OPOSSUM 



5854 



OPPELN 



Oporto aims 



,..-. .-.:.... ,:*,, 



Oporto, Portugal. 1. Ribeira quay and 

 streets. 3. Praca de Libertad and 



Lisbon. It is built in a succession of 

 tiers on a hill slope, and lines the 

 river for about 2m. A striking 

 feature is its two 

 fine bridges ; one 

 carries the rly. ; 

 the other has two 

 roadways; the 

 upper one is 

 203 ft. above the 

 water, with its 

 arch, one of the 

 largest in Europe, 

 spanning 560 ft. Gaudily painted 

 houses give the city an Oriental 

 appearance. The cathedral was 

 built on the site of a Visigothic cita- 

 del dating from the 12th century. 

 Other buildings include an epis- 

 copal palace, many old churches, 

 museums, opera house, bull ring, 

 mint, and university. The Torre 

 dos Clerigos, or Tower of the Clergy, 

 is 246 ft. high. 



The centre of the port wine trade 

 and a busy manufacturing town, 

 Oporto rivals Lisbon, calling itself 

 the capital of the North. Apart 

 from the shipping, mostly carried 

 on from its harbour of Leixoes 

 (g.v.), its chief industries are the 

 spinning and weaving of cotton, 

 wool, and silk, sugar refining, dis- 

 tilling, and tanning, and the manu- 

 facture of pottery, hats, gloves, 

 tobacco, paper, and articles of 

 luxury.- Wine barrels, etc., are 

 made at the S. suburb of Villa 



iron bridge of Dom Luiz I. 2. Rua 31 Janeiro, one of the principal shopping 

 statue of Pedro IV in front of the city hall. 4. Tower of the Clerigos church 



Nova de Gaia, across the river, 

 where are warehouses for the 

 storage of wine, grain elevators, 

 convents, and villas. Fishine; is ex- 

 tensively carried on. 



The Alani, who conquered the 

 district in the 5th century, called 

 their new town on the N. bank of 

 the Douro, Castrum Novum. The 

 Visigoths took it about 540, the 

 Moors captured it in 716, and the 

 Christians in 997, when it became 

 the capital of the counts of Portu- 

 calia. Its commerce greatly in- 

 creased after the earthquake at 

 Lisbon in 1755. It was occupied 

 by the French in 1808-9, was be- 

 sieged by Dom Miguel, 1832-33, 

 and in 1847 was held by revolu- 

 tionaries. Pop 194 000 



Opossum. Specimen of the Azaras 

 opossum, the. American marsupial 



W.. S. Berridge, F.Z.8. 



Opossum (Didelphys). Marsu- 

 pial mammal. The family to 

 which it belongs is found only in 

 America, though fossil remains 

 occur widely distributed through- 

 out the world. Opossums are all 

 of small size, nocturnal in habit, 

 carnivorous and insectivorous, and 

 with very few exceptions make 

 their home in the trees. Most of 

 them have long prehensile tails, 

 but many lack the pouch charac- 

 teristic of marsupials. In Australia 

 the name opossum is given to the 

 phalanger (q.v.). See Marsupials. 



Oppau. Industrial village of 

 Baden, Germany. It is situated 

 3 m. N. of Ludwigshafen, near the 

 left bank of the Rhine. The main 

 industry is the manufacture of arti- 

 ficial nitrogen at the works known 

 as the Badische Anilin und Soda- 

 fabrik. During the Great War the 

 output of nitrogen was increased 

 more than tenfold, and work was 

 afterwards maintained on almost 

 the same scale ; poison gases and 

 high explosives were also produced 

 The works were repeatedly bombed 

 by Allied airmen. In Sept., 1921, 

 an explosion wrecked the village, 

 caused the loss of about 400 lives, 

 and damaged Mannheim and other 

 neighbouring towns. 



Oppeln. Town of Silesia. It 

 stands on the right bank of the 

 Oder, 51 m. S.E. of Breslau. The 

 church of S. Adalbert, founded 995, 



