OPODELDOC 



OPOSSUM 



615 



Opodeldoc is a popular synonym for soap 

 Liniment (q.v. ). Tlie origin of the term, which 

 was apparently applied by Paracelsus to various 

 forms of liniments or local applications, is not 

 known. The opo is the same as the opo of 

 o/tunanax, opobalsamuin, &c., and is doubtless 

 derived from the Greek opus, 'juice.' See Notes 

 and Queries, Octolter 1888, p. 316. 



Opo'panax, a gum-resin obtained in Persia, 

 which comes to Europe at rare intervals. It 

 has an unpleasant odour resembling bruised ivy 

 leaves. Holmes suggests that it may l>e the pro- 

 duce of some Araliaceous plant, but nothing is 

 known of its botanical origin. The ancient phy- 

 sicians attached great importance to it as an anti- 

 spasmodic medicine ; Hippocrates, Theophrastus, 

 and Dioscorides have each left descriptions of it. 

 The plant Opopanii.r rliirunlum, from which it was 

 supposed to be obtained, grows generally throughout 

 southern Europe. The perfume known as opopanax 

 is not derived from this gum-resin. There is a 

 commercial opopanax, a kind of perfumed myrrh, 

 obtained from a Balsamodendron, largely imported 

 into Germany, where an essential oil is distilled 

 from it. 



Oporto (Port. porto, 'the port"), the second 

 city of Portugal, stands on the steep, rocky, rijjht 

 bank of the Douro, high above its waters, which 

 reach the sea 3 miles to the west. ' The houses, 

 a* they rise confusedly from the river's edge, some 

 painted in strong reds, blues, or greens, some left 

 whitewashed, ami the majority retaining the 

 granite gray of the stone they are built with, 

 make up a very strange and beautiful panorama, 

 ringed as the city is by the encircling pine-covered 

 mountains' (Oswald Crawfurd); and many of 

 these houses stand embowered in the greenery- of 

 gardens. One of the crags overlooking the river 

 is crowned with a Crystal Palace ( 1865 ), surrounded 

 by gardens. Many of the former monasteries are 

 still standing, though put to other uses : one is a 

 citadel, another the exchange, with splendid mar- 

 quetry of wood in Moor ami walls, a third barracks, 

 and so on. There are seven principal churches, 

 including the cathedral (built by Henry the Navi- 

 gator), the old Gothic church of Cedofeita (origin- 

 ally founded in 559), and the Church dos Clerigos, 

 with a tower 213 feet high. The English factory 

 (1785), the bishop's palace, and the hospital of St 

 Antony are the most noticeable amongst the 

 secular buildings. Oporto possi-s-i's a polytechnic 

 academy, with olwervatory, scientific collections, 

 &o., a medical school, a fine art academy, a com- 

 mercial Miu-'-iiiii, an industrial institution, a library 

 (1796) of 200,000 vola. and 9400 MSS., and two 

 picture-galleries. On the south side of the river, 

 immediately oi>|>osite Oporto, and connected with 

 it by a lofty bridge, is the suburb of Villa Nova 

 de Gain, with a imp. of 9126, and extensive wine- 

 cellars. The railway to Lisbon (209 miles) crosses 

 the river a little higher up, on one of the finest 

 (steel) arch bridges built ; the arch spans a hori- 

 zontal distance of 549 feet, and its centre is 

 203 feet above the river. Pop. (1878) 105,838; 

 (1890) 139,856, who are chiefly engaged in the 

 manufacture of cloth and silks, hats, porcelain, 

 ribbons, tobacco, soap, and candles, in metal- 

 casting, tanning, brewing, distilling, cork-cutting, 

 sugar refining, and brick-making, and in commerce 

 ami shipping. Oporto is the principal place of 

 export for Port \\ine (q.v., and also PORTUGAL). 

 The remaining exerts of moment are cattle, 

 oranges and other fruits, cork, copper, onions, 

 meat, hides, and wool, the total value of all ex- 

 porto reaching on an average 3,550,000. The 

 imports, consisting chiefly of com and flour, cod- 

 liali, metals, machinery, textiles, rice, raw sugar. 



hides, coal, and timber, amount to 1,800,000 

 annually. 



Originally the PortusCale of the Romans (whence 

 Portugal ), this city was the stronghold of the 

 Christians in the north-west of the Iberian penin- 

 sula against the attacks of the Moors, and more 

 than once changed hands between the 8th and the 

 12th centuries. The people are noted for their 

 sturdy patriotism and liberal sentiments ; in 1808 

 they were especially hostile to the French ; they 

 stoutly opposed the usurper Miguel (1828), who 

 in revenge executed great numbers of its people, 

 but without breaking their spirit, for they sup- 

 ported Pedro of Brazil, and withstood the besieg- 

 ing troops of Miguel thirteen months (1832-33). 

 It was the scene of frequent republican riots in 

 the 19th century. See O. Crawfurd in New Review 

 (1889). 



Opossum (Diflelfkys), a genus of Marsupialia, 

 having ten incisors in the upper jaw, and eight in 

 the lower, one canine tooth on each side in each 

 jaw, three compressed premolars, and four sharply- 

 tuberculated molars on each side tifty teeth in 

 all; the tail generally very long, prehensile, and 



Virginian Opossum 



liana). 



in part scaly ; the feet plantigrade ; five toes on 

 each foot, their claws long and sharp ; but the 

 inner toe of the right foot converted into a thumb, 

 destitute of a claw, and opposable to the other 

 digits. The pouch, so characteristic of marsupials, 

 is generally absent, sometimes rudimentary, rarely 

 complete. The un webbed feet and non-aquatic 

 habits distinguish this genus from Cheironectes 

 (o.v.), also belonging to the family DWelphidee, 

 The name opossum has also lieen applied to certain 

 Australian forms, but is lietter restricted to the 

 American opossums, which are the only marsupials 

 found in America. They range from the United 

 States to the Argentine Republic. There are alto- 

 gether twenty-three distinct species, with a consid- 

 erable range in size, varying from that of a large 

 cat to that of a mouse. The best known is the Vir- 

 ginian Opossum (D. virffininna). Among the mar- 

 supials they are nearest allied to the Dasyurida-, 

 from which they are doubtfully separable ; if it were 

 not for their geographical range, they would un- 

 doubtedly be placed in the same family. Although 

 there are now no opossums found anywhere but in 

 America, they existed formerly in Europe, as is 

 shown by their fossil remains. The opossums are 

 all carnivorous, one species, the Crab-eating Opos- 

 sum, feeding as its name denotes upon crabs ; in 

 order to capture its prey it frequents marshy places. 

 It is a native of tropical America. Merian's Opos- 

 sum (D. dorsiyerns) is remarkable for the fact that 

 it carries its young on its back, their tails being 

 twined round "the tail of the mother ; many other 

 species carry the young on the back ; this is due 

 in many coses to the fact already mentioned that 



