308 



OPORTO OPPOSITION. 



with the addition of camphor and volatile oils. It is 

 used externally against rheumatic pains, sprains, 

 bruises, and other like complaints. 



OPORTO, or PORTO, next to Lisbon the most 

 considerable city of Portugal, is situated in the pro- 

 vince Entre Minho e Duero, in a narrow valley, on 

 both sides of the Duero ; lat. 41 11' N.; Ion. 8 40' 

 W.; about 160 miles north of Lisbon. It contains 

 eleven public squares, ninety churches, seventeen 

 monasteries, fourteen hospitals, and 70,000 inhabi- 

 tants. The city is distinguished for its cleanliness, 

 and on the river there are fine quays. The harbour 

 is excellent, and protected by a fortress : 1200 ships 

 enter it yearly. The mouth of the river, however, is 

 ol)structed by rocks -and quicksands. Oporto is the 

 emporium for the export of Port wine, which receives 

 its name from this city, but is chiefly produced in the 

 province of Tras os Monies. The amount exported 

 yearly varies from 50,000 to 70,000 pipes, of which 

 the greatest part goes to Great Britain. (See Port.) 

 The wine trade is principally in the hands of a com- 

 pany, cliartered in 1756, which has also thirty brandy 

 distilleries. There are about thirty British houses 

 established in Oporto. Other articles of export are 

 oil, sumach, linen, and oranges. The imports are 

 woollen, cotton, and hardware manufactures, mainly 

 from Britain ; salt fish, hemp, and flax ; and, from the 

 United States, rice. The country seats in the en- 

 virons, called guintas, are beautifully situated. The 

 climate is cold for the latitude. Oporto derives its 

 origin from the small place Cale, which lay on the 

 other side of the river ; the present site, being found 

 more commodious for shipping, acquired the name of 

 Portus Cale ; whence the Portuguese Porto (the 

 Port) ; while the kingdom itself received the name of 

 Portugal. Oporto was occupied by the French in 

 1808, and it suffered much in its commerce by the 

 usurpation of doiv Miguel, many of its citizens hav-. 

 ing fallen victims to the troubles which agitated 

 the country, or forced them to flee from it. See 

 Portugal. 



OPOSSUM (didelphis). These extraordinary ani- 

 mals belong to the marsupialia, or those quadrupeds 

 the females of which are furnished with a pouch in 

 the abdomen ; they are peculiar to the American 

 continent ; and one, and the best known of them, is 

 very common in the United States : this is the D. 

 Virginiana, the general colour of which is whitish- 

 gray ; the whole hair is of a wool-like softness ; it is 

 short on the face and body, but long on the legs. 

 The tail is thick and black for upwards of three 

 inches at base, and is covered with small scales. The 

 opossum is seldom or never to be seen in the day 

 time, being a nocturnal and timid animal, depending 

 far more on his natural sagacity than on his strength 

 for his safety. His motions on the ground are awk- 

 ward and clumsy ; but on the branches of a tree he 

 moves with great celerity and ease, using his tail to 

 assist his motions. This organ is prehensile, and 

 enables the animal to suspend himself by a branch, 

 either when in pursuit of food, or when he wishes to 

 descend. His usual prey is birds, some of the smaller 

 quadrupeds, eggs, &c., though he oftentimes commits 

 great depredations in orchards ; his favourite food of 

 this kind, however, is the persimmon, on which he 

 becomes very fat. The flesh is good, resembling in 

 flavour that of a young pig. The wool, especially 

 of those killed during the winter, is very long and 

 fine, and might be advantageously employed in many 

 manufactures. The places in which the opossum is 

 usually found are thick woods, where they generally 

 dwell in the hollow of decayed trees. They are 

 usually hunted in the autumn, after the first frosts : 

 as soon as they perceive the approach of danger, 

 instead of taking to flight, they lie close to the branch 



on which they were clinging; when they are dis- 

 covered, they are taken by shaking the branch vio- 

 lently ; they then drop to the ground, and, if the 

 hunter is unaccompanied by dogs, they steal slowly 

 away, and, gathering themselves into as small a com- 

 pass as possible, remain perfectly quiet, as if feigning 

 death. After remaining thus till they think them- 

 selves secure, they steal off ; if, however, any sudden 

 noise be made, they again assume their death-like 

 position, in which they will persevere even when 

 taken up and handled. This well-known attribute of 

 the opossum has become a proverb, and " He is 

 playing 'possum," is applied, in some parts of the 

 country, to any one thought to be acting deceitfully. 

 The female has ten to fifteen young, who are, for a 

 long time, nourished in the pouch, and to which they 

 resort on the appearance of any danger. When they 

 are too large to be thus carried, they cling to the 

 mother by twisting the extremity of their tails round 

 the base of hers. When taken young, they are readily 

 tamed, but are mischievous pets. Wonderful medi- 

 cal virtues were formerly attributed to the tail of this 

 animal, in a great variety of cases. 



OPPIAN ; a Greek poet, who lived under the 

 emperor Caracalla, in the beginning of the third cen- 

 tury. He was a native of Cilicia, and apparently of 

 Grecian descent. He wrote, poems distinguished for 

 elegance and sublimity ; but two only of his produc- 

 tions are now extant, his Halieuticon, or five books 

 on fishing, and four books on hunting, entitled Cynas- 

 geticon. Caracalla was so pleased with it, that he 

 gave the author a piece of gold for every verse, 

 whence the poem has been styled the " golden verses" 

 of Oppian. He died in his thirtieth year (A. 1). 

 213,) and his countrymen erected statues in honour 

 of him. The best edition of his works is that of 

 Schneider (Strasburg, 1776, 8vo ; there is another 

 by the same editor, 1813, 8vo). His Halieutics have 

 been translated into English, by Jones (Oxford, 1722, 

 8vo). 



OPPOSITION, in astronomy, is that aspect of any 

 two heavenly bodies when they are diametrically op- 

 posite each other, or 180, that is, a semicircle, apart. 

 See Aspect. 



OPPOSITION, as this word is understood in re- 

 ference to the deliberative assemblies of free repre- 

 sentative governments, is something not only wholly 

 unknown to the ancients, but also of but recent ori- 

 gin. It is difficult to fix precisely the period when 

 opposition, in the modern meaning of the word, be- 

 gan ; but we shall probably not be far from the truth 

 when we date the more regular opposition from the 

 accession of the house of Hanover to the throne of 

 England. There existed, indeed, before, opposing 

 parties in England, and in other countries, but not a 

 regular parliamentary opposition. Opposition is an 

 indispensable ingredient of free representative gov- 

 ernments : it is both a check and a stimulus, and it 

 is a strong proof of the judicious organization of mo- 

 dern governments, in comparison to those of antiquity, 

 that opposition has become more truly an essential 

 part than a hostile element of government, and, 

 laughable as the expression, " his majesty's opposi- 

 tion," sounded, when used, some years ago, in the 

 British parliament, it contained a great truth ; be- 

 cause, though the opposition may struggle against 

 an existing administration, it contributes to the sound- 

 ness and vigour of the body politic. It is impossible 

 to make one, accustomed only to absolute govern- 

 ments, or those of ancient states, understand the true 

 meaning of a modern opposition ; to him, all opposi- 

 tion is rebellious. Nothing contributes more to form 

 an independent and intelligent spirit in a nation, than 

 a persevering and judicious opposition, which does 

 not weaken its efficacy by blindly resisting what is 



