362 



ORNITHORYNCHUS ORR. 



ridge, lim-ar. half concealed ; legs short, placed far behind ; 

 inrsus slender, with throe anterior toes only; claws greatly 

 bent ; wing* of medium size, first quill longest. 



Mormon fraterciUa. Puffin. P . Ti, f. . Bill shorter than 

 the head, dei>|>er than long, greatly compressed; both inan- 

 dili'.e- arcuated, transversely furrowed, and notched towards 

 the point ; ridge of the upper maudib.e e'evated above the level 

 of the skull ; nostrils lateral, marginal, linear, nearly concealed 

 by a large, naked membrane ; legs short, placed far behind, pro- 

 vided with three anterior webbed toes only; caws greatly 

 hooked ; wings .-hurt. 



Alca impennit Groat Auk. PI. 72, f. 32. Bi 1 straight, 

 broad, compressed, much bent towards the tip. both mandib:ea 

 half covered with leathers, and grooved near the point, upper 

 mandible hooked, the lower forming a salient angle; nostrils 

 placed in the middle of the bill, lateral, marginal, linear, almost 

 entirely closed by a membrane, and covered with feathers; 

 legs short, placed far behind, with three pa. mated anterior toes 

 nn.y ; wings short. 



Sphenitcttt chi-yiocome. Crested Penguin. PI. 72, f. S3. 

 liill shorter than the head, compressed, very thick, strong, 

 straight, hooked at the tip, obliquely grooved ; edges of both 

 mandibles inflected, the under one covered with feathers at the 

 (>a-> , with tlie tip truncated; nostrils situate near the centre of 

 the bill, and clett in the furrow ; legs very short, placed far 

 behind, with four anterior toes, of which three are connected 

 by a deep web, the fourth being little more than a tubercle ; 

 wings incapab.e ot flight. 



Apterodytes 1'ata honica. Patagonian Penguin. PI. 72, f. 

 3k Bill snorter than the bead, slender, straight, inflected at 

 tin- tip ; upper mandible furrowed throughout its length, the 

 under wider at the base, and covered with a naked and smooth 

 .sk'n ; nostrils placed in the upper part of the bill, concealed by 

 the feathers of the forehead ; legs very short, thick, situate 

 very far behind, with four anterior toes, three of which are 

 weubed, and the fourth very short ; wings incapable of flight. 



ORDER XVI. INERTES. 



Bill variously formed ; body apparently thick, covered with 

 down and feathers, with distant webs ; legs p'aced far behind ; 

 tarsus short; three toes before, divided to the bast*, ha. lux 

 short, articulated exteriorly ; claws thick and sharp ; wings not 

 formed for flight. 



Apteryx Australia. Australian Apteryx. P). 72, f. 37. 

 EH very long, subulate, soft, furrowed its whole length, in- 

 flected and gibbous at the point; base covered by a crinated 

 cere ; nostrils placed near the point of the upper mandible, at 

 the termination of a tubular furrow ; legs short, feathered to 

 the knees ; wings rudimentary, terminated by a spur. 



Ditius ineptut. Dodo. P.. 72, f: 28. Bill long, strong, broad 

 and compressed; upper mandible bent at the point, transversely 

 furrowed , lower mandible straight, gibbous, bent upwards at 

 the point ; nostrils placed in the centre of the hill, lying obliquely 

 in a furrow; tarsus short; three anterior divided toes ; hu :ux 

 short, claws short and bent ; wings not formed for flight. 



ORNITHORYNCHUS. See Platypus 



OROGRAPHY (from east, a mountain, and ygaQiv, 

 I write) ; the description of mountains, their chains, 

 branches, &c. The most ancient, and perhaps the 

 most accurate, method of measuring the heights of 

 mountains, is by trigonometrical survey. The great 

 difficulty to be encountered in this method of mea- 

 surement arises from the optical delusion occasioned 

 by the different states of the density of the atmo- 

 sphere, causing a proportionate change of refraction, 

 which may, however, be corrected by hygrometric 

 observation. In modern times, it has been usual to 

 ascertain the heights of mountains by barometrical 

 observation, as being much more convenient, and 

 sufficiently correct for all practical purposes. There 

 is a proportionate relation between the height of the 

 mercury in the barometer, and the altitude of the 

 point of observation, which may guide in ascertaining 

 within certain limits the acclivities and declivities of 

 jmy line of travel, so that by observing the rises and 

 falls in the barometer, and noting the distances, an 

 outline may be obtained of the profile of the tract. 

 Correcticns have to be made for variations of tem- 

 perature, humidity, and latitude, for ascertaining 

 which, many experiments have been mside, and 

 formula; deduced for the guidance of the observer. 

 For an easy rule for such observations, see our article 

 Barometer, and for tables to facilitate calculation, see 

 De la Beche's Geology. 



ORONOKQ. See Orinoco. 



ORPHAN ASYLUMS ; establishments in which 

 orphans who have not relations able to support them 

 are provided for and educated. Thecare which society 



at large is bound lo take of destitute orphans is, in 

 many countries, an important point of political eco- 

 nomy. The question of most consequence, in relation 

 ;o the public support of orphans, is, whether it is best, 

 'n a moral, physical, and economical point of view, to 

 bring up large numbers of orphans in great establish- 

 ments, where they live together, or to put them out 

 ingly in trust-worthy families, paid by the com- 

 munity. In Germany, this question has been long 

 and thoroughly discussed ; and it appears that the 

 majority of persons in that country, conversant with 

 the subject, prefer the plan of bringing them up in 

 separate families. Both systems have their incon- 

 veniences and advantages. It would appear to be 

 cheaper, as well as belter for the morals of orphans, 

 to educate them in separate families ; and, in the way 

 in which asylums have been generally conducted on 

 the continent of Europe, the health of the children 

 has appeared not to be so well taken care of as in 

 families. Some asylums, however, form brilliant 

 exceptions, as the great asylum at Potsdam, near 

 Berlin. The history of the origin of orphan asylums 

 is uncertain. What the Romans understood by piteri 

 and pueUee. alimentarii, cannot properly be compared 

 to our publicly supported orphans. Trajan, who did 

 much in favour of orphans, both the Antonines, and 

 Alexander Severus, established foundations for them ; 

 but such institutions do not seem to have become 

 frequent till the introduction of the Christian religion. 

 In the middle ages, however, in which so many insti- 

 tutions beneficial to mankind originated within the 

 walls of thriving and opulent cities, orphan asylums 

 became frequent in such places, particularly in the 

 larger commercial towns of the Netherlands. In 

 Germany, the first asylums are found in the free 

 cities ; yet their origin does not go beyond the six- 

 teenth century. One of the most famous asylums in 

 the world is that established by A. H. Franke (q. v.) 

 at Halle, in 1698. In Britain, there are few asylums 

 exclusively appropriated to orphans, these being 

 generally disposed of in our poor-houses, &c. 



ORPHEUS ; one of the old sages and bards of the 

 Greeks (about forty years before the Trojan war) ; 

 according to common accounts, the son of the muse 

 Calliope and the Thracian river-god Oagrus ; accord- 

 ing to others, of Apollo. He was educated by Linus, 

 together with Thamyris and Hercules. His melodi- 

 ous voice, and his lyre with seven strings, as the 

 story says, drew after him rocks and trees, tamed 

 the wildest animals of the mountain forests, and 

 calmed the whirlwinds and tempests. Some poets 

 mention him as a king of Thrace; and the Argonau- 

 tica (which goes under his name, though unquestion- 

 ably a later production) calls him the sovereign of 

 the Ciconians, rich in herds. Ovid also represents 

 the ceremony of his marriage with Eurydice, or 

 Agriope, as having taken place there. After the 

 death of his beloved wife, the disconsolate poet wan- 

 dered over the earth. When he returned home, the 

 Ciconian women, who felt his grief as an insult, were 

 so much excited, during the celebration of Bacchan- 

 alian orgies, that they seized the young man, and 

 tore him to pieces in their madness. According to 

 the Argonaiitica, on the contrary, Orpheus had al- 

 ready reached a venerable old age when he sailed foi 

 Colchis. He had previously visited several other 

 countries, and especially Egypt. Enriched with 

 knowledge, he returned, and instituted among the 

 Greeks the Dionysian and other mysteries. He 

 amended and regulated their religious doctrines, and 

 led a life of singular purity. He was the inventor or 

 maker of the lyre, the oldest musical instrument 

 adapted to soften the fierceness of savage minds. 

 The ancients frequently mention his works, yet it is 

 certain that he never wrote any thing; but his ideas, 



