OPTICS 



4393 



ORANGE 



OPTICS, op'tiks. See LIGHT. 



OPTIMISM, op'timiz'm, from a Latin word, 

 optimus, meaning best, is the belief that there 

 is a great deal more good than evil in the 

 world, that the good will ultimately triumph 

 over the evil, and that since God is all pow- 

 erful this must be the best world He could 

 make. From Socrates to Leibnitz, who was the 

 greatest modern optimist, philosophers have 

 In 1,1 that evil is in the world so that men may 

 learn to choose the good. Pessimism, which is 

 from the Latin word pcssimus, meaning worst, 

 and which means the opposite of optimism, 

 has had and still has numerous followers who 

 believe the world could be no worse. Progress 

 of a nation or race is usually marked by an 

 advance in optimism. See PESSIMISM. 



ORACLES, awr'ak'lz, in mythology, were 

 the replies given to inquirers by the deities 

 tin y worshiped. Sometimes, too, the name was 

 applied to the temple or place where these re- 

 sponses were given. Almost all of the nations 

 of antiquity believed that their deities inter- 

 fered in their personal affairs, and that if in- 

 quiries were made the gods would give them 

 such advice as to guarantee success in their un- 

 dertakings or at least foretell future events so 

 that 'they might know whether or not an enter- 

 prise was a wise one to undertake. Not everyone 

 waa able to interpret what the gods said, and 

 often certain established families of priests or 

 intrrpreters delivered the messages of the gods; 

 not all places were equally favorable for the 

 consultation of a god, and some particular lo- 

 calities came to be known as especially favor- 

 able (see DELPHI). 



Sometimes the oracles came through signs, 

 which were interpreted by an attendant; some- 

 times those who wished to consult a god slept 

 in a hall of his temple and received messages 

 through visions, which were explained by the 

 priests. Very frequently the replies of the gods 

 were so ambiguous that almost any meaning 

 might be attached to them. Thus when Xerxes 

 pi mncd to invade Greece he consulted an ora- 

 cle as to the outcome of his campaign, and re- 

 d the answer, "If you cross into Greece 

 you will bring great disaster to an empire." 

 l was very satisfying to the ambitious kin*:. 

 who took it as sure prophecy of success; but it 

 was his own empire upon which he brought dis- 

 aster. Many of the oracles degenerated into 

 places where trickery and charlatanry were 

 practiced in tlu> most open way at the expense 

 of poor and credulous worshipers, who dared 

 not protest. 



ORAN, orahn', a fortified seaport of Algeria 

 and capital of the department of Oran. It is a 

 well-built town, European in aspect, with few 

 old traces remaining of its long and exciting 

 history. It is situated on the Gulf of Oran, an 

 arm of the Mediterranean Sea, 260 miles south- 

 of Algiers. Founded in the tenth century 

 by the Arabs, and growing rapidly into an im- 

 portant seaport, it was taken and retaken, 

 sacked and rebuilt by the many conquerors of 

 North Africa. Under the sultans of Tlemc.cn 

 it reached its greatest prosperity, carrying on a 

 large trade in woolen goods and armor with 

 Italy, Spain and Portugal, and possessing fine 

 mosques, schools and palaces. 



When the Moslem refugees from Spain gained 

 control they turned the honest trade into pi- 

 racy, and for many years Oran was a fort of 

 the Barbary pirates. The Spaniards, unable 

 to endure this sort of robbery, conquered the 

 city in 1532 and used it as a penal settlement, 

 but gaye it up in 1792 after an earthquake had 

 nearly destroyed it. In 1831 the French took 

 possession, and under their rule prosperity has 

 revived. It enjoys a thriving trade, exporting 

 cereals, wine, olive oil, cattle, hides, potatoes, 

 tomatoes and esparto grass, which is extensively 

 used in paper making, and importing manufac- 

 tured goods and coal. Population of city and 

 suburbs, 1911, 123,000. 



ORANGE, ahr'enj, a "luscious fruit of sunset 

 hue," related to the lemon, lime and citron, and 

 one of the most popular and commonly known 

 of fruits. An orange is a globelike mass of juicy, 

 sweet-sour pulp, arranged in from eight to twelve 

 wedge-shaped sections, and surrounded by a 

 tough, porous, golden-yellow* rind. Some varie- 

 ties contain several seeds in each section or 

 slice; but the most desirable oranges are seed- 

 less; the latter are called navel oranges, be- 

 cause of a peculiar growth near the top. In 

 some oranges the skin clings tightly to the 

 pulp; in others, like the mandarin and the tan- 

 gerine, the skin is very loose and easily re- 

 moved. 



Description of the Tree. The trees on which 

 these citrus fruits grow arc evergreen. They 

 rarely grow higher than thirty iV.-t. and are 

 usually kept lower for cotm-mmee in gathering 

 ih.- crop. The branches hang low and bear ob- 

 long-oval, glossy, dark-green leaves, which are 

 finrly-t<.oth..l. pointed at thr tip and winged at 

 the base. The flowers are borne Hngly or in 

 small clusters, and are thick-pctalcd, \\! 



like an.l wonderfully fragrant. Sometimes 

 green fruit, ripe fruit and blossoms maybe seen 



