Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/752

Rh 694 O A K A R venerable aspect. One growing at Grove Creek, near Charleston, | is said to have attained a girth of 45 feet at the ground ; trees of 12 feet in circumference were formerly not unfrequent. The stalked oblong acorns in elongated cups are pleasant in taste, and were eaten &quot;&quot; by the Indians of Texas. The tree in England is scarcely hardy, though it will grow freely in some sheltered places. Many varieties of Q. vircns are found in the Mexican isthmus. 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 Fio. 7.Q. Ilex (L.) ; half natural size. (From Kotschy, op. cit. plate xxxviii.) under surface is hoary ; the acorns are oblong on short stalks. The ilex, sometimes called by gardeners the &quot;holm oak&quot; from its resemblance to the holty, abounds in all the Mediterranean countries, showing a partiality for the sea air. The stem sometimes grows 80 or 90 feet 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 firewood and charcoal. In Britain the evergreen oak is quite hardy in ordinary winters, and is useful to the ornamental planter from its capacity for resisting the sea gales ; but it generally remains of small size. Q. Ballota, an allied form, abundant in Morocco, bears large edible acorns, which form an article of trade with Spain ; an oil, resembling that of the olive, is obtained from them by expression. Q. Gramuntia, another allied species, also furnishes a fruit which, after acquiring sweetness by keeping, is eaten by the Spaniards. In America several oaks exist with narrow lanceolate leaves, from which characteristic they are known as &quot;willow oaks.&quot; Q. Phcllos, a rather large tree found on swampy land in the southern States, is the most important of this group ; its timber is of indif ferent quality. The cork oak, Q. Sube?; has been de scribed in a preced ing article (CORK). 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 FIG. 8. 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. JEgilops, a fine species indigenous to Greece and the coasts of the Levant, and sometimes called the &quot;Oak of Bashan. &quot; The very large acorns are remarkable for their thick cups with long reflexed scales ; the leaves are large, oblong, with -Q. Vallonea; half natural size. op. cit., plate vii.) (From Kotschy, 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 &quot; camatina.&quot; The allied Q. Vallonea likewise yields valonia. 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. Q. cocci/era, 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). (C. P. J.) OAKAPPLE, or OAKGALL. See GALLS, vol. x. p. 45. OAKLAND, a city of the United States, in Alameda county, California, lies opposite San Francisco, of which it is practically a residential suburb, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, at the terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad. Its beautiful situation, its shady streets, and the excellent quality of its buildings make it a distinctly attractive place. A branch of the bay, dividing the city into East and West Oakland, forms a good harbour, but is obstructed by a bar. The railway pier, 2 miles long, con tains a number of warehouses and is traversed by a broad carriage road. Among the local industrial establishments are flour-mills, planing -mills, potteries, tanneries, and a jute-factory turning out 5,000,000 sacks per annum. Oakland, deriving its name from a grove of oaks in the midst of which it was built, was incorporated as a city in 1854. Its population was 1549 in 1860, 10,500 in 1870, and 34,555 in 1880. OAKUM is a preparation of tarred fibre used in ship building, for 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, its teasing and preparation being a common penal occupation in prisons. OAMARU, a municipal borough on the coast of Otago, New Zealand (South Island), 73 miles by rail north from Dunedin, and in 45 5 S. lat. and 171 2 E. long., is a thriv ing seaport. It is the outlet of the largest agricultural district in New Zealand, and comprises land of exceptional fertility. It is on the main railway between Christchurch and Dunedin, and is connected by branch lines with fertile inland districts. A breakwater and mole, constructed of blocks of concrete like those used at Port Said in Egypt, en close a large and commodious basin in what was an open roadstead ; and the harbour, when completed, will be one of the safest in the colony, and capable of accommodat ing very large ships. Steamers run three or four times a week between Oamaru and Dunedin. The town is well supplied with gas and water, and is built of white Oamaru limestone, an excellent building -stone abundant in the district. The population in 1881 was 5791 ; and the capital value of the rateable property in 1883 was 810,428. Coal is obtained at the entrance of Shag Valley, 40 miles to the south. The district is famed for its stock, and the fine quality of its grain, which is often equal to that of South Australia ; also for the character of the English grasses laid down there, which flourish in a rich black loam on a limestone formation. The local industries comprise flour- mills, an elevator in connexion with storing grain, a woollen factory, the Oamaru stone company, a boot and shoe factory, a meat-preserving factory, breweries, and a bacon-curing factory. There are several public buildings, including a grammar school, a hospital, an athenaeum, and a public hall. OAR -FISH, a fish of the family of ribbon -fishes (Trachypteridsi), to which great interest is attached no less on account of the extraordinary shape of its body than of its internal organization, which is unmistakably that of a deep-sea fish. As in the other members of this family, the body is much elongated and compressed, sword-shaped ;