Much splendid timber has been needlessly destroyed, chiefly by forest-fires, but also by improvident farmers in their haste to clear the land. Increased attention is now being paid by both provincial and federal governments to preservation and to reforestation. Special areas have been set apart on which no timber may be cut, and on which the problems of scientific forestry may be studied. Of these, the earliest was the Algonquin National Park, which also forms a haven of refuge for the wild creatures. Northern Ontario is still a valuable fur-bearing and hunting country, moose, caribou, fox, bear, otter, mink and skunk being found in large quantities. Wolves, once numerous, have now been almost extirpated, though a bounty on each head is still paid. Minerals.-The geographical distribution of the great mineral wealth of Ontario has already been indicated (see Physical Geography, above). Save for beds of lignite, said to exist in the extreme north, coal is not found and has to be imported, chiefly from the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, though Nova Scotia furnishes an increasing quantity. The production of iron is stimulated by federal and provincial bounties. The province supplies over two-thirds of the iron ore mined in the Dominion, but much is still imported. The output of gold is decreasing. The nickel mines in the neighbourhood of Sudbury are the largest in the world, outrivalling those of New Caledonia. In the same district, and chiefly in connexion with the nickel mines, large quantities of copper are produced. When in 1905 the rich silver area was found in northern Ontario, a rush was made to it, comparable to those to the Australian and Californian goldfields. Cobalt, the centre of this area, is 103 m. from North Bay by the provincial railway (Temiscaming & North Ontario railway). In the same neighbourhood are found cobalt, arsenic and bismuth. In the older districts of the province are found petroleum and salt. The district around Petrolea produces about 30,000,000 gallons of petroleum yearly, practically the whole output of the dominion. Salt is worked in the vicinity of Lake Huron, but the production is less than half that imported. Natural gas is produced in the counties of Welland and Essex, and exported in pipes to Buffalo and Detroit. Among the less important metals and minerals which are also mined, is corundum of especial purity.

Manufactures and Commerce.-Manufactures are becoming of increasing importance. The obstacle due to lack of coal is offset by the splendid water powers afforded by the rapid streams in ail parts of the province. Save for the flour and grist mills, few do more than supply the markets of the Dominion, of which they control an increasing portion. Woollen mills, distilleries and breweries and manufactures of leather, locomotives and iron-work, furniture, agricultural implements, cloth and paper are the chief. The great agricultural development of the western provinces, in which manufactures are little advanced, has given a great impetus to the industries of the older provinces, especially Ontario. Communications. Numerous lakes and rivers afford means of communication, and obstacles thereon have been largely overcome by canals (see CANADA). Railways gridiron the province, which contains over one-third the total mileage of the dominion; their construction is aided by provincial and municipal subsidies, in addition to that paid by the federal government. The provincial government owns a line running north from North Bay, operated by a board of commissioners. The other railways are owned by private companies, but are subject to the decisions of a federal railway commission. The provincial railway and municipal board also exercises control, especially over the city and suburban electric lines. History. The first white man known to have set foot in what is now Ontario was Champlain. In 1613 he explored the Ottawa river as far as Allumette Island; in 1615, starting from Montreal, he reached the Georgian Bay by way of the Ottawa river, Lake Nipissing and French river, and then by way of Lakes Couchiching and Simcoe and the Trent river system of lakes and streams made his way to Lake Ontario, called by him Entouhoronon. The

With the cession of French North America to Great Britain in

1763, the Indian lords of the soil rose under Pontiac in a last attempt to shake off the white man, and in 1763-1765 there was hard fighting along the western frontier from Sault-Ste-Marie to Detroit. Thereafter for almost twenty years, Ontario was traversed only by wandering bands of trappers, chiefly belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company; but in 1782 bands of American loyalists began to occupy the fertile country along the Bay of Quinté, and in the Niagara peninsula, the first settlement being made in 1782 at Kingston. Between 1782-1784 about 5000 loyalists entered Ontario, and were given liberal grants of land by the British government.

The oligarchic constitution established in Canada in 1774 by the Quebec Act did not suit men trained in the school of local self-government which Britain had unwittingly established in the American colonies, and the gift of representative institutions was soon necessary. In the debates in the British parliament Fox urged that the whole territory should remain one province, and of this the governor-general, the 1st baron Dorchester (q.r.), was on the whole in favour, but in 1791 Pitt introduced and carried the Constitutional Act, by which Upper and Lower Canada were separated. The Ottawa river was chosen as the main boundary between them, but the retention by Lower Canada of the seigneuries of New Longueuil and Vaudreuil, on the western side of the river, is a curious instance of the triumph of social and historical conditions over geographical. To the new province were given English civil and criminal law, a legislative assembly and council and a lieutenant-governor; in the words of its first governor, Colonel John Graves Simcoe, it had, "the British Constitution, and all the forms which secure and maintain it." Simcoe set to work with great energy to develop the province, but he quarrelled with the governor-general over his pet scheme of founding military colonies of retired soldiers in different parts of the province, and retired in 1796. Even before his retirement political feuds had broken out, which increased in bitterness year by year. In so far as these had other causes than the Anglo-Saxon love of faction, they were due to the formation by the loyalists, their descendants and hangers-on of a clique English church also formed a quasi-official clerical oligarchy, who more and more engrossed political and social power. The and the land reserved by the Constitutional Act for the support of "a protestant clergy" formed a fruitful source of bitterness.

For a time the War of 1812-1814 with the United States put an end to the strife. The war gave some heroic traditions to the province, and in special cemented that loyalty to Great Britain for which Ontario has been conspicuous. On the other hand, the natural dislike of the United States felt by the loyalists and their descendants was deepened and broadened, and has not yet wholly died away, especially among the women of the province. The jobbing of land by the official clique, whose frequent intermarriages won for them the name of "The Family Compact," the undoubted grievance of the "Clergy Reserves" and the well-meaning high-handedness and social exclusiveness of military governors, who tried hard but unavailingly to stay the democratic wave, soon revived political discord, which found a voice in

In 1837 discontent flared up into a pitiful little rebellion, led by Mackenzie. This tragical farce was soon at an end and its author a fugitive in the United States, whence he instigated bands of hooligans to make piratical attacks upon the Canadian frontier. Thus forcibly reminded of the existence of Canada, the British government sent out Lord Durham to investigate, and as a result of his report the two Canadas were in 1841 united in a legislative union.

Meanwhile the southern part of the province had been filling up. In 1791 the population was probably under 20,000; in 1824 it was 150,066, and in 1841, 455,688. The castern counties of Stormont and Glengarry, and parts of the western peninsula, had been settled by Highlanders; the Canada Company, organized in 1825 by the Scottish novelist, John Galt, had founded the town of Guelph, had cleared large tracts of land in the western peninsula, and settled thereon hundreds of the best class of English and Scotch settlers.

Once granted responsible government, and the liberty to make her own mistakes, Upper Canada went ahead. The population rose to 952,004 in 1851 and to 1,396,091 in 1861. Politically she found Lower Canada an uneasy yoke-fellow. The equality of representation, granted at the union, at first unfair to Lower Canada, became still more unfair to Upper Canada, as her population first equalled and then surpassed that of her sister province. The Roman Catholic claim to separate state-aided schools, at length conceded in 1863, long set the religious bodies by the ears. Materially the province prospered. The "Clergy Reserves were secularized in 1854, and in 1851 began a railway development, the excitement and extravagance caused by which led in 1857 to a financial crisis and the bankruptcy of various municipalities, but which on the whole produced great and lasting benefit. The Reciprocity Treaty with the United States, in operation from 1854 to 1866, and the high prices for farm produce due to the American Civil War, brought about an almost hectic prosperity. In the discussions from which sprang the federation of 1867, Ontario was the one province strongly in favour of the union, which was only rendered possible by the coalition of her rival leaders, J. A. Macdonald and George Brown. Since Federation Upper Canada has been known as the province of Ontario. The first provincial government, formed on coalition lines by John Sandfield Macdonald, was thrifty and not unprogressive, but in 1871 was defeated by a reorganized liberal party, which held power from 1871 to 1905, and on the whole worthily. Under Oliver Mowat, premier from 1873 to 1896, the government, though strongly partisan, was thrifty and honest. An excellent system of primary and secondary schools was organized by Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882) and G. W. Ross (q.v.), higher education was aided and a school of practical science established is Toronto and of mining in Kingston; agriculture was fostered, and an excellent agricultural college founded at Guelph in 1874.

The great struggle of the time was with the federal government on the question of provincial rights. Several questions in which Ontario and the Dominion came into conflict were carried to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and in all of them Mowat was successful. Connected with this was the boundary struggle with Manitoba, the latter province being aided by the federal government, partly out of dislike for Mowat, partly because the crown lands in the disputed territory would, had it been adjudged to Manitoba, have been under federal control. Had Manitoba won, the boundary line would have been drawn about 6 m. east of Port Arthur, but in 1884 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council unanimously decided in favour of Ontario; and in 1888 another decision gave her absolute control of the crown lands of New Ontario. Under Mowat's successors

became unpleasantly conspicuous, and in January 1905 the conscience of Ontario sent the conservatives into power, more from disgust at their opponents than from any enthusiasm for themselves. The new government displayed unexpected energy, ability and strength. The primary and model schools were consolidated and improved; the provincial university was given increased aid from the succession duties; various public utilities, previously operated by private companies, were taken over by the province, and worked with vigour and success. At the election of the 8th of June 1908 the conservative government was returned by an increased majority.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Statistical: The various departments of the provincial government publish annual reports, and frequent special reports. Among these may be noted those of the Bureau of Mines and the archaeological reports by David Boyle (1886-1906). Since studies on historical, economic and social questions, e.g. Adam 1889 the university of Toronto has published numerous valuable Shortt, Municipal Government in Ontario.

Historical: The early history of the province is best given in the general histories of Canada by MacMullen and Kingsford (sce CANADA). Ernest Cruikshanks has published numerous excellent studies on the Ontario section of the War of 1812. Lord Durham's celebrated Report (1839, reprinted 1902) is less trustworthy on Ontario than on Quebec. R. and K. M. Lizar's In the Days of the Canada Company depicts the life of the early settlers. Biographies exist of most of the chief men: C. R. W. Biggar, Sir Oliver Mowat (2 vols., 1905), is practically a history of Ontario from 1867 to 1896. The provincial government has issued an excellent Documentary History of Education in Ontario, by J. G. Hodgins (28 vols.). See also W. (W. L. G.) Kingsford, Early Bibliography of Ontario.

ONTARIO, LAKE, the smallest and most easterly of the Great Lakes of North America. It lies between 43° 11′ and 44° 12' N. and 76° 12′ and 79° 49′ W., and is bounded on the N. by the province of Ontario and on the S. by the state of New York. It is roughly elliptical, its major axis, 180 m. long, lying nearly cast and west, and its greatest breadth is 53 m. The area of its water surface is 7260 sq. m. and the total area of its basin 32,980 sq. m. Its greatest depth is 738 ft., its average depth much in excess of that of Lake Erie, and it is as a general rule free from outlying shoals or dangers.

On the north side of the lake the land rises gradually from the shore, and spreads out into broad plains, which are thickly settled by farmers. A marked feature of the topography of the south shore is what is known as the Lake ridge, or, as it approaches the Niagara river, the Mountain ridge. This ridge extends, with breaks, from Sodus to the Niagara river, and is distant from the lake 3 to 8 m. The low ground between it and the shore, and between the Niagara escarpment and the water on the Canadian shore, is a celebrated fruit growing district, covered with vineyards, peach, apple and pear orchards and fruit farms. The Niagara river is the main feeder of the lake; the other largest rivers emptying into the lake are the Genesee, Oswego and Black from the south side, and the Trent, which discharges into the upper end of the bay of Quinte, a picturesque inlet 70 m. long, on the north shore, between the peninsula of Prince Edward, near the eastern extremity of the lake, and the mainland. The east end of the lake, where it is 30 m. wide, is crossed by a chain of five islands, and the lake has its outlet near Kingston, where it discharges into the head of the St Lawrence river between a group of islands. Elsewhere the lake is practically free from islands. There is a general surface current down the lake towards the eastward of about 8 m. a day, strongest along the south shore, but no noticeable return current. As a result of its relatively great depth there are seldom any great fluctuations of level in this lake due to wind disturbance, but the lake follows the general rule of the Great Lakes (q.v.) of seasonal and annual variation. Standard high water (of 1870) is 2.77 ft. below the mean level, of 246-18 ft. above mean sea-level, and standard low water 3.24 ft. below the same plane. The lake never freezes over, and is less obstructed by ice than the other lakes, but the harbours are closed by ice from about the middle of December to the middle of April.

The commerce of Lake Ontario is limited in comparison with that of the lakes above Niagara Falls, and is restricted to vessels

that can pass through the Welland canal locks, which are 270 ft. | long, 45 ft. wide and 14 ft. deep. Freight consists principally of coal shipped from Charlotte, Great and Little Sodus bays and Oswego to Canadian ports in the lakes, and to ports on the St Lawrence river; of grain shipped through the Welland canal to the St Lawrence; and of lumber from Canadian ports. There is a large passenger traffic, including pleasure trips, principally radiating from Toronto. Ports on the lake are limited in capacity to vessels drawing not more than 14 ft. of water. The principal Canadian ports are Kingston, at the head of the St Lawrence river; Toronto, where the harbour is formed by an island with improved entrance channels constructed both east and west of it; and Hamilton, at the head of the lake, situated on a landlocked lagoon, connected with the main lake by Burlington channel, an artificial cut. The principal United States port is Oswego, where a breakwater has been built, making an outer harbour. The construction of a breakwater was undertaken in 1907 by the United States government at Cape Vincent to form a harbour where westbound vessels can shelter from storm before crossing the lake.

The difference of 327 ft. in level between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie is overcome by the Welland canal, which leads southward from Port Dalhousie. It accommodates vessels 255 ft. in length, with a draught of 14 ft. The Murray canal, opened for traffic on the 14th of April 1890, extends from Presqu'ile bay, on the north of the lake, to the head of the bay of Quinte, and enables vessels to avoid 70 m. of open navigation. It is 11 ft. deep below the lowest lake level, and has no locks. It is proposed to have the eastern terminus of the Trent canal system (see GREAT LAKES) at the head of the bay of Quinte, entering through the Trent river. At Kingston the Rideau canal, extending 128 m. to Ottawa, enters the St Lawrence river at the foot of the lake. BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Bulletin No. 17, Survey of Northern and Northwestern Lakes, U.S. Lake Survey Office (Detroit, Mich., 1907); Publication No. 108 D., Sailing Directions for Lake Ontario, Hydro graphic Office, U.S. Navy (Washington, D.C., 1902); St Lawrence Pilot (7th ed.), Hydrographic Office, Admiralty (London, 1906).

(W. P. A.)

ONTENIENTE, a town of eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia; on the right bank of the Clariano or Onteniente, a sub-tributary of the Júcar, and on the Játiva-Villena railway. Pop. (1900) 11,430. Onteniente has a parish church remarkable for its lofty square tower, and a palace of the dukes of Almodovar. There is a large modern suburb outside the old town, which was formerly a walled city; some vestiges of the ramparts still remain. Linen and woollen cloth, paper, brandy, furniture and earthenware are manufactured; and there is some trade in cereals, wine and oil.

ONTOLOGY (adapted from a modern Latin form ontologia used by Jean le Clerc 1692; Gr. v, ovros, pres. part. of eivat, to be, and Moyos, science), the name given to that branch of philosophy which deals specially with the nature of being (ovoia) i.e. reality in the abstract. The idea, denoted in modern philosophy by the term "ontology" in contrast to the broader "metaphysics" and the correlative "epistemology," goes back to such phrases as övτws ŏvra, which Plato uses to describe the absolute reality of ideas; Plato, however, uses the term "dialectic" for this particular branch of metaphysics. Aristotle, likewise, holding that the separate sciences have each their own subject matter, postulates a prior science of existence in general which he describes as "first philosophy." So far, therefore, the science of being is distinguished not from that of knowing but from that of the special forms of being: as to the possibility of objective reality there is no question. A new distinction arises in the philosophy of Wolff who first made" ontology "a technical term. Theoretical philosophy (metaphysics) is by him divided into that which deals with being in general whether objective or subjective, as contrasted with the particular entities, the soul, the world and God. The former is ontology. This intermediate stage in the evolution of the science of being gave place to the modern view that the first duty of the philosopher is to consider knowledge itself (see EPISTEMOLOGY), and that only in the light of conclusion as to this primary problem is it possible to consider

the nature of being. The evolution of metaphysics has thus relegated ontology to a secondary place. On the other hand it remains true that the science of knowing is inseparable from, and in a sense identical with that of being. Epistemological conclusions cannot be expressed ultimately without the aid of ontological terms.

For the wider relations of ontology, see further PHILOSOPHY. ONYX, a banded chalcedony or striped agate, composed of white layers alternating with others of black, brown or red colour. A typical onyx consists of two or more black and white strata, whilst the term sardonyx is applied to the stone if it contains red or brown bands (see SARDONYX). Probably those varieties which show red and white zones originally suggested the name" onyx," from Gr. övv§ (a finger nail), since the colours of such stones may be not unlike those of the nail. The onyx when worked by the lapidary was often designated by the diminutive óvíxiov; and at the present day the term nicolo, a corruption of the Italian diminutive onycolo, is applied to an onyx which presents a thin layer of chalcedony deriving a bluish tint from the subjacent black ground. The Hebrew soham is translated in the authorized version of the Old Testament "onyx," but the revised version gives in some of the passages an alternative marginal reading of " beryl." The position of the land of Havilah, which yielded the onyx-stone, is uncertain. India has for ages supplied the finest onyxes, and hence jewellers apply the expression "Oriental onyx" to any stone remarkable for beauty of colour and regularity of stratification, quite regardless of its locality. As far back as the 1st century the author of the Periplus Maris Erythraci mentions the onyx among the products of Plythanae, a locality probably identified with Paithan on the Godavari; and he further states that the stones were taken down to Barygaza, the modern Broach, where the agate trade still flourishes. It is probable that the early Grecks and Romans derived their prized agate-cups from this locality. The Indian onyx is found, with agate and jasperpebbles, in river gravels derived from the disintegration of the amygdaloidal volcanic rocks of the Deccan. A great deal of onyx now sold is obtained from South American agates, cut in Germany. It often happens that the lower deposits in an agatenodule are in horizontal layers, forming onyx, while the other deposits have adapted themselves to the curved contours of the cavity. The onyxes cut from agate-nodules are usually stained artificially, as explained under AGATE.

The onyx is largely used for beads, brooches, pins, ring-stones and other small ornamental objects, while the larger pieces are occasionally wrought in the form of cups, bowls, vases, &c. Onyx is the favourite stone for cameo work, advantage being taken of the differently-coloured layers to produce a subject in relief on a background of another colour. For fine examples of ancient cameo-work in onyx and sardonyx see GEM.

It should be noted that the term onyx, or onychite, was formerly, and is still sometimes, applied to certain kinds of banded marble, like the "oriental alabaster" (see ALABASTER). Such substances are quite distinct from the hard siliceous onyx, being much softer and less precious: they are, in fact, usually deposits of calcium carbonate like stalagmite and travertine. The ornamental stones known as Mexican onyx, or Tecali marble, and Algerian onyx are of this character; and in order to avoid any confusion with the true onyx it is well to distinguish all the calcareous " onyxes as onyx-marble. The well-known "Gibraltar stone" is an onyx-marble, with brown bands, from caverns in the limestone of Gibraltar. The Tecali onyx, sometimes with delicate green shades, takes its name from the district of Tecali; one of its localities being La Pedrara, about 21 m. from the city of Puebla.

For onyx-marbles see Dr G. P. Merrill, Rep. U.S. Nat. Mus. for 1893 (1895), p. 539. (F. W. R.*)

OOLITE (Gr. óv, egg, Xilos, stone), in geology, a term having two distinct meanings. In petrology (q.v.) it denotes a type of rock structure characterized by the presence of minute spherical grains resembling the roe of a fish; if the grains become larger, the structure is said to be pisolitic (Gr. #icos, pea). In