Oatmeal
panic-grass; a plant of the genus Panicum. Also the meal of the oat deprived of its husk. It is one of the most important and valuable articles of food, containing a greater proportion of proteine compounds than the finest wheaten flour. An analysis of a sample of oatmeal gave 13 per cent. of nitrogenous material, 60-70 per cent. of heat givers, and 3 per cent. of mineral matter.
OAXACA. See OAJACA.
OB, or OBI, the great river of western Siberia, rising in two branches, the Biya and the Katun (both of which have their origin in the Altai Mountains, within the frontier of the Chinese dominions) and flowing N. W. and N. for 2,300 miles to the great Gulf of Ob in the Arctic Ocean. Its chief tributaries are the Irtish, Tcharysh, Tom, and Tchulym, all navigable. On the banks of the Ob are Barnaul, Tomsk, and Narym. At present only a few steamers ply on the great water-system of the Ob, which nevertheless seems destined to become a great commercial thoroughfare.
OBADIAH ("servant of God"), the name of various persons mentioned in the Old Testament. Also the fourth of the minor prophetic books.