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OXALIS

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 401 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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OXALIS , in See also:

botany, a large genus of small herbaceous See also:plants, comprising, with a few small allied genera, the natural See also:order Oxalidaceae. The name is derived from Gr. 6Evs, See also:acid, the plants being acid from presence of acid See also:calcium oxalate. It contains about 220 See also:species, chiefly See also:South See also:African and tropical and South See also:American. It is represented in See also:Britain by the See also:wood-See also:sorrel, a small stemless plant with See also:radical See also:trefoil-like leaves growing from a creeping scaly rootstock, and the See also:flowers See also:borne singly on an axillary stalk; the flowers are See also:regular with five sepals, five obovate, See also:white, See also:purple-veined, See also:free petals, ten stamens and a central five-lobed, five-celled ovary with five free styles. The See also:fruit is a See also:capsule, splitting by valves; the seeds have a fleshy coat, which curls back elastically, ejecting the true See also:seed. The leaves, as in the other species of the genus, show a " See also:sleep-See also:movement," becoming pendulous at See also:night. Oxalis crenata, Oca of the South Americans, is a tuberous-rooted See also:half-See also:hardy perennial, native of See also:Peru. Its tubers are comparatively small, and somewhat acid; but if they be exposed in the See also:sun from six to ten days they become sweet and floury. In the See also:climate of See also:England they can only be grown by starting them in See also:heat in See also:March, and planting out in See also:June in a See also:light See also:soil and warm situation. They grow freely enough, but few tubers are formed, and these of small See also:size. The fleshy stalks, which have the acid flavour of the See also:family, may, however, be used in the same way as See also:rhubarb for tarts.

The leaves may be eaten in salads. It is easily propagated by cuttings of the stems or by means of sets like the See also:

potato. Oxalis Deppei or O. tetraphylla, a bulbous erennial, native ofP See also:Mexico, has scaly bulbs, from which are produced fleshy, tapering, white, semi-transparent roots, about 4 in. in length and 3 to 4 in. in See also:diameter. They strike down into the soil, which should therefore be made light and See also:rich with abundance of decayed See also:vegetable See also:matter. The bulbs should be planted about the end of See also:April, 6 in. apart, in rows t ft. asun-;in~~ ,der, being only just covered with Wood-sorrel (Oxalis Acetosella). t, Fruit soil and having a which has split open; the seeds are shot out by situation with a the elastic contractions of their See also:outer coat, s. See also:southern aspect. The roots should be dug up before they become affected by See also:frost, but if protected they will continue to increase in size till See also:November. When taken up the bulbs should be stored ip a cool dry See also:place for replanting and the roots for use. The roots are gently boiled with See also:salt and See also:water, peeled and eaten like See also:asparagus with melted See also:butter and the yolks of eggs, or served up like See also:salsafy and scorzone.ra with white See also:sauce. Many other species are known in cultivation for edgings, rockwork or as pot-plants for the greenhouse, the best hardy and half-hardy kinds being O. arenaria, purple; O. Bowiei, See also:crimson; O. enneaphylla, white or See also:pale See also:rose; O. floribunda, rose; O. lasiandra, See also:pink; 0. luteola, creamy yellow; O. variabilis, purple, white, red; and 0. violacea, See also:violet. 0XAZOLES, a See also:group of organic compounds containing a See also:ring complex (shown below) composed of three See also:carbon atoms, and one See also:oxygen and one See also:nitrogen See also:atom; they are isomeric with the See also:isoxazoles (q.v.). They are obtained by condensing a halogen derivatives of See also:ketones with acid-amides (M.

Lewy, Ber. 1887, 20, p. 2576; 1888, 21, p. 2195) R•C <NH+HO•C•R'_,R C<N•CR' OH Br .CH O.CH by the See also:

action of concentrated sulphuric acid on nitriles and See also:benzoin (F. Japp, Jour. Chem. See also:Soc. 1893, 63, p. 469); and by passing hydrochloric acid See also:gas into a mixture of aromatic alde- hydes and their cyanhydrins (E. See also:Fischer, Ber. 1896, 29, p. 205).

R•CH<OHd OHC•R_R•C -NOHC•R They are weak bases, and the ring See also:

system is readily split by evaporation with hydrochloric acid, or by the action of reducing and oxidizing agents. The dihydro-oxazoles or oxazolines are similarly formed when #-halogen alkyl amides are condensed with See also:alkali (S. See also:Gabriel, Ber. 1889, 22, p. 2220), or by the action of alkali on the compounds formed by the interaction of See also:ethylene chlorhydrin on nitrites. Theyare strong bases characterized by a See also:quinoline-like See also:smell. The amino-oxazolines are known as alkylene-0-areas and are formed by the action of See also:potassium cyanate on the hydrobromides of the bromalkylamines (S. Gabriel, Ber. 1895, 28. p. 1899). They are strong bases. Tetrahydro-oxazoles or oxazolidines result from the action of See also:aldehydes on amino-See also:alcohols (L.

Knorr, Ber. 1901, 34, p. 3484). The above types of compounds may be represented by the following formulae : N = CH N = CH N=C(See also:

NH2) NH—See also:CH2 CH =CH>0, CHI2•CH2 )0, CH2 —CH2 O, CH2—CH2 oxazole oxazoline amino-oxazoline oxazolidines. The benzoxazoles are formed when ortho-aminophenols are condensed with organic acids (A. Ladenburg, Ber. 1876, 9, p. 1524; 1877, to, p. 1113), or by See also:heating aldehydes and ortho-aminophenols to high temperature (G. Mazza.ra and A. Leonardi, Gazz. 1871, 21, p.

251). They are mostly crystalline solids which distil unchanged. When warmed with acids they split into their components. They behave as weak bases. By the condensation of ortho-aminophenols with phosgene or thiophosgene, oxy and thio-derivatives are obtained, the (OH) and (SH) See also:

groups being situated in the µ position, and these compounds on treatment with See also:amines yield amino derivatives. 0%E, PEDER (1520—1575), Danish See also:Finance See also:Minister, was See also:born in 1520. At the See also:age of twelve he was sent abroad to See also:complete his See also:education, and resided at the See also:principal See also:universities of See also:Germany, See also:Holland, See also:France, See also:Italy and See also:Switzerland for seventeen years. On his return he found both his parents dead, and was appointed the See also:guardian of his eleven See also:young See also:brothers and sisters, in which capacity, profiting by the spoliation of the See also:church, he accumulated immense riches. His extraordinary See also:financial abilities and pronounced See also:political capacity soon found ample See also:scope in public See also:life. In 1552 he was raised to the dignity of Rigsraad (councillor of See also:state); in 1554 he successfully accomplished his first See also:diplomatic See also:mission, by adjusting the See also:differences between the elector of See also:Saxony and the See also:margrave of See also:Brandenburg. The same See also:year he held the See also:post of See also:governor of See also:Copenhagen and shared with Byrge See also:Trolle the See also:control of the See also:treasury. A few years later he incurred the royal disfavour for See also:gross malversation in the See also:administration of public See also:property, and failing to See also:compromise matters with the See also:king, fled to Germany and engaged in political intrigues with the adventurer Wilhelm von See also:Grumbach (1503—1567) for the purpose of dethroning See also:Frederick II. in favour of See also:Christina of See also:Lorraine, the daughter of See also:Christian II.

But the financial difficulties of Frederick II. during the stress of the Scandinavian Seven Years' See also:

War compelled him, in 1566, to recall the See also:great financier, when his confiscated estates were restored to him and he was reinstated in all his offices and dignities. A See also:change for the better immediately ensued. The finances were speedily put on an excellent footing, means were provided for carrying on the war to a successful issue (one of the See also:chief expedients being the raising of the See also:Sound tolls) and on the conclusion of See also:peace Oxe, as See also:lord treasurer, not only reduced the See also:national See also:debt considerably, but redeemed a large portion of the alienated See also:crown-lands. He reformed the coinage, See also:developed See also:trade and See also:commerce and introduced numerous agricultural reforms, especially on his own estates, which he was never weary of enlarging, so that on his See also:death he was the wealthiest See also:land-owner in See also:Denmark. Oxe died on the 24th of See also:October 1575, after contributing, more than any other statesman of his See also:day, to raise Denmark for a brief See also:period to the See also:rank of a great See also:power. See P. Oxe's live og levnet (Copenhagen, 1675) ; Danmarks riges historie, vol. 3 (Copenhagen, 1897-1905). 0XENBRIDGE, See also:JOHN (1608-1674), See also:English See also:Nonconformist divine, was born at See also:Daventry, See also:Northamptonshire, on the 3oth of See also:January 1608, and was educated at See also:Emmanuel See also:College, See also:Cambridge, and Magdalen See also:Hall, See also:Oxford (B.A. 1628, M.A. 1631). As See also:tutor of Magdalen Hall he See also:drew up a new See also:code of articles referring to the See also:government of the college.

He was deprived of his See also:

office in May 1634, and began to preach, with a similar disregard for constituted authority. After his voyages to the See also:Bermudas he returned to England (1641), and after exercising an itinerant and unattached See also:ministry settled for some months in Great See also:Yarmouth and then at See also:Beverley. He was minister at See also:Berwick-on-See also:Tweed when in October 1652 he was appointed a See also:fellow of See also:Eton College. There in 1658 he preached the funeral 0 See also:sermon of See also:Francis See also:Rous, the See also:provost, and thence in 166o he was ejected. He returned to his See also:preaching at Berwick-on-Tweed, but was expelled by the See also:Act of Uniformity in 1662, and after spending some See also:time in the See also:West Indies settled (167o) at See also:Boston, See also:Massachusetts, where he was ordained minister of the First Church. He died on the 28th of See also:December 1674. A few sermons are all that he published. His first wife (d. 1658) was " a See also:scholar beyond what was usual in her See also:sex," and See also:Andrew Marvell, who was their friend, wrote an See also:epitaph for her See also:tomb at Eton which was defaced at the Restoration; his second wife (d. 1659) was Frances See also:Woodward, daughter of the famous See also:vicar of See also:Bray; his third was a widow whom he met at See also:Barbados.

End of Article: OXALIS

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