586 OERTEL OETINGER hagen, March 9, 1851. He was the son of a druggist. At the university of Copenhagen he took a prize for an essay on " The Limits of Poetry and Prose." He had become imbued with the modern German philosophy through the lectures of Steffens, and on taking his doc- tor's degree presented a dissertation on the "Architectonics of Natural Metaphysics," a study of the laws of physics and their higher relations as the products of reason. In 1800 he took charge of a pharmacy, devoted his attention to galvanism, and made important discoveries with respect to the action of acids during the production of galvanic electricity. In 1801-'3 he studied and travelled in Ger- many, France, and the Netherlands, and on re- turning to Copenhagen lectured on electricity and cognate sciences. A selection from his scientific papers written about this time has been published under the title of " The Soul in Nature " (London, 1852). In 1806 he became professor of physics in the university of Co- penhagen, and in 1809 published the first edi- tion of his " Manual of Mechanical Physics." In 1812 he revisited Germany, and published at Berlin a work tending to show the identity of magnetism and electricity. His discovery of this identity was made in the winter of 1819-'20. (See ELEOTKO-MAGJSTETISM, vol. vi., p. 513.) In July, 1820, Oersted promulgated his discovery in a Latin tract entitled Experi- ments circa Efficaciam Oonflictus Electrici in Acum Magneticam. The French institute pre- sented Oersted with a prize worth 3,000 francs ; the royal society of London gave him the Cop- ley medal; and by common consent he was elevated to the first rank of scientific men. He made scientific journeys at intervals to various parts of Europe, and founded the magnetic ob- servatory of Copenhagen, and also the Danish society for the diffusion of natural science. In 1844 appeared the second edition of his " Man- ual of Mechanical Physics," which contained accounts of his experiments on the compressi- bility of water and air. He also devoted some time to politics and light literature, and pub- lished a poem entitled "The Balloon." The 50th anniversary of his connection with the university was celebrated with a national jubi- lee, Nov. 7, 1850. Throughout his scientific career Oersted labored to show that the laws of nature must harmonize with reason, even representing the practice of science to be a religious worship. As a lecturer he possessed great merit, and was one of the first to give popular lectures to ladies on scientific sub- jects, and to urge the establishment of female colleges. A complete edition of his works was published in Copenhagen (9 vols., 1850- '51). Several of them have been translated into foreign languages. OERTEL, Phfflpp Friedrich Wilhelm (better known by his nom de plume W. O. VON HOKN), a German author, born at Horn, near Simmern, Aug. 15, 1798, died in Wiesbaden, Oct. 14, 1867. He was the son of a clergyman, studied theology at Heidelberg, was in charge of a parish at Mannebach from 1820 to 1835, was ecclesiastical superintendent at Sobernheim from 1835 to 1863, and subsequently resided at Wiesbaden. He was a voluminous writer of popular stories, and his Gesammelte Erzah- lungen (13 vols:, Wiesbaden, 1850-'59) has passed through numerous editions. OUSEL, an island in the Baltic, at the mouth of the gulf of Riga, in the Russian government of Livonia ; length about 60 m., breadth from 3 to 50 m. ; area, 1,200 sq. m. ; pop. about 46,000, mainly Lutherans. It has a bold, high coast, and a diversified surface. The climate is more temperate than on the mainland, but violent storms are frequent in spring and autumn. The soil is not naturally fertile, but is watered by many small streams. A great part of the island is covered with forests, and much of it is used as pasture. Grain is raised for exportation. The only important manufacture is tar. The fisheries, chiefly of seals, are valuable. Oesel once belonged to the Teutonic knights, but was seized by the Danes at an early period, and ceded by them to Sweden in 1645. In the be- ginning of the 18th century Russia took pos- session of it, and in 1721 it was formally ceded to that power. Chief town, Arensburg. OESTERLEY, Karl, a German painter, born in Gottingen in 1805. He studied in Gottingen, Dresden, and Italy, and became a professor at Gottingen in 1829. He subsequently perfected his art in Dusseldorf, Munich, and Paris, and became painter to the court of Hanover. He resigned his chair at Gottingen in 1863. Among his best known cartoons are "The Daughter of Jephthah," " Lenore," illustrating Burger's bal- lad, " The two Brides," " The awakened Dorn- roschen" (1861), "Hans Memling" (1865), and many altarpieces. OETINGER, Friedrich Christoph, a German theo- logian, born at Goppingen, Wtirtemberg, May 6, 1702, died at Murrhardt, Feb. 10, 1782. He was educated at Tubingen, Jena, and Leipsic, was for a time tutor at Tubingen, and assisted Count Zinzendorf in his project of translating the Bible. In 1738 he was appointed pastor at Hirschau. He became a convert to the doc- trines of Jacob Boehm, and attempted to ar- range a system of theology on the mystical interpretation of Scripture. In 1765 he pub- lished his Theologia ex Idea Vita Deducta (Frankfort ; translated into German by Ham- berger, 1852), in which he set forth his pe- culiar notions. He assails the philosophy of Wolf because he has converted the terms life, kingdom, spirit, to which the Scriptures attach a definite meaning, into abstract ideas, from which he develops a system of idealism which resolves everything into mere symbolism. He translated several of Swedenborg's works into German (2 vols. 8vo, Leipsic, 1765). His own views were expressed in his "Heavenly and Earthly Philosophy," which was condemned by his ecclesiastical superiors ; but the duke of Wurtemberg took him under his protection,
