O'KELLY, JAmEs (e.)757-1826). A pioneer preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church and leader of the first secession from it. Ile was 1.111 ill 111'1;111d about 1757, entice to ,America, and in 1778 hegan work as a traveling, preacher. Ile was among the munher who were ordained elders al the organization of the Methodist Epis copal Church in 17S4. Ile beeame presiding elder of the South Virginia district, and was a mem ber of the first Connell meeting in 1739. Ile took the lead in a movement opposing the au thority and life tenure of the bishop;, shortly after the General Conference of 1792 withdrew from the connection. taking several other ministers with their congregations or parts of congregations with him, and formed a Chord+ known as the Republican Methodist. Ills op position to Slethodism became more bitter, and he denounced ordination as spurious. Ilis seces sion movement reached its height in 1795, canc. ng a loss of nearly 6500 members to the Methodist Church. The name of his organization was after wards changed to the Christian Church. but at the end of twenty years it had almost disap peared. Consult Buckley. of Methodism in the United titates (New York, 1597).
OKEN, 6k'cu, LoRE,Nz 1779-1859) . A Ger man naturalist and philosopher, born at Bolds bac. I3 is real name was Oeken Ins,. lie studied medicine and the natural sciences at \Vitrzburg and Gitttingen. In 1807 he became a professor
of medicine at Jena, and in 1S1'2 received the chair of natural sciences, but in 1819 he was com pelled to resign his position because a scientific journal called /sis, which lie had conducted since 1810, gave offense to the Government. In 1828 he obtained a professorship in the newly founded University of :Munich. and in 1832 accepted a chair at Zurich, where he remained until his death. Oken sought to unify all the natural sci ences, and invented an entirely new and very complicated terminology fm• the purpose. His sys tem was in some respects fantastic, and is now almost obsolete. Sonic of his speculations were, however. fortunate. As earl• as 1505 he fore shadowed the theories of the cellular structure of organisms and of the protoplasmic basis of life, and his verteln•al theory of the structure of the skull, although false, was an important con tribution to comparative morphology. Ms most important works are: mr Zeuyung (1505) reber die Bede/I/um/ der Sehiidelknochew ; Lehrbuch der Naturphilosophie (180S-111, trans lated into English by Talk and called Elements of Physio-philosophy (1547); Li-110mM der Nu turgesehichte (1513-27).