OPHELIA 



should be well ventilated and well 

 lighted, and heating arrangements 

 should permit of an equable tem- 

 perature being maintained. At- 

 tached to the theatre should be a 

 small room in which the patient 

 can be anaesthetised before being 

 brought into the theatre, and 

 another room in which instruments 

 can be kept and sterilised. See 

 Surgery. 



Ophelia (Gr., help). Character 

 in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. 

 Beloved by Hamlet and com- 



Ophelia sitting by the waterside. 



From the picture by R. Redgrave, 



R.A. 



manded by her father, Polonius, to 

 repel his advances, she goes mad 

 after her father has been killed by 

 Hamlet, and eventually drowns 

 herself. See Hamlet. 



Ophicleide (Gr. ophis, serpent ; 

 kleis, key). Brass wind instrument. 

 It was the successor of the serpent, 

 the bass mem- 

 ber of the cor- 

 netti group. All 

 these instru- 

 ments had a 

 cup-shaped 

 mouthpiece, 

 and had lateral 



finger holes at 

 distances to fit 

 the stretch of 

 the hand. In- 

 tonation was 

 therefore liable 

 to be imperfect. 

 A new model, 

 the ophicleide, 

 was introduced, 

 with keys to 



correct the imperfections. The 

 ophicleide has been succeeded in 

 the orchestra and military band 

 by the bass tuba or bombardon, 

 but it served a useful purpose hi 

 the earlier part of the 19th cen- 



Ophicleide with 

 keys to assist 

 fingering 



5852 



tury. It was used by Spontini 

 in his opera Olympia, 1819, and 

 Mendelssohn wrote for it in his 

 Midsummer Night's Dream music, 

 and in Elijah. 



Ophidia (Gr. ophis, serpent). 

 Scientific name for the order of 

 reptiles of the sub-class Sauria, 

 and better known under their 

 common name of snakes (q.v. ). 



Ophioglossaceae. Small nat- 

 ural order of Pteridophyta. It 

 has the leaves rolled lengthwise 

 before expansion, and the spores 

 contained in large two-valved cap- 

 sules without an elastic ring. It 

 includes the genera Ophioglossum 

 (adder's tongue fern), Botrychium 

 (moonwort fern), and Helmin- 

 thostachys. 



Ophir. Land famed in O.T. 

 times for its gold, which was 

 brought to Palestine by the ships of 

 Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre. 

 Its locality has been the subject of 

 much speculation, but S.E.Arabia is 

 the most likely region. 



Ophite. Old name for the min- 

 eral now known as serpentine (q.v. ). 



Ophites OB NAASENI (Gr. ophis, 

 and Heb. nahash, serpent). Sect of 

 serpent worshippers. They arose in 

 Egypt in the 2nd century,, existed 

 until the 6th century, regarded the 

 serpent that tempted Eve as the 

 embodiment of wisdom, were anti- 

 pathetic to Jews, and called 

 themselves Gnostics, claiming that 

 they alone understood the deep 

 things of religion. The doctrines 

 adopted by the various bodies of 

 Ophites included elements of 

 Egyptian and Assyrian symbolism, 

 Indian mythology, Greek philo- 

 sophy, and corrupt ideas of Chris- 

 tian history and doctrine. See 

 Gnosticism. 



Ophiuchus (Gr. ophiouchon, 

 holding a serpent). In astronomy, 

 equatorial constellation south of 

 Hercules. It represented in ancient 

 astronomy the serpent holder who 

 is trampling on the scorpion and 

 strangling the serpent. 



Ophiuroidea (Gr. ophis, ser- 

 pent ; oura, tail). Class of brittle or 

 sand stars. They are star-shaped 

 echinoderms, having five arms, 

 used for locomotion, extending 

 from a flat central round disk 

 which contains the mouth. Ophi- 

 uroidea are divided into two 

 orders, Ophiurida and Euryalida, 

 fossil remains being found in the 

 Silurian and later periods of geo- 

 logical time. 



Ophrys. Genus of British, 

 European, Asiatic, and African 

 herbs of the natural order Or- 

 chidaceae. The genus includes 

 such well-known species as the bee 

 ophrys, fly ophrys, and spider 

 ophrys. Their flowers vary 

 from pink to yellow and brown. 



Ophthalmoscope, 



for examining 



pupil of eye 



OPIUM 



Ophthalmia. Inflammation of 

 the conjunctiva or mucous mem- 

 brane whioh covers the front of the 

 eyeball, and is reflected on to the 

 inner surface of the eyelids. See 

 Conjunctivitis ; Eye. 



Ophthalmoscope. Instrument 

 invented by Helmholtz, and later 

 extensively modified. It consists 

 -__ i of a small mirror 

 <J with a circular 

 JpH Um, bole in its centre 

 and a rotating 

 wheel in which 

 various types of 

 lenses can be 

 fixed . The 

 patient's eye is 

 illuminated and 

 observed through 

 the small hole 

 and one of the 

 lenses. See Eve. 

 Opie, JOHN (1761-1807) British 

 painter. A native of St. Agnes, 

 near Tniro, he obtained the pat- 

 ronage of Dr. Wolcot, known as 

 Peter Pindar, accompanied him to 

 London in 1780, and at once 

 achieved celebrity as the " Cornish 

 Wonder." He became A. R. A. 

 in 1787, R. A. in 

 1788, and pro- 

 fessor of paint- 

 ing in 1805 ; 

 and died i n 

 London April 

 9, 1807. His 

 genius lay in 

 historical 

 pain tings, in 

 which, though 

 h i s technique 

 was always deficient, he showed 

 extraordinary freshness and vigour. 

 His wife Amelia (1769-1853) was 

 a well-known writer of tales. See 

 Girtin, J. ; Godwin, M. 



Opimius, Lucius. Roman 

 politician. Consul 121 B.C., a 

 determined opponent of Gaius 

 Gracchus and a supporter of the 

 senatorial party, he led the band 

 of senators and knights in the riot 

 which ended in the murder of the 

 reformer and of 3,000 of his 

 adherents. In the following year 

 he was impeached for having 

 murdered Roman citizens without 

 a trial, but was acquitted, being 

 defended by the renegade Gaius 

 Papirius Carbo (q.v.). Sent in 

 116 on a political mission to Africa, 

 he was accused and convicted of 

 having accepted bribes trom Ju- 

 gurtha. Sentenced to banishment, 

 he died in poverty at Dyrrhachium. 

 Opium (Gr. opos, juice). Juice 

 obtained by cutting into the un- 

 ripe capsules of the white poppy 

 (Papaver somniferum). This is 

 solidified by evaporation, and 

 comes into the market in the form 

 of dark brown or black irregular 



John Opie, 

 British painter 



