ORPHISM 



Orphism. Term for the mystical 

 doctrines associated with the 

 brotherhood reputed to have been 

 founded by the Thracian Orpheus, 

 and first mentioned by Ibycus, 530 

 B.C. The Orphic rites in which they 

 engaged were closely connected 

 with the worship of Dionysus. The 

 sect, which continued into Roman 

 times, believed in original sin and 

 transmigration of souls, abstained 

 from certain foods and bloody sac- 

 rifices, practised purification rites, 

 and were later associated with the 

 Pythagoreans. See Aglaophamus 

 C. A. Lobeck, 1829. 



Orphrey (O.Fr. orfreia ; Low 

 Lat. aurifrigium, Phrygian gold- 

 work). Term applied to a band of 

 gold embroidered on ecclesiastical 

 vestments. Worked on copes and 

 chasubles, orphreys were frequently 

 exquisite specimens of needlecraft. 



Orpiment (Lat. auri pigmen- 

 lum, gold pigment). Native form 

 of arsenic. Chemically it is arsenic 

 trisulphido (As 2 S:,), or yellow 

 sulphide of arsenic. It is also 

 formed by the action of sulphur- 

 etted hydrogen on a solution of 

 arsenious oxide. The pigment 

 known as king's yellow is a 

 mixture of yellow sulphide of 

 arsenic and arsenic, but owing to 

 its poisonous nature it has been 

 superseded by less harmful com- 

 pounds. Realgar, or arsenic di- 

 sulphide, is sometimes called red 

 orpiment. 



Orpington. Parish and village 

 of Kent, really a suburb of London. 

 It is 14 m. from London and 9 m. 

 from Sevenoaks, with a station on 

 the S.E. & C. Rly. The river Cray 

 rises here, and around are large 

 areas under fruit. The church of 

 All Saints is mainly Early English, 

 with some old brasses. At Orping- 

 ton, in 1873, Ruskin set up a 

 printing establishment. Here, 

 during the Great War, was a 

 Canadian hospital. Pop. 5,000. 



Orpington. Name given to 

 certain domestic fowls. The claim 

 made for them that they constitute 

 a distinct breed is disputed. Their 



5882 



name arose from the fact that the 

 Black Orpington was raised by W. 

 Cook of that place, who stated that 

 he raised them from crossings of 

 the black Plymouth Rock, the 

 Langshan, and the Minorca. The 

 Buff Orpingtons are said to have 

 been bred from Cochins crossed 

 with ordinary farmyard fowls, and 

 selected until the type was fixed. 

 Orpingtons are good layers and 

 good table birds. There is also a 

 white Orpington. See Fowls, colou 1 - 

 plate. 



Orrell. Urban dist. of Lanca- 

 shire. It stands 3 m. from Wigan 

 and near the Leeds and Liverpool 

 canal. The chief industry is the 

 manufacture of cotton. Pop. 6,000. 



Orrery. In astronomy, a device 

 or framework for exhibiting the 

 motions of the planets about the 



Orpington. Male specimen of the 

 white variety of the breed 



Orrery made by Benjamin Martin 

 c. 1770 



Science and Art Museum, S. Kensington 



sun. It is so called from the 4th 

 earl of Orrery, for whose instruc- 

 tion one was first made in the 18th 

 century. See Planetarium. 



Orrery, EARL OF. Irish title 

 borne by the family of Boyle since 

 1660. Roger Boyle, the 1st earl, was 

 a younger son 

 of the 1st earl 

 of Cork. Born 

 April 25, 1621, 

 he was edu- 

 cated at Trini- 

 ty College, 

 Dublin. As 

 Baron Brog- 

 hill, he fought 

 for Charles I 

 in 1642, but for 

 the parliamentarians in 1647, and 

 as a general under Cromwell, in 

 Ireland, in 1650. He was created 

 earl of Orrery in 1660, and was lord 

 president of Munster, 1660-68, and 

 died Oct. 16, 1679. His romance, 

 Parthenissa, first appeared in 1654, 

 his Treatise on the Art of War, 

 1677 ; and he was the author of 

 various poems and tragedies. 



Roger was succeeded by his son 

 Roger, and the latter by his elder 

 son Lionel. When Lionel died in 

 1703, his brother Charles (1676- 

 1731) became the 4th earl. His 

 jon John, the 5th earl, succeeded 



1st Earl of Orrery, 

 Irish peer 



ORSINI 



to the earldom of Cork in 1753, 

 and since then the two titles have 

 been united. See Cork, Earl of. 



Orris Root. Dried rhizome of 

 the Florentine iris (/. florentina), 

 which gives off a strong violet-like 

 odour causing it to be exten- 

 sively employed by the perfumer. 

 " Essence of violets " is prepared 

 from it, and it forms the basis of 

 " violet powder " and other toilet 

 powders. It is chewed to disguise 

 offensive breath, and it possesses 

 emetic and cathartic properties. 

 Some of the orris-root of commerce 

 is obtained from Iris pallida. 

 Both species are natives of the 

 Mediterranean region. See Iris. 



Orsay, ALFRED GUILLAUME 

 GABRIEL, COUNT D' (1801-52). 



Born 



Paris, 



Count d'Orsay 

 French dandy 



ter B. J. Lane, R.A. 



French dandy. 

 Sept. 4, 1801, 

 he served as 

 lieutenant of 

 Louis XVIII's 

 bodyguard, 

 and in 1822 

 formed an in- 

 timate friend- 

 ship with the 

 1st earl and 

 c o u n t e s's of 

 Blessington, 

 with whom he 

 travelled in Italy. In 1827 he 

 married Lady Harriet Gardiner, 

 daughter of the earl's first mar- 

 riage. After the earl's death 

 in 1829, d'Orsay lived with the 

 countess at Kensington, and their 

 house became famous as an intel- 

 lectual and social centre. D'Orsay 

 was of fine appearance, and a bril- 

 liant conversationalist. With Lady 

 Blessington he left for Paris, 

 bankrupt, in 1849, and was ap- 

 pointed director of fine arts shortly 

 before he died on Aug. 4, 1852. See 

 Beaconsfield, Earl of ; Houghton, 

 1st Baron ; consult also Literary 

 Life and Correspondence of the 

 Countess of Blessington, R. R. 

 Madden, 1855. 



Orsha. Town of W. Russia. It 

 is in the govt., and 50 m. N., of 

 Mohilev, and stands on the 

 Dnieper, where it joins the Orshitsa. 

 Pop. 21,000. 



Orsini, FELICE, COUNT (1819- 

 58). Italian revolutionist. A 

 Romagnol by birth, he became an 

 advanced liber- 

 al, and in 1844 

 was sentenced 

 to life imprison- 

 ment for his 

 connexion with 

 the revolution- 

 ary party. 

 Liberated un- 

 der the amnes- 

 ty of Pius IX, 

 1846, he was 

 a member of 



i "-:i,. 



Felice Orsini, 

 Italian revolutionist 



