OLIVE, Olea, a genus of trees and shrubs of the natural order ofeacea; having oppo site, evergreen, leathery leaves, which are generally entire, smooth, and minutely scaly; small flowers in compound axillary racemes, or in thyrsi ht the end of the twigs; a small 4-toothed calyx, a 4-cleft corolla, 2 stamens, a 2-cleft stigma; the fruit a drupe. The species are widely distributed in the warmer temperate parts of the globe. The COM MON OLIVE (0.Europeea), a native of Syria and other Asiatic countries, and perhaps also of the s. of Europe, although probably it is there rather naturalized than indigenous, is in its wild state a thorny shrub or small tree, but through cultivation becomes a tree of 20-40 ft. high, destitute of spines. It attains a prodigious age. The cultivated varie ties are very numerous, differing iu the breadth of the leaves, and in other characters. The leaves resemble those of a willow, are lanceolate, entire, of a dull dark-green color above, scaly and whitish-gray beneath; the flowers small and white, in short dense ra cemes; the fruit greenish, whitish, violet, or even black, never larger than a pigeon's egg, generally oval, sometimes globular, or obovate, or acuminate. The fruit is produced in vast profusion, so that an old olive-tree bNiomes very valuable to its owner. It is chiefly from the pericarp that olive oil is obtained, not from the seed, contrary to the general rule of the vegetable kingdom. Olive oil is much used as an article of food in the countries in which it is produced, and to a smaller extent in other countries, to which it is exported also for medicinal and other uses (see Oths). Olives, gathered before they are quite ripe, are pickled in various ways, bring usually first steeped in lime-water, by which they are rendered softer and milder in taste. They are well known as a restorative of the palate, and are also said to promote digestion. Disagreeable as they generally are at first, they are soon greatly relished, and in the s. of Europe are even a considerable arti cle of foot). Dried olives are there also used, as well as pickled olives.—The wood of the olive-tree takes a beautiful polish, and has black cloudy spots and veins on a greenish yellow ground; it is principally used for the finest purposes by cabinet-makers and turners. The 1,Vood of the root is marked iu a peculiarly beautiful manner, and is used for making snuff-boxes and small ornamental articles. The bark of the tree is bitter and
astringent; and both it and the leaves have febrifuge properties. A gum resin exudes from old stems, which much resembles storax, has an odor like vanilla, and is used in all parts of Italy for perfuniery.—Among the Greeks the olive was sacred. to Pallas Athene (Minerva), who was honored as the bestower of it; it was also the emblem of chastity. A crown of olive-twigs was the highest distinction of a citizen who had mer ited well of his country, and the highest prize of the victor in the Olympic games. An olive branch was also the symbol of peace (compare Gen. viii. 11); and the vanquished, who came to supplicate for peace, bore olive branches in their hands.—The olive has been cultivated in Syria, Palestine, and other parts of the east, from the earliest times. Its cultivation extends southwards as far as Cairo, and northwards to the middle of France. It is very generally propagated by suckers, but where great care is bestowed on it, marching is practiced. It grows from cuttings. The climate of England is too cold for the olive, yet in Devonshire it ripens its fruit on a s. similis and several other species are useful trees of s. Africa, yielding a very hard and extremely durable wood. Some of them bear the name of I'tONIVCDD at the cape of Good Hope. The AIVIERmeAN OLIVE (0. Americana) is also remarkable for the hardness of its wood. It is found as far n. as Virginia. It is a tree of 30-35 ft. high, with much broader leaves than the common olive. Its fruit is fit. for use. ,lts flowers are fragrant. The FRAGRANT OLIVE (0. fragrans, or 0.4MtinlAus freigraris) of China and'Jipan ItaS extreinel?fragrant flowers, Which are used by the Chinese for flavoring tea.
OlIVENITE, a 'mineral consisting chiefly of arsenic acid and protoxide of copper, with a little phosphoric acid and a little water. It is generally of some dark shade of green, sometimes brown or yellow. It is found along with different ores or copper in Corn wall and elsewhere. It is often crystalized in oblique four-sided prisms, of which the extremities are acutely beveled, and the obtuse lateral edges sometimes truncated, or in acute double four-sided pyramids; it is sometimes also spherical, kidney-shaped, columnar, or fibrous.