OR C 



522 



RD 



usage, a public speaker; an eloquent pub- 

 lic speaker ; a person who can speak two 

 hours at a time without taking a drink of 

 water. In chancery, a petitioner. 



ORATO'RIO, Ital. from oratorium. 1. A 



place of worship. 2. A sacred drama, 



in imitation of theatrical pieces, but 

 always on sacred subjects, and accom- 

 panied by grave and solemn music, vocal 

 and instrumental. 



OR'ATORY, Lat. oratoria, from orator. 

 1. The art of speaking, according to the 

 rules of rhetoric, in order to persuade. 

 It consists of four parts, invention, dis- 

 position, elocution, and pronunciation. 

 The speaker must be just and pertinent 

 to the subject ; must be methodical in all 

 the parts of his discourse ; and must em- 

 bellish it with the beauties of language, 



and pronounce it with eloquence. 2. 



Among Romanists, a close apartment near 

 a bed-chamber, furnished with an altar, 

 a crucifix, &c. for private devotions. 



ORB', Lat. orbis. A hollow sphere, or 

 space contained between two concentric 

 spherical surfaces. The ancient astrono- 

 mers conceived the heavens to consist of 

 several vast azure, transparent orbs or 

 spheres, inclosing one another, and in- 

 cluding the bodies of the planets. 



ORB'IT, Lat. orbita, a track, from orbis, 

 a wheel. 1. In astrotiomy, the path of a 

 planet or comet ; the curve line which a 

 planet describes in its periodical revolu- 

 tion round its central body. The orbits 

 of the planets are elliptical, having the 



sun in one of the foci. 2. In anatomy, 



the two cavities under the forehead, in 

 which the eyes are situated, are called 

 orieis.each of which is composed of seven 

 bones; the frontal, maxillary, jugal, 

 lachrymal, ethmoid, palatine and sphe- 

 noid. 



OR'CHANET. 1. A plant, the Anchusa 

 tinctoria. 2. A bitter astringent sub- 

 stance obtained from the Lilhospemnim 

 tinctorium. 



OR'CHESTRA. O^^ffr^ot- The place 

 in the ancient theatres where the chorus 

 used to dance ; in the modern theatres 

 the name is given to the place where the 

 musicians sit. From e^s.oucu,to dance. 



OR'CHIS. An extensive genus of peren- 

 nial plants. Gynandria Monandria. 

 Named og%tf, from the testicular form of 

 the roots. There are nine indigenous and 

 fourteen exotic species. 



OR'CINE. The substance which furnishes 

 the colouring matter of archil or orchil. 

 Orcine is, however, itself colourless, 

 forming colourless crystals, which have 

 the shape of flat four-sided prisms, ter- 

 minated by a bihedral summit, and which 

 melt by heat into a transparent liquid. 

 It is soluble in water and alcohol ; nitric 

 Acid causes it to assume a Mood-red 



colour ; and when exposed to the joint 

 action of air and ammonia it becomes a 

 deep violet colour. 



OR'DEAL. In late, trial by fire or water, 

 now abolished in Europe. The term is 

 Sax. ordat, or ordael, which signifies com- 

 plete judgment ; and the practice of 

 ordeal seems to have had its origin in the 

 belief that the substances used had each 

 its peculiar presiding deity, that had per- 

 fect control over it. The two forms of it 

 practised in England were the fire-ordeal 

 and the water-ordeal. The first was per- 

 formed by taking into the hand a bar of 

 red-hot iron, walking barefooted and 

 blindfolded over nine red-hot plough- 

 shares, laid lengthwise at unequal dis- 

 tances, &c. ; and if the person escaped 

 unhurt, he was adjudged innocent, other- 

 wise he was condemned as guilty. The 

 icater-ordeal was performed, either by 

 plunging the bare arm to the elbow in 

 boiling water, or by casting the person 

 suspected into a river or pond of cold 

 water, and if he floated without effort to 

 swim, it was an evidence of guilt ; but if 

 he sunk (and was drowned) he was ac- 

 quitted. It is from these barbarous 

 practices that we have our proverbial 

 phrase, to go through fire and water. 



OR'DER, Lat. ordo. Regular disposition 

 or methodical arrangement of things ; a 

 term of very extensive application, as 

 1. In natural history, a subdivision of a 

 class which is itself further divided into 



genera, as these are into species. 2. In 



architecture, a system or arrangement of 

 the several members, ornaments, and 

 proportions of columns and entablatures, 

 from the diversity in which have sprung 

 the Five Orders, transmitted from anti- 

 quity : the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinth- 

 ian, the Tuscan, and the Composite (q.v.). 

 There is no standard of proportion com- 

 mon to the three Grecian orders : each 

 has its own peculiar symmetry ; the 

 capitals are the distinguishing features. 



3. In geometry, a rank or division in 



a series of curves, lines, &c. : thus, the 

 first order of curves are such as are ex- 

 pressed by a simple equation; those of 

 the second order by a quadratic equation, 

 &C. 4. In military and naval affairs, 

 the word order has various significations, 

 s order of battle, the disposition of troops 

 or ships for battle. There are orders from 

 the commander- in- chief : the general 

 ssues orders ; so we have brigade orders, 



general orders, and standing orders. 5. 



In society, we recognise orders of nobility, 

 orders of knighthood, military orders, and 

 higher and lower orders ; we moreover 

 speak of clergymen being in orders, mean- 

 ing thereby that these individuals belong 

 to some one of the clerical ordert, which 

 are three in number, namely, bishops, 

 priests, and deacons: these constitute 





