ORSINI 



4416 



ORTOLAN 



ORSINI, ohrse'nc, the name of a wealthy 

 and influential family of Rome, several mem- 

 bers of which occupied the Papal chair. Among 

 the most notable of tin lovanni ('. 



tano Orsini, who became Pope in 1277 under 

 the name Nicholas III. Others attained dis- 

 tinction as statesmen and generals. The Orsini 

 rose to prominence in the twelfth century, and 

 were the hereditary enemies of the Colonna 

 family, whose members were allied with the 

 Ghibelline party in the political struggles of 

 the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries 



: PHS AND GHIBELLJNES). The struggle be- 

 tween these two powerful families, character- 

 ized as it was by extreme bitterness and vio- 

 lence, often made the city a place of turmoil, 

 and assassinations were not infrequent. The 

 Orsini divided into seven branches, the only one 

 surviving being that established in Naples by 

 Francesco, Duke of Gravina. 



ORTHOCERAS, ahr thahs'eras. Among the 

 groups of shelled animals that inhabited the 

 seas in past geological ages was an important 

 genus known as the orthoceras. The animals 

 of this group had a shell somewhat like that 

 of the nautilus, but straight instead of curved. 

 A series of chambers, separated from one an- 

 other by cross partitions, occupied the interior, 

 and each dividing wall had a small opening in 

 the center. Fossils of about 200 species have 

 been found, varying greatly in size. Shells 

 have been discovered in the Trenton limestone 

 of a size indicating the existence of an animal 

 from twelve to fifteen feet long. See FOSSIL; 

 GEOLOGY. 



ORTHOCLASE, awr'tho klase. See FELD- 

 SPAR. 



ORTHOPEDICS, awr tho pe ' diks, from two 

 Greek words, orthos, meaning straight, and pais, 

 meaning child, is the branch of medicine, re- 

 cently developed, which deals with the preven- 

 tion and cure of natural deformities. In spite 

 of its name, orthopedics is not limited to chil- 

 dren, although they are much more success- 

 fully treated than adults. Preventive treatment 

 is applied to delicate children who might, if 

 neglected, become deformed. Curative treat- 

 ment is given by means of special mechanical 

 apparatus, methodical muscular exercise, cor- 

 rect clothing, fresh air and good food. Surgery 

 is resorted to only in cases which demand it. 

 Since the close of the nineteenth century a 

 number of institutions have been founded in 

 the world's larger cities for the practice of 

 orthopedics, some of which are free sanitariums 

 for children of the poor. 



ORTHOPTERA, ahr thop' tcr a, a large and 

 important order of insects, including the crick- 

 locusts, green grasshoppers, katydids, cock- 

 roaches, mantis, walking sticks and leaf insects. 

 The name of the order is derived from a Greek 

 word meaning Jiarini/ xim'njht winyx, though 

 this description does not apply >trictly to all of 

 the species. All members of the group have 

 biting mouth parts, with which they bite off 

 and chew their food. Mo-t of them feed on 

 live vegetable matter, hut a few devour other 

 insects. The locusts, in particular, are very de- 

 structive to crops. The life development of the 

 Orthoptera is incomplete, as the newly-hatched 

 young are much like the adult insects except 

 that they are smaller and lack wings. They 

 do not, like the butterflies, have caterpillar and 

 cocoon stages of growth. Several families of 

 the order (locusts,, grasshoppers, crickets and 

 katydids) consist of leaping and singing insects. 

 Their "song," however, is not produced by vocal 

 organs, but by the legs and wings. 



Consult Howard's Insect Book; Comstock's 

 Manual for the Study of Insects. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 



the following articles in these volumes : 



Cockroach Leaf Insect 



Cricket Locust 



Grasshopper Mantis 



Insect Metamorphosis 



Katydid Walking Stick 



ORTOLAN, awr'tohlan, a garden bunting of 

 Europe, where, particularly in the Southern 

 countries, it is considered a great table delicacy. 

 In the spring it wings its way as far north as 

 Lapland, but when autumn nears it flies south- 



THE ORTOLAN 



ward to the Mediterranean countries. There 

 great numbers are caught, usually in nets, and 

 when they have been fed and fattened suffi- 

 ciently, they are killed and prepared for table 

 use. The ortolan belongs to the finch family, 

 and is about the size of an English sparrow. 

 Its plumage is a mixture of black, white and 



