OFI 



620 



OPT 



distribution. Name from tSu, a serpent, 



OPHICLEI'DE, eft;, serpent, Asij, key. 

 The bass wind-instrument in a brass band. 



OPHID'IA, from o$i;, a serpent. The 

 third order of the class Reptilia, in Cu- 

 vier's arrangement, comprising three 

 families, Ans;uina, Serpentia, and Nuda. 

 The ophidians are reptiles without feet, 

 thin, extremely elongated ; the body 

 moves by means of the folds it forms when 

 in contact with the ground. 



OPHIOL'OG?, from e<p/y, a serpent, and 

 >.oyo<j, discourse. The branch of natural 

 history which treats of the serpent tribe 

 of reptiles. 



O'PHIOMA.NCT, from eft;, and fjux.vnnx, t 

 prophecy. Divination from serpents. 



OPHIOR'RHIZA. Snake-root. A genus 

 of plants. Pentandria Xonogynia. Name 

 fromo<pis,a. serpent, and p/a, root, the 

 root of a species, the 0. mungos, being 

 regarded in Java, Sumatra, &c., as a spe- 

 cific for the bite of the najct, a venomous 

 serpent. It is also regarded as an antidote 

 to the poison of the bite of a mad dog. 



O'PHITE, prjs. The green porphyry or 

 serpentine. From o<p/s> a serpent. 



OPHIC'CHUS. A constellation of the 

 northern hemisphere, named also Serpen- 

 tarius and Serpens, and anciently JEscw- 

 lapius, from eip/s, a serpent. 



O'PHRTS. The Twyblade. A genus of 

 perennial plants. Gynandria Mmttndria. 

 Name ep^us, from oifus, the eyebrow, be- 

 cause it was thought to promote the 

 growth of the hair of the eyebrows. Eu- 

 rope ; five species British. 



OPHTHAI/MIA, from o<p&*AaSj the eye. 

 A term universally applied to an inflam- 

 mation of the membranes of the eye, or 

 of the whole bulb of the eye ; but which, 

 according to the modern nomenclature of 

 diseases, should be called ophthalmitis. 



OPHTHALMODYN'IA, from opflatyw?, the 

 eye, and e%vn}, pain. A vehement pain in 

 the eye, with or without a little redness, 

 and not produced by inflammation. 



OPHTHALMOP'TOSIS, from a^flaX^s?, the 

 eye, and trrung , a. fall. A protrusion of 

 the globe of the eye on the cheek, canthus, 

 or upwards, the globe itself being 

 scarcely altered in size. 



OPHTHALMOS'COPY, from o$6%.uos, the 

 eye, and rxomu, to view. A branch of 

 physiognomy, which treats exclusively or 

 principally of the eyes. 



OPISTHOT'ONIC. Bent backwards ; from 

 oxiffQw, backwards, and TSIVU, to draw. 

 Applied to a form of tetanus in which the 

 body is bent backwards. 



OPIUM (Lat.) from oxiov, from *ro;, 

 jaiee. The inspissated juice of the white 



poppy, Papaier somnifemm, a native of 

 some parts of Asia, but now naturalised 

 in various parts of Europe. Opium is 

 chiefly prepared in India, Turkey, and 

 Persia; it has a peculiar, strong, heavy, 

 narcotic odour, and a bitter taste, and, 

 when good, has a reddish-brown or fawn 

 colour. It is little used in Europe except 

 as medicine, but is pretty extensively 

 used as a masticatory, and in smoking, in 

 Turkey and India ; but the great con- 

 sumption of opium is in China, where its 

 importation is'strictly prohibited by the 

 government. 



O'POBAL'SAM, from otrog, juice, and 

 fict).(ra[M>v , balm. The Balm or Balsam 

 of Gilead. It is the produce of a tree, the 

 Amyrit Gileadensis, indigenous to Arabia 

 and Abyssinia, and early transplanted to 

 Judea. It is obtained by making incisions 

 into the bark, by which the juice flows 

 out. It is now chiefly used by the Turk- 

 ish ladies as a cosmetic, but was formerly 

 in high repute as a medicine. It is 

 rarely, if ever, brought to this country ; 

 what passes under the name is Canada 

 balsam, which is merely fine turpentine. 



OPODEL'DOC. In medicine, a camphorated 

 soap liniment. Steer's opodeldoc is com- 

 posed of Castile soap, rectified spirit, cam- 

 phor, spirit of hartshorn, and some essen- 

 tial oil. 



OPOP'ANAX, \ A gum-resin, obtained 



OPOP'ONAX. ) from a species of parsnip, 

 the Pastinaca opoponax, a native of the 

 south of Europe and Asia Minor. Name 

 from eirof, juice, and trenetg, the panacea. 

 It is imported from Turkey, but is as yet 

 little used in medicine. 



OPOS'SUM. A genus of quadrupeds. 

 Order Jfarsupialia. They belong to Ame- 

 rica. See DIDELPHIS. 



OPPILA'TION, from oppilo, to shut up. 

 The obstruction of the passages of the 

 body by redundant or peccant humours. 



OPPOSITIFO'LIATE, Lat. oppositifolius , 

 being opposite to a leaf. Applied to a 

 flowerstalk when opposite to a leaf. 



OPPOSI'TION, Lat. oppositio. 1. In astro- 

 nomy, the situation of two heavenly bo- 

 dies, when distant from each other 180, 



that is, diametrically opposite. 2. In 



thejine arts, contrast. 



OPSI'OMETER, o4"?> si S ht ' and aerv, 

 measure. An instrument for measuring 

 the limits of vision of a person. Same 

 as optometer. 



OPTATIVE, Lat. optativtts, expressing 

 desire, from opto, to wish. The optative 

 mood, in grammar, is that form of the 

 verb in which wish or desire is expressed. 



OP'TICS, oxmzri. The science of the 

 nature and laws of vision; from o*rToujx.i, 

 to see, from a|/, the eye. Optics is a 

 mixed mathematical science, including 



