asunder. The White Spanish and Tripoli are good sorts for this purpose.

To obtain a crop of bulbs for pickling, seed should be sown thickly in March, in rather poor soil, the seeds being very thinly covered, and the surface well rolled; these are not to be thinned, but should be pulled and harvested when ripe. The best sorts for this crop are the Silver-skinned, Early Silver-skinned, Nocera and Queen.

Onions may be forced like mustard and cress if required for winter salads, the seeds being sown thickly in boxes which are to be placed in a warm house or frame. The young onions are of course pulled while quite small.

The Potato Onion, Allium Cepa var. aggregatum, is propagated by the lateral bulbs, which it throws out, under ground, in considerable numbers. This variety is very prolific, and is useful when other sorts do not keep well. It is sometimes planted about midwinter, and then ripens in summer, but for use during the spring and early summer it is best planted in spring. It is also known as the underground onion, from its habit of producing its bulbs beneath the surface.

The Tree Onion or Egyptian Onion, Allium Cepa var. proliferum, produces small bulbs instead of flowers, and a few offsets also underground. These small stem bulbs are excellent for pickling.

The Welsh Onion or Ciboule, Allium fistulosum, is a hardy perennial, native of Siberia. It was unknown to the ancients, and must have come into Europe through Russia in the middle ages or later. It forms no bulbs, but, on account of its extreme hardiness, is sown in July or early in August, to furnish a reliable supply of young onions for use in salads during the early spring. These bulbless onions are sometimes called Scallions, a name which is also applied to old onions which have stem and leaves but no bulbs.

The following are among the best varieties of onions for various purposes:—

For Summer and Autumn.—Queen; Early White Naples: these two sorts also excellent for sowing in autumn for spring salading. Silver-skinned; Tripoli, including Giant Rocca.

For Winter.—Brown Globe, including Magnum Bonum; White Globe; Yellow Danvers; White Spanish, in its several forms; Trebons, the finest variety for autumn sowing, attaining a large size early, ripening well, and keeping good till after Christmas; Ailsa Craig; Ronsham Park Hero; James’s Keeping; Cranston’s Excelsior; Blood Red, strong-flavoured.

For Pickling.—Queen, Early Silver-skinned, White Nocera, Egyptian.

ONOMACRITUS (c. 530–480 ), seer, priest and poet of Attica. His importance lies in his connexion with the religious movements in Attica during the 6th century He had great influence on the development of the Orphic religion and mysteries, and was said to have composed a poem on initiatory rites. The works of Musaeus, the legendary founder of Orphism in Attica, are said to have been reduced to order (if not actually written) by him (Clem. Alex. Stromata, i. p. 143 [397]; Pausanias i. 22, 7). He was in high favour at the court of the Peisistratidae till he was banished by Hipparchus for making additions of his own in an oracle of Musaeus. When the Peisistratidae were themselves expelled and were living in Persia, he furnished them with oracles encouraging Xerxes to invade Greece and restore the tyrants in Athens (Herodotus vii. 6). He is also said to have been employed by Peisistratus in editing the Homeric poems, and to have introduced interpolations of his own (e.g. a passage in the episode of the visit of Odysseus to the world below). According to Pausanias (viii. 31. 3; 37. 5; ix. 35, 5) he was also the author of poems on mythological subjects.

ONOMATOPOEIA, literally the making or formation of words (Gr. , from  , name,  , to make), hence a term used in philology for the formation of words by imitation of natural sounds, e.g. “hiss,” “hush,” “click.” Modern philologists prefer the term “echoism,” “echoic” for this process, as suggesting the imitative repetition of the sounds heard. At one time there was an exaggerated tendency to find in echoism a principal source in the origin and growth of language, ridiculed as the “bow-wow” theory of language; it is now recognized that it has played only a limited part.

 ONONDAGA, a tribe of North American Indians of Iroquoian stock, forming one of the Six Nations. The tribal headquarters was about the lake and creek of the same name in New York state. Their territory extended northward to Lake Ontario and southward to the Susquehanna river. They were the official guardians of the council-fire of the Iroquois. Their chief town, near the site of the present Onondaga, consisted of some 140 houses in the middle of the 17th century, when the tribe