OSCAR II. 129 OS£L. eign complications and received an effective stim- ulus in the efforts of the King, who showed him- self a generous patron of industry, science, and the arts. On the question of the vexed relations between Sweden and Norway, arising from the latter kingdom's struggle for self-government, he firmly opposed all attempts looking toward the dissolution of the union between the kingdoms, but otherwise showed himself in favor of con- cessions to the Norwegians. He has also attained some note as a writer, the list of his works in- cluding: Charles XII.; Prose TXritings ; a num- ber of volumes of lyric poetry, and a translation of Goethe's Tasso. His collected writings were published at Stockholm in 18S.5-94, In 18.57 he married Princess Sophie of Nassau, by whom he had four sons. OSCEOLA, 6s'e-6^a (Seminole As-se-he-ho- lar. Black Drink) (C.1S04-1838) . A famous Sem- inole chief, born near the Chattahoochee River, Ga. His father was an English trader and his mother an Indian woman, the daughter of a Creek chief. Removing to Florida when very young, he there acquired great influence among the Seminoles. and took the lead in opposition to the territorial aggressions of the whites. In 1S35 his wife, the half-breed daughter of a fu- gitive negro slave, was reclaimed as a slave by her mother's former owner, and Osceola, infuri- ated, tlireatened revenge, and was temporarily imprisoned. On being released, he began the at- tacks on the whites which opened the second Seminole War (see Seminole), and in De- cember he killed with his own hand the Indian agent Thompson. For two years he was in almost every important engagement, and, by his shrewdness, skill, and bravery, foiled several white generals in succession. Finally (October 31. 1837), he was treacherously seized while holding a conference imder a flag of truce with Gen. Thomas S. Jessup, and was confined at Saint Augustine and Fort Moultrie until his death. January 20, 1838. OSCHATZ, (Vshats. A town in the Kingdom of Saxony, on the Dijllnitz. 32 miles west of Leip- zig (ilap: Germany, E 3). Its manufactures include sugar, felt, knitted goods, cloth, and leather. Population, in 1890, 9400; in 1900, 10,- 652. OSCHEKSLEBEN, 6sh'ers-la-ben. A town of the Province of Saxony. Prussia, on the Bode, a branch of the Saale. about 30 miles southwest of ilagdehurg (ilap: Prussia. D 2). It has sugar refineries, and manufactures agricultural imple- ments, fertilizers, chocolate, bricks, and boilers. In the vicinity are lignite mines. Population, in 1800, 10.700;" in 1900. 13.400. OSCINES, os'i-nez (Lat., singing birds) . The great group of Passeres (q.v.) which includes the song birds. They are characterized by sev- eral distinct pairs of intrinsic muscles of the syrinx, inserted into the ends of the upper bron- chial half-rings, and constituting thus a com- plex and effective vocal apparatus. Not all the Oscines sing, but all truly singing birds are Oscines. The side of the tarsus is usually covered with a horny plate, which forms a sharp ridge behind, with the corresponding plate of the other side. The primaries are nine or ten in num- ber, but when ten the first is very short. The Oscines are the largest group of birds, and in- clude about 5000 species of the 11,000 known birds. They are found in all parts of tlie world, but are perhaps most abundant in the temperate zones. Many of them are of very brilliant plu- mage, but as a rule the musical powers and in- telligence are more noticeable than the beauty, and they are universally regarded as the most highly developed group of birds. Jlost of them are of comparatively small size, the very great majority being less than a foot in length. The raven (q.v.) is the largest of the suborder, while the kinglets (q.v.) are probably the smallest. Of our North American birds, about one-half are Oscines. For the anatomy and classification of the group, consult: Evaiis, Birds (New York. 1900) ; Newt(m, Dictionary of Birds (ib., 1893- 96) ; Stejneger. Standard Natural History, vol. iv. (Boston, 1SS5). OSCULATING CIRCLE. In geometry, a cir- cle that has three, i.e., the greatest possible number, of consecutive points in common with a given curve. A curve can at any given point have more than one tangent circle, i.e. circles with which it may be imagined to have either one or two points in common ; but it can, at any given point, have only one oscnlnting cir- cle, for only one circle can pass through three given points. The curvature of a curve at a given point is obviously identical with the cur- vature of it.s osculating circle at that point, and hence the osculating circle is often spoken of as the 'circle of curvature' of the curve at the given point. OSCULATION (Lat. osculatio, a kissing, from osculari, to kiss, from osculum, kiss, little mouth, diminutive of os, Skt. asya, mouth). One curve is said to osculate another when the curves iiave several consecutive points in com- mon, and the degree of osculation depends upon the number of points of contact ; that is, the greater the number of consecutive points in con- tact, the higher the degree of osculation. The number of possible points of contact is deter- mined by the number of independent arbitrary constants contained in the equation of the tan- gent curve. The same is true of a straight line and a curve. The equation of a straight line, be- ing of the form y = inx -f- c, contains two arbi- trary constants, m and c: hence a straight line can coincide with a curve in two consecutive points, and the contact is said to be of the first order. This straight line is the tangent at the point of contact. When a straight line, not a tangent, meets a curve, there is section instead of contact, and in that case only one point is com- mon to the straight line and the curve. The general equation of the circle, jr' + y- + dx + ey + f = 0. contains three arbitrary constants, d, e. and f, and therefore a circle can have three consecu- tive points in common with a curve, and the eon- tact is of the second order. The circle is known as the circle of curvature or the osculating circle, and has for its radius the radius of curvature of that portion of the curve with which the circle is in contact. No other circle can have so high a degree of contact with a curve at any point as the osculating circle at that point. Surfaces and some twisted curves admit of spheres of oscu- lation. See CfRVE. bSEL, c'zcl. or OESEL. A large island in the Baltic Sea. belonging to the Russian Govern- ment of Livonia, and situated at the entrance to
