Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/641

OMENTUM OMISH 62T of Pharsalia, lost all hope when he learned the name of the palace concerning which he inquired (Ka/co/faat/l^a, evil palace). It is rela- ted by Winsheim that Melanchthon went from the assembly at Torgau in anxious doubt con- cerning the future of the reformation, but found in the antechamber three women, one of whom was holding a new-born child, another supporting and instructing a boy, and the third giving food to a full-grown man ; and that he immediately returned into the hall, and so en- couraged the assembly by reporting the favor- able symbolical omen, that bolder and more decisive resolutions were at once carried. Sneezing was deemed ominous in the time of Homer, and Eustathius says it is lucky or un- lucky according as it is directed to the right or the left. Among the ancient Persians sneezing was esteemed fortunate, a sign of contest be- tween the fiery soul and the earthly body, and of the victory of the former. In parts of Scot- land and in some other localities, it betokens good fortune during the month to see the new moon for the first time on the right hand or directly in front ; to turn the head back to see it, especially over the left shoulder, foreshadows the worst fortune. It is also held unlucky to look at the new moon for the first time through a window. Dr. Nathaniel Home, in his " Dae- monologie," mentions the falling of salt toward persons at table and the spilling of wine on their clothes as evil omens. Putting the shoes on awry or on the wrong feet has often been thought the forerunner of some unlucky acci- dent. Breaking a looking glass betokens the death of the best friend of the person to whom it belonged. Sir Thomas Browne discusses the proverb that our cheeks burn or ears tingle when others are talking of us ; the left cheek or ear indicating that they are talking ill, the right good of us. Grose affirms that a drop of blood from the nose foretells death or a severe fit of sickness ; and Burton in his " Anatomy of Melancholy " says that " to bleed three drops at the nose is an ill omen." The screeching of the owl and the croaking of the raven have both in ancient and modern times been regard- ed as omens of calamity. Pennant states that many of the great families of Scotland received monitions of future events, especially of death, by spectres, wraiths, and shrieks. Among sail- ors, to throw a cat overboard, or lose a bucket, is believed to be unlucky. To stumble on go- ing out, says Bishop Hall, is mischievous; to stumble up stairs, says Grose, is lucky. OMEJVTUM, a membranous sheet, composed of two or more folds of the peritoneum extend- ed between certain of the abdominal organs.. Three parts of this sheet are usually dis- tinguished, namely : the gastro-hepatic omen- turn, a double fold, extending from the liver to the stomach ; the gastro-splenic omentum, a double fold extending from the great pouch of the stomach to the spleen ; and the great omentum, a quadruple fold, suspended from the great curvature of the stomach and the transverse colon, and hanging down in front of the mass of the small intestine. The great omentum is distinguished from the others by containing, sometimes in considerable quantity, a collection of adipose tissue, which forms an anterior covering or protection for the small intestine. A portion of it sometimes protrudes, either alone or in company with a knuckle of intestines, into the sac of a hernia. When the omentum alone protrudes, it constitutes omen- tal hernia. OMER PASHA (MICHAEL LATTAS), a Turkish soldier, born at Plaski, Croatia, in 1806, died in Constantinople, April 18, 1871. The son of an Austrian official, he became a cadet in a frontier regiment, but ran away in 1826 and went to Bosnia, where he became a Moham- medan and took the name of Orner. He was appointed tutor to the children of Hussein Pasha, who in 1834 sent him to Constantinople, where he became an army officer and writing master to Abdul Medjid. He assisted in reor- ganizing the army, was made colonel in 1839, served against Ibrahim Pasha, and was pro- moted to brigadier general. He was promi- nent in the pacification of Albania and Kur- distan, in 1848 commanded the Turkish troops in Moldo-Wallachia, and in 1849-'50 complete- ly crushed the insurrection in Bosnia. In 1851 he restored tranquillity in Herzegovina, and in 1852 was sent against the Montenegrins. On the outbreak of the Crimean war he was appointed generalissimo. In November, 1853, the Kussians attacked him at Oltenitza, but were driven back with great loss. Their sub- sequent operations in front of Widin were equally unsuccessful. In May, 1854, he was besieged by Paskevitch in Silistria, but at the end of 40 days the Russians were compelled to give up their attempts after severe losses. In August he entered Bucharest, and early in 1855, acting in conjunction with the allies, he removed more than 35,000 men of his Danu- bian army to Eupatoria in the Crimea, and began the fortification of that place, where he was attacked on Feb. 17 by a Russian force estimated at 40,000, which he repulsed. He joined the allied army before Sebastopol, and in the spring marched to the relief of Kars, which was captured before he could reach it. Afterward as governor general of Bagdad he repelled the Kurd and Arab invasion. He was convicted of frauds and of inflicting ar- bitrary sentences of death, and banished to Kharput in 1859, but was soon restored to his command. He invaded and pacified Monte- negro in 1862, and was stationed at Shumla till March, 1867, when he was ordered to crush the Cretan insurrection; but his vio- lence and cruelty caused his recall in October, and he was withdrawn from active service. Pending the arrival of the new minister of war from Bagdad in 1868, he held that office till November, 1869, and subsequently remained a member of the ministry without a portfolio. OMISH. See MENNONITES.