or Oakham, a market-town of England, capital of the county of Rutland, stands in the fertile vale of Catmore, 17 miles E. by N. of Leicester, and 85 N.N.W. of London. It is pretty well built; and contains an old castle supposed to have been built in the reign of Henry II., and now used as a county-hall; an ancient parish church, with a lofty spire; Presbyterian, Independent, Wesleyan, and Baptist places of worship; national schools; and a free grammar school, founded in 1584, with an hospital for old men attached to it. The chief manufacture is that of silk shag for hats. Oakham is not commercially of much importance; and, though some traffic in coals is carried on, it depends principally on its retail trade in articles of home use. There is a canal between this place and Melton-Mowbray. Several yearly fairs for cattle and sheep are held here. Pop. (1851) 2800.

OASES was the name given by ancient writers to the verdant spots that occur at intervals in the midst of the waste sands of Africa, and is said to be derived from the Coptic word ouazh, a resting-place. The foundation of an oasis is a hollow stratum of sandstone or clay, which retains the moisture that flows into it, and which is encircled by a rim of the limestone that forms the bed of the surrounding desert. On this basis springs up in green luxuriance an orchard of date, fruit, and other trees, interspersed with wheat and millet. These oases, as the etymology given above implies, seem to have been originally used merely as halting-places for the Egyptian and Ethiopian traders in their journey through the desert. It was not until the Persian conquest of Egypt that they became permanent settlements. They were afterwards garrisoned by the Greeks and Romans in succession; and at a still later period they became a place of refuge, first to persecuted Christians, and then to heretics. Their number was great. Herodotus likens them to a chain stretching from E. to W. through the Libyan desert. But the most celebrated were four, called respectively Oasis Magna, Oasis Trintheos, Oasis Minor, and Ammonium. The Oasis Magna (the modern El-Kharga) is about 90 miles W. from the banks of the Nile, and is 80 miles in length, and from 8 to 10 in breadth. It was a district of great importance in ancient times. Herodotus called it the "City Oasis;" and Josephus called it "The Oasis par excellence." In pagan times it was the site of a temple 468 feet long, and dedicated to Amun-Ra; and after the commencement of the Christian era it was crowded with churches and monasteries. The Oasis Trintheos (the modern El-Bacharich) was situated N. from the Oasis Magna, and W. from the city of Hermopolis Magna. There is no evidence that it was ever a permanent settlement of the Egyptians, the Persians, or the Greeks. The most ancient architectural remains are Roman. The fact, however, that several Artisan wells have been recently discovered there, and that the construction of these was unknown to the nations above mentioned, seems to indicate that the Oasis Trintheos was visited at an early period by some people who had imported the art of making artificial springs from the eastern countries of Asia. The Oasis Minor (the modern El-Dakket) was situated nearly N. from the Oasis Magna, and W. from the city of Oxyrynchus. The ruins of a temple and several tombs show that it was a station of the Greeks. It was also under the dominion of the Romans, and was then famous for its wheat. Ammonium (the modern El-Sneeh) was situated N.W. from the Oasis Minor. Though not more than 6 miles in length and 3 in breadth, it was at one time the most famous of all the oases. Its soil produced salt in great abundance and of the finest quality, and at the same time was well watered and fruitful. There also was the celebrated "Fountain of the Sun" which Herodotus saw in the fifth century B.C. There especially was the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which Alexander the Great visited in 331 B.C., and which was built of stone, of a blue and green colour, and covered with hieroglyphics. The fountain is still seen springing up in a grove of dates; and the walls of the temple, retaining their bright colouring, are still seen in ruins near the village of Gharmy.

The term oasis has in modern times come to signify any fertile tract in the midst of a desert.