advance Syria and Palestine were conquered, and he built the Mosque of Omar which still stands central in Jerusalem. He subdued Egypt and Persia, and brought for the first time all the Arabian tribes under one creed and authority. An act of injustice, not usual with him, it should be said, incurred the resentment of a Persian slave, and he was assassinated in 644. He was buried near Mohammed.
Omar Khayyam (khī̇-yäm′), a Persian poet and astronomer, was born at Nishapur about the middle of the 11th century. Khayyam is his poetical name, and was taken from his father’s business as a tent-maker. He was educated under one of the great Persian teachers and offered a place at court, but refused and was given a pension instead. He reconstructed the calendar, making it, as Gibbon says, “very much superior to the Julian, approaching in accuracy to the Gregorian style.” He wrote mathematical treatises in Arabic, one on algebra, which has been translated into French. He was better known as an astronomer than as a poet until 1859, when Edward Fitzgerald, published a translation of his Rubáiyát or quatrains, which gave him a place among the true poets, though the translation is deemed much finer than the original. His astronomical work brought on him the suspicion of heresy, which his poem did not remove, and to allay the feeling against him he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. He died at Nishapur in 1122. See Letters and Literary Remains of Fitzgerald, Vol. III.; Rubáiyát.
O’Mea′ra, The Reverend Thomas Robert, LL.D., principal of Wycliffe College, Toronto, and canon of St. Alban’s cathedral, was born at Georgetown, Ontario, Oct. 16th, 1864. He was educated at the public school and the collegiate institute at Port Hope, from which he went to the University of Toronto and Wycliffe College, graduating in 1887. He was ordained a deacon in July of 1887 and a priest in December of 1888. For a year he was curate of St. Philip’s, Toronto, but in 1889 he accepted the assistant-rectorship of Trinity Church, Toronto, and the financial secretaryship of Wycliffe College. Principal O’Meara held this position until 1903, when he accepted the chair of practical theology which he still holds. In 1904 he was appointed rector of Trinity Church, Toronto. In 1906 he resigned to accept the principalship of Wycliffe College. Principal O’Meara has for many years been secretary of the Canadian Church Missionary Society, of which he was elected a life governor three years ago. He has also been president of the Church of England Deaconess and Missionary Training-House for years. He also is vice-president of the Upper Canada Bible-Society.
Om′nibus Bill, The, a term applied to a bill reported on April 17th, 1850, by a committee of the Federal Senate of the United States headed by Henry Clay, because of its all-comprehensive nature. The bill consisted of thirty-nine sections, and provided for the admission of California with her free constitution, territorial government in New Mexico and Utah, without express restriction upon slavery; a territorial boundary line between Texas and New Mexico in favor of the former; a more efficient fugitive slave-law; and denial to Congress of power to interfere with slave-trade between slave-states. After long discussion the bill was broken up and each measure covered by a separate bill. The term is now commonly applied to all single legislative acts in which are incorporated a number of loosely connected or wholly disconnected measures. Such bills used to be passed by state legislatures with considerable frequency, but in later years provisions have found their way into constitutions requiring that single statutes shall deal with but one main subject which shall be clearly indicated in the title.
One′ga, Lake, in the north of Russia, northeast of Lake Ladoga and, after it, the largest in Europe. It is 146 miles long and 50 wide, covering 3,764 square miles. It has but one outlet, the Svir, flowing into Lake Ladoga. There are numerous islands and bays and abundance of fish. It is closed by ice for 156 days in the year, but has a large traffic on its waters at other times. A ship-canal, 145 miles long, to connect it with the White Sea, is planned, the surveys being finished in 1890.
Onei′da, Lake, one of the numerous lakes of central New York. It is 23 miles long and about 5 wide, and flows through the Oneida into Oswego River. It lies 11 miles northeast of Syracuse.
On′ion, a plant with a bulbous root, belonging to the lily family, is a valuable table vegetable which has been cultivated from the most ancient times. Its origin is unknown; but the plant may have come from northeastern Africa or western Asia, for it is mentioned in the writings of the ancient Egyptians. For the cultivation of onions the soil should be as loose as possible. Because a warm temperature is unnecessary, the onion is grown as a winter crop, especially in the southern part of the United States. It is usual to grow onions at the first in hot-beds and to plant them out when they have grown to about four inches. Otherwise, it is necessary to weed and thin them carefully when young. American white onions are milder and more popular than the yellow or the red varieties. Imported onions, as the Bermuda and the Spanish, are even better flavored; and these varieties are now extensively cultivated in the warmer parts of the United States. The potato-onion is a strongly flavored species, almost like garlic, and perennial. Onions are some-
