Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/618

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
508
RIGHT

OCEAN 50t OCELOT as the physical well-being. The lower- ing of the vitality naturally make the worker less immune to maladies of a gen~ eral character, and there is hardly an occupation that does not favor conditions that make the individual more suscep- tible to one form of malady than another among those that mortal flesh is heir to. OCEAN, the sea, using that term in its widest sense. Properly speaking, there is but one ocean or sea, all the salt water on the globe, with a few trifling excep- tions like the Caspian, the Sea of Aral, and the Dead Sea, being more or less in complete communication with each other. Difl'erent portions of the ocean have re- ceived distinctive names. The Arctic, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Pacific, and the Antarctic oceans, five in all; or if the Atlantic and Pacific be separated into a N. and a S. portion by the equator, then there are seven in all. The unequal heating of portions of the vast expanse of water on the globe, the rotation of the earth, and other causes tend to keep the water in constant circulation and pre- serve it from being stagnant and im- pure. The attractions of the moon and sun cause tides. The area of the ocean is about 155,000,000 square miles, or nearly three-fourths of the whole surface of the earth. This space is distributed (in square miles) among the principal seas as follows: Arctic, 5,000,000; Antarctic, 10,000,000; Indian, 20,000,000 ; Atlantic, 40,000,000; Pacific, 80,000,000. This great volume of water largely mod- ifies the temperature of the adjacent lands, tempering the heat of summer and the cold of winter. As far as observa- tion has yet extended, the average depth of the ocean is somewhat above two miles. At 62° F., the relative density of salt and fresh water is as 1.0275 to 1. The ocean has been salt through all known geological periods. The origin of this saltness is a difficult geological prob- lem. While on land the temperature rises as mines or borings become deeper, the opposite occurs with the ocean. As a rule, the surface water is the warmest. The level of the ocean remains perma- nent from age to age. It is the land that is upheaved or subsides. OCEAN GROVE, a city of New Jersey in Monmouth co., 54 miles S. of New York City. It is situated on the Penn- sylvania and the Central of New Jer- sey railroads. It adjoins Asbury Park on the S. It is the locality of the annual camp meeting under the aus- pices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and it is controlled largely by the camp- meeting association. There are certain important public buildings, including the Auditorium, postoffice, and school. The permanent population is 2,500, which is increased in the summer months to over 25,000. OCEANIA, a name sometimes given to the fifth division of the globe, compris- ing all the islands which intervene be- tween the S. E. shores of the continent of Asia and the W. shores of America. It naturally divides itself into three great sections — the Malay Archipelago, Australasia or Melanesia, and Polynesia. OCEANUS (-se'-), in classical mythol- ogy, the god of the stream Oceanus, and the offspring of Ccslus and Terra, or Heaven and Earth. He espoused his sister Tethys, and their children were the rivers of the earth, and the 3,000 Oceanides or Nymphs of Ocean. OCELLUS, plural OCELLI, in entomol- ogy and zoology, a spot within a ring of another color, like the pupil within the iris, except that the central spot is often surrounded by additional concentric zones. Example, the ocelli on the tail coverts of the peacock, and those on the wings of the peacock-butterfly. Ocelli, the simple eyes or stemmata of insects, generally situated on the crown of the head between the great compound eyes. Used also of the simple eyes of spiders, crustaceans, moUusks, etc. OCELOT, Felis pardalis. The fur has a tawny reddish ground, marked with black spots, aggregated in spots and blotches. It ranges through the wooded OCELOT parts of tropical America, from Arkan- sas to Paraguay. Length, about four feet, legs short. It destroys a vast num- ber of animals for the sake of sucking the blood. In captivity it is playful and gentle.