Church. The name of his organization was afterwards changed to the Christian Church, but at the end of twenty years it had almost disappeared. Consult Buckley, History of Methodism in the United States (New York, 1897).
OKEN, ō̇k′en, Lorenz (1779-1859). A German naturalist and philosopher, born at Bohlsbac. His real name was Ockenfuss. He studied medicine and the natural sciences at Würzburg and Göttingen. In 1807 he became a professor of medicine at Jena, and in 1812 received the chair of natural sciences, but in 1819 he was compelled to resign his position because a scientific journal called Isis, which he had conducted since 1816, gave offense to the Government. In 1828 he obtained a professorship in the newly founded University of Munich, and in 1832 accepted a chair at Zurich, where he remained until his death. Oken sought to unify all the natural sciences, and invented an entirely new and very complicated terminology for the purpose. His system was in some respects fantastic, and is now almost obsolete. Some of his speculations were, however, fortunate. As early as 1805 he foreshadowed the theories of the cellular structure of organisms and of the protoplasmic basis of life, and his vertebral theory of the structure of the skull, although false, was an important contribution to comparative morphology. His most important works are: Die Zeugung (1805); Ueber die Bedeutung der Schädelknochen (1806); Lehrbuch der Naturphilosophie (1808-11), translated into English by Tulk and called Elements of Physio-philosophy (1847); Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte (1813-27).
OKHOTSK, ō̇-Kŏtsk′, Sea of. A large inlet of the Pacific Ocean, indenting the east coast of Siberia, and separated from the ocean on the east by the Kamtchatka Peninsula, and on the south by the Kurile Islands (Map: Asia, O 3). In the southwest it communicates with the Japan Sea by La Perouse Strait between the islands of Yezo and Sakhalin, and by the long passage which separates Sakhalin from the mainland. It is nearly rectangular in shape, its northern shore lying nearly on the 60th parallel N., and it is about 1000 miles long and 600 miles wide. The coasts are steep and forbidding, very sparsely inhabited, and ice-bound from November to April and even to July. The open sea is ice-free, but subject to heavy fogs and storms. The sea is very little frequented, but has been exploited by American whalers for the last half century.
OKINAGAN, ō′kē̇-nä′gȧn. An important tribe of Salishan stock (q.v.), and formerly the head of a confederacy including also the Colville, Sanpoil, and a number of other cognate tribes. They occupied an extensive territory upon Okinagan and Similkameen rivers in northern Washington and the adjacent part of British Columbia. They were converted by Jesuit missionaries about fifty years ago, and are now civilized and fairly prosperous. They reside upon the Colville reservation in northern Washington, numbering altogether 575, and have been made citizens under the allotment act.
OKINAWA, ō̇′kē̇-nä′wȧ. A Japanese ken or prefecture formed in 1879 to include those islands of the Loo-Choo (q.v.) Archipelago that were not incorporated into Kagoshima Ken. It takes its name from Okinawa, the largest of the group.
OKLAHOMA, ōk′lȧ-hō′mȧ. A Territory of the United States, lying in the south central division between 34° and 37° north latitude, and between 90° and 103° west longitude. It is bounded on the north by Colorado and Kansas, on the east by Indian Territory, on the south by the last and by Texas, and on the west by Texas and New Mexico. Its extreme north and south dimension is 205 miles, and its extreme length from east to west, including the long narrow western projection constituting Beaver County, is 383 miles, though its width farther south is only 190 miles. Its area is 39,030 square miles, of which 38,830 square miles, or 24,851,200 acres, are land surface. It exceeds in area twelve of the States, and is nearly equal in size to the State of Kentucky.
Topography. The surface is in general a rolling plain rising gradually from an elevation of about 800 feet in the extreme east to 2500 feet on the western boundary of the main portion, and to 5000 feet on the extreme western boundary of Beaver County. A range of hills known as the Chautauqua Mountains runs through the central portion. In the south the picturesque Wichita Mountains rise in a group of more or less isolated granite peaks to a height of 1000 feet above the surrounding plains. The western part of the Territory belongs to the region of the Great Plains rising toward the Rocky Mountains. The Red River flows on the southern boundary, and the southern part of the Territory is drained by its tributaries, chief of which are the North Fork and the Washita, the latter joining its main stream in Indian Territory. The rest of the Territory is drained by the Arkansas River, whose main stream flows through the northeastern corner. Several of its large tributaries traverse the Territory from west to east, namely, the Salt Fork, the Cimarron, and the Canadian River with its long North Fork.
Climate and Vegetation. The climate of Oklahoma is very favorable for agriculture, since, owing to the southern situation, the winters are not severe, and the rainfall is for the most part sufficient. There is, nevertheless, a considerable range of temperature, and the region is subject to severe and sudden cold waves. The maximum temperature recorded during eight years is 115°, and the minimum 25° below zero. The latter figure is, however, entirely abnormal, and the cold winter periods are of short duration, the mean temperature for the coldest month (January) being well above freezing (36.9°). The mean temperature for July is 81.2°, and for the year 59.5°. The average annual rainfall is 31.8 inches, evenly distributed through the year with a maximum in midsummer, but ranging in localities from 57 inches to a small amount, the smallest amount falling in the extreme northwest. In the western part generally the precipitation is very light for farming. The soil is formed by the decomposition of the underlying rock formations, and consists chiefly of red clay and sandstone material. In the river valleys these are mixed with a rich black alluvium, and the soils are generally of sufficient depth to be of almost inexhaustible fertility.
There are some forests of oak, walnut, and hickory in the east, but the western plains are generally treeless, and covered with grama, drop-seed, and bunch grasses, while in the ex-
