Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/943

* OMBOS. 807 OMENS. of Haroeris on the left. Adjoining the ante- ohauibers and sanctuaries are a number of small- er cliambers and corridors. A long corridor, starting from the ui)per end of the hypostyle hall, surrounds the inner portion of the temple, and outside of this a similar corridor runs parallel to it between the outer and the inner walls of the edifice. The reliefs adorning the ^valls and columns of the temple are inscribed with the names of Ptolemaic kings and Roman emperors. In front of the great temjile stands the ruined birth-house built by Ptolemy Euer- getes II.; to the right is a small temple dedi- cated to the goddess Ilathor by the Emperor Domitian. Consult: Description- de VEgypte (Paris, 1820-30); Diimichen, Geschichte des alten Aeyyptens (Berlin, 1878) : ^Mariette. ilonu- mcnis of Upper Efji/pt (London, 187") ; De Mor- gan, Kom Oiiiho (Vienna, 1804). OMDUKMAN, 6m-door'man. The former capital of the successor of the Mahdi, situated on the left bank of the White Nile opposite Khar- tum (q.v. ) (ilap: Africa, H 3). It extends for a long distance along the river, and is believed to contain a population of 00.000. Omdurman is noted as the place where the Dervishes were over- whelmed by the Anglo-Eg'ptian troops under Lord Kitclicner on September 2, 1898. O'MEARA, o-ma'ra. Barry Edward (I78G- 1830). An Irish surgeon, not.able from his con- nection with Napoleon I., whom he accompa- nied to Saint Helena as household physician. At; the age of eighteen he entered the British Army as assistant surgeon, afterwards transferring to the na'y. He was serving with Captain Maitland in the Bellerophoii when the Emperor Napoleon surrendered to that oOicer. He was introduced to Napoleon, on whom the impression he produced was favorable, leading to a proposal that he should accompany the Emperor into exile as pri- vate physician, an arranccmeiit to which he ac- ceded, stipulating that he should retain his rank in the navy, and be permitted to return ^o it at pleasure. Of his conversations with Napoleon, during a period of about three years, O'Meara took notes, which he afterwards publislied. Mean- time he became involved, in the interest of Na- poleon, in the series of squabliles which he waged with the Governor, Sir Hudson Lowe (q.v.). In 1818, after a violent altercation with Sir Hudson. O'Meara was committed to close arrest, and was authorized by the Eiiqicror to resign his post. On his return to Kngland he addressed a letter to the Admiralty, in which, among other things, he accused Sir Hudson Lowe of inten- tions against the life of his captive, and even of having, by hints, insinuated a desire for his ser- vices as secret assassin. For this he was in- stantly dismissed the service. After Napoleon's death O'Meara published Xapoleon in Exile (1822) by which book alone he is now remem- bered. OMENS (Lat. omen. OLat. osnien, prognostic, from OS. mouth ; connected with auris. Gk. oSt, ons, Lith. ausir. OChurch Slav, iicho. Goth. ausn. Ger. Ohr, AS. enre, Eng. enr). Events supposed to presage a future event. From prehistoric time it has been a universal belief that any im- portant occurrence is preceded by omens, or, to >ise the traditional English word, by 'signs,' which will allow any observer to forecast what is to be. The notion may be regarded as an an- ticipation of modern science, but in the al)sence of adequate knowledge, attempts at prediction were of necessity fantastic, and an}' jjhenomcnon was supposed to indicate good or evil, according to the ell'ect which it produced o;i the imagina- tion. Hence arose a mass of popular rules, handed down from generation to generation, and which exhibit all over the world great similarity. The signs noted in Anglo-American folk-lore are as old as any, and in part date back to a period antedating civilization. Among these omens a great number relate to the principal events of life, birlli, marriage, and deatli. The last, especially, as the chief ol)ject of anxiety, has occupied a share of attention sufficiently proved by the bad sense attached to the terms fatal and ominous, while a uuiltitude of occur- rences, frequently of an insignificant character, are popularly held to betoken the speedy ending of life. Thus, it is said in jiopular lore that a death will occur if a batch of bread, in baking, cracks across the top, if the flame of a candle ex- hibits the excrescence called a "winding-sheet,' if a person carries through the house a hoe or spade, or if a rose or other plant blossoms in the fall. Again, if during a funeral any one passes between the carriages, or if the procession re- turns by the same road as that which conducted it to the cemetery, another death will occur. In vmdertaking a journey, good or ill luck is con- jectured from the aninuils encountered on the path. If a rabbit or (in other localities) a squir- rel cross the track, the expedition will be for- tunate if the creature jiass from left to right, the reverse if from right to left; in the latter case, the misfortune can be averted by making a cross-mark with the feet. The passage of a cat. especiallj- a black cat, is bad luck, unless the traveler immediately turns. So omens are taken from the flight of birds. If, as one leaves his house, a crow flies in front, it is said to be an evil portent, while the sight of a redbird is held to be a token of lovers' meeting. Hearing the cry of a whippoorwill when about to start on a journey indicates danger. Such beliefs are entirely in the spirit of ancient augury, according to which especial attention ought to be paid to the position and the notes of birds which may be met on the way. Other omens are taken from in- sects and plants. Thus, the color of the first butterfly seen in the spring is said to show the color of the first new dress, the chirping of a cricket to foretell sorrow, the advent of a bumble- bee into the house to be a sign of news or com- pany. Marks about the jierson of babes are supposed to be significant of character. Thus in English nursery lore, a straight line on the palm is regarded as a token of early death, while white and blue spots on the nails are taken to denote good or evil fortune. From such notions, originally of a simple nature, came to be de- veloped an elaborate science of palmistry. When systems of rules had once been established, and connected with life, they .continued with great obstinacy, so that the perception of failure in the validity of such expectations was met. not by discrediting the theory, but by increasing the complication of the maxims. A large mass of popular sayings relate to the determination of the weather, supposed to be predictal)le by means of siffns often of a nature highly fantastic. The weather in each of the twelve days after Christ- mas is said to indicate that to be expected for