OBOK, a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tajura, N.E. Africa, acquired by France in 1862. It gave its name to the colony of Obok, now merged in the French Somali coast protectorate (see Somaliland: French). The port is separated from the open sea by coral reefs, but is only partially sheltered from the winds. This led to the practical abandonment of the town by the French, who in 1896 transferred to Jibuti, on the opposite shore of the Gulf of Tajura, the seat of government of the colony. Obok is connected with Aden and Jibuti by submarine cables. Population about 500.
OBRA, a river of Germany, in the Prussian province of Posen,
a left-bank tributary of the Warthe. It rises near Obra, N.W.
from Koschmin, and forms in its course marshes, lakes and
the so-called Great Obrabruch (fen). The latter, 50 m. long
and about 5 m. broad, is a deep depression in the undulating
country of south-west Posen. The river is here dammed in
and canalized and affords excellent water transit for the agricultural
produce of the district.
O’BRIEN, WILLIAM SMITH (1803–1864), Irish revolutionary
politician, son of Sir Edward O’Brien, a descendant of Brian
Boroimhe (d. 1014), king of Ireland (see Clare), was born in Co. Clare on the 17th of October 1803, and received his
education at Harrow and at Cambridge. He took the additional
name of Smith on inheriting his maternal grandfather’s estates
in Limerick. He entered parliament in 1828 as member for
Ennis, and from 1835 to 1848 represented the county of Limerick.
Although he spoke in 1828 in favour of Catholic emancipation,
he for many years continued to differ on other points from the
general policy of O’Connell. But he opposed the Irish Arms
Act of 1843, and became an active member of the Repeal Association.
Though he was destitute of oratorical gifts, his arraignment
of the English government of Ireland secured him
enthusiastic attachment as a popular leader. In July 1846 the
“Young Ireland” party, with Smith O’Brien and Gavan
Duffy at their head, left the Repeal Association, and in the
beginning of 1847 established the Irish Confederation. In May
1848 he was tried at Dublin for sedition, but the jury disagreed.
In the following July he established a war directory, and
attempted to make a rising among the peasantry of Ballingarry,
but although he was at first joined by a large following the
movement wanted cohesion, and the vacillating crowd dispersed
as soon as news reached them of the approach of the dragoons.
O’Brien was arrested at Thurles, tried and sentenced to death.
The sentence was, however, commuted to transportation to
Tasmania for life. In February 1854 he received his liberty on
condition of never revisiting the United Kingdom; and in May
1856 he obtained a full pardon, and returned to Ireland. In
1856 he published
Principles of Government, or Meditations in Exile. He died at Bangor, north Wales, on the 18th of June,
1864. He had five sons and two daughters. His eldest brother,
Lucius, became 13th Baron Inchiquin in 1855, as heir male to
the 3rd marquis of Thomond, at whose death in 1855 the marquisate
of Thomond and the earldom of Inchiquin became
extinct. (See Inchiquin, 1st Earl of.)
OBSCENITY (from the adjective “obscene,” Lat. obscenus,
evil-looking, filthy). By English law it is an indictable misdemeanour
to show an obscene exhibition or to publish any
obscene matter, whether it be in writing or by pictures, effigy
or otherwise. The precise meaning of “obscene” is, however,
decidedly ambiguous. It has been defined as “something offensive
to modesty or decency, or expressing or suggesting unchaste
or lustful ideas or being impure, indecent or lewd.” But the test
of criminality as accepted in England and Canada is whether
the exhibition or matter complained of tends to deprave and
corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences
and who are likely to visit the exhibition, or to see the matter
published. If the exhibition or publication is calculated to have
this effect, the motive of the publisher or exhibitor is immaterial.
Even in the case of judicial proceedings, newspapers are not
privileged to publish evidence which falls within the definition.
In dealing with writings alleged to be obscene, the court and
jury have to consider the effect of the whole work and not merely
the particular extract challenged as improper; and in practice
it is difficult to induce juries to convict the publishers of well-known
and old-established works of real literary quality on the
ground that they contain passages offensive to modern notions
of propriety. In the case of exhibitions of sculpture and pictures
some difficulty is found in drawing the line between representations
of the nude and works which fall within the definition
above stated—a difficulty raised in a somewhat acute form
before the London County Council in 1907 by theatrical representations
of “living statuary.”
Besides the remedy by indictment there are statutory provisions for punishing as vagabonds persons Who expose to public view in public streets or adjacent premises obscene prints, pictures or other indecent exhibitions. These are supplemented by similar provisions, applicable to the metropolis and to county towns, and (by a statute of 1889) for suppressing certain kinds of indecent advertisements. By an act of 1857 powers are given for searching premises on which obscene books, &c., are kept for sale, distribution, &c., and for ordering. their destruction, and the post office authorities have power to seize postal packets containing such matter and to prosecute the sender. In 1906 the London publisher of a weekly comic paper was punished for inserting advertisements inviting readers to acquire by post from abroad matter of this kind.
The use of obscene or indecent language in public places is punishable as a misdemeanour at common law, but it is usually dealt with summarily, under the Metropolitan Police Act 1839, or the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, or under local by-laws.
British Possessions.—In British India obscene publications, exhibitions, &c., are punished under articles 292, 293 and 294 of the Penal Code. Special exception is made for representations in temples or on cars used for conveyance of idols or kept or used for religious purposes. In those British possessions whose law is based on the common law the offences above dealt with are offences at common law or under colonial statutes embodying the common law, e.g. Queensland Code, 1899, ss. 172, 227, 228, 374 (3); Western Australian Code, 1901, ss. 203, 204, 352 (3); Canadian Criminal Code, s. 179. In New South Wales and Western Australia, by acts of 1901 and 1902, provisions have been made for dealing summarily with indecent and obscene publications based to some extent on the English legislation of 1889 against indecent advertisements. In the Colonial acts no penalty is incurred if the defence can prove that the incriminated publication is a work of recognized literary merit, e.g. Aristophanes or Boccaccio’s Decameron, or is a bona-fide medical work circulated in the manner permitted by the statutes.
United States.—Under the Federal Law (Revised Statutes, s. 3893) penalties are imposed for transmitting obscene matter by the U.S. mails; see U.S. v. Wales (1892), 51 Fed. Rep. 41. (W. F. C.)
OBSEQUENS, JULIUS, a Latin writer of uncertain date,
generally placed about the middle of the 4th century A.D. He
is the author of a small extant work De prodigiis, taken from
an epitome of Livy, and giving an account of the prodigies and
portents that occurred in Rome between 249–12 B.C.
The editio princeps was published by Aldus (1508); later editions by F. Oudendorp (1720) and O. Jahn (1853, with the periochae of Livy).
OBSEQUIES (Med. Lat. obsequiae, formed after class. Lat.
exsequiae), a term for funeral rites and ceremonies, especially
such as are carried out with great ceremony. The Lat. obsequium
(from obsequi, to follow close after) produced the
obsolete English “obsequy,” in the sense of ready complaisant
service, especially of an inferior to a superior, still found in the
adjective “obsequious.”
OBSERVATORY. Up to a comparatively recent date an
“observatory” was a place exclusively devoted to the taking
of astronomical observations, although frequently a rough
account of the weather was kept. When the progress of terrestrial
magnetism and meteorology began to make regular observations
necessary, the duty of taking these was often thrown on
astronomical observatories, although in some cases separate
institutions were created for the purpose. In this article the
astronomical observatories will be chiefly considered.
Up to about 300 B.C. it can scarcely be said that an observatory existed anywhere, as the crude observations of the heavens then taken were only made by individuals and at intervals, employing the simplest possible apparatus. Thus, according to Strabo,
