O R C 
701 
O R C 
At prefent, the word is exclufively applied to the ftation 
where a band of rnufic is placed in a theatre, or great 
concert-room; and to the band itfelf. 
The material of which an orchedra is conftrudted, is 
not a matter of indifference ; it fhould be formed of loft 
and fonorous wood, fuch as picked deal or fir; the fpec- 
tators fhould not be allowed a place fo near as to lean upon 
it, and check its vibration. It fhould be regarded as a 
grand inftrument, which accords with all the others, and 
augments their effects. The arrangement of the band 
fhould be in fuch a manner, as that the feveral inflru- 
ments may not be too near or too remote from each other. 
The number of each fpecies of inftruments fliould be 
proportionate to the effedt which they ought to produce 
when employed together. The bafes, for example, fliould 
not fuffocate the trebles, nor the trebles overpow'er them. 
The liautbois fhould not domineer over the violins, nor 
the feconds over the firft. The wind-inftrurnents and 
drums, above all, fliould he kept under, becaufe wind- 
inftruments are the mod imperfedt. With regard to the 
diftribution of the interior, care mud be taken, fird, that 
the violins are ranged in two lines, facing each other, one 
fronting the ftage, and the other facing the audience; 
adly, that the bafes fliould be difpofed in every part of 
theorchedra; as'the bafe, which regulates and fudains 
the harmony of the feveral parts fhould be equally heard 
by all; 3dly, that all the performers fhould be in fight 
of the leader, and each reciprocally fee and be feen by 
each other. 
In 1754, the fird orcliedra in Europe, for number and 
intelligence, was that of Naples ; but that which was the 
bed didributed, and formed the mod complete whole, was 
the orchedra of the king of Poland, at Drefden, under the 
direction of the illudrious Hade ; a plate of which is in¬ 
fected in Roufleau’s Hid. de Muf. And Rondeau finiflies 
his article Orchestra, by a contraded defcription of that 
at Paris of the fame period, which we fuppofe has been re¬ 
formed with the date. It will however be hidorical, and 
enable our readers to form fome idea of what kind that 
inufic was, and how performed, with which the natives 
of France were fo pleafed and exclufively vain. “ It has 
been obferved,” fays the citizen of Geneva, “ that of all 
the orchedras in Europe, that of the opera at Paris, though 
one of the mod numerous, produced the lead effedt. The 
reafons are very obvious. Fird, the bad conftrudtion of 
the orchedra, buried in the earth, and furrounded with 
rails of heavy and mall'y wood, cramped with iron, which 
impedes all refonance. z. The bad choice of the per¬ 
formers, for the mod part forced on the manager by re¬ 
commendation, with fcarcely any knowledge of rnufic, 
or the lead intelligence or attention to the effedt of the 
enfemble. 3. Their dunning and invariable noife, tun¬ 
ing and flouridling continually with all their might, 
without ever being in tune. 4. The French propeniity, 
which is in general to negledt and difdain all that be¬ 
comes a daily labour. 5. The bad indruments of the 
performers, which, remaining on the fpot, are always out 
of order and unfit for ufe, dedined to roar during one 
half of the year, and to rot the other. 6. The bad fit na¬ 
tion of the conductor, who is in front of the theatre, and, 
occupied by the vocal performers, is not able to attend 
Xufficiently to the orchedra, which is behind him irjtead 
of being in full view. 7. The infupportable noife the 
truncheon of him who beats the time makes, which co¬ 
vers and dedroys all the effedts of the inftruments. 8. The 
bad harrriony of the compofitions, which, being never 
pure and feledt, lets nothing be heard but noife and con- 
fufion. 9. The fcarcity of double bales and violoncellos, 
of which the drawling founds fuffocate the melody and 
deafen the audience. 10. And finally, f the indetermi¬ 
nate character of the French mu lie, where it is the finger 
who diredts the orchedra, inftead of the orchedra regu¬ 
lating the finger, and where the treble leads the bafe, in¬ 
stead of the bale leading the treble.” 
ORCHIAS'TRUM, f. in botany. Sec Ophrys. 
ORCHIDETE, in botany, a mod natural and very 
Vol. XVII. No. 1209. 
curious order of plants, which has attradted general no¬ 
tice by its beauty and Angularity, derives its name from 
one of the principal genera of which it is compofed, and 
makes the feventh among the natural orders of Linnaeus; 
the third of the fourth clafs in Juflieu. For the charac¬ 
ters of this clafs, fee the article Botany, vol. iii. p. 224. 
OR'CIIIDI AFFI'NIS. See Arethusa and Opiirys. 
ORCHID'ION. See Arethusa. 
ORCHIDOCAR'PUM, /. in botany, a genus efta- 
bliflied by Michaux upon the Annona triloba of Linnaeus, 
with the pygmasa and grandiflora of Bartram, to which 
is added a fourth fpecies by the name of O. parviflorum. 
See Annona, vol. i. 
OR'CHIES, a town of France, in the department of 
the North •. twelve miles fouth-fouth-eaft of Lille, and 
nine fouth-weft of Tournay. 
OR'CHIL. See Archil, and Lichen roccella. 
ORCHIL'LA, or Horchilla, a fmall iiland in the 
Weft Indies, near the coaft of South America ; or rather 
a cinder of illands, thegreateftof which, being aimed all 
low land, is in the form of a crefcent. They are all fe- 
parated from each other by very fhallow canals. On the 
eaft and weft capes are fome hills, and on thefe the goats 
chiefly feed. On the l’outh-wed fide of the ifland the 
water is very deep, and the fliore perpendicular, like a 
wall ; for which reafon, (hips may come very near it. 
The north-weft fide has hardly any trees or grafs ; but on 
the eaft and north are plenty of both. The foil, from its 
flatnefs, is fait, and confequently produces few plants.' 
There is very little frefh water on the iiland ; and the 
only animals found there are goats and lizards. Lat. 12.N. 
Ion. 6 5. 20. W. 
OR'CHIMONT, late a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Sambre and Meufe, on the Semoy. Tea miles 
north of Sedan. 
ORCHIOI'DES, f in botany. See Satyrium. 
OR'CHIS, f. [Gr. an olive-done ; alluding to the tefti- 
cular fhape fo frequent and fo remarkable in the roots of 
many fpecies ; and this refemblance alone feems to have 
led to the ufe of thefe roots, in various ages and coun¬ 
tries, as an aphrodifiac, or reftorative.] In botany, a 
genus of the clafs gynandria, order diandria, natural or¬ 
der of orchideas. Generic characters—Calyx: fpathes 
w'andering; fpadix fimple. Perianth none. Corolla : pe¬ 
tals five; three outer, two inner, converging upwards 
into a helmet. Nectary one-lenfed, faftened to the re¬ 
ceptacle by the lower fide between the divifion of the 
petals; upper lip eredt, very fliort; lower lip large, fpread- 
ing, wide; tube behind horn-fliaped, nodding. Staminas 
filamepts two, very dender, very fnort, placed on the pif- 
tillum: antherse obovate, eredt, covered with a bilocular 
folding of the upper lip of the nedtary. Piftillurn : ger- 
men oblong, twilled, inferior; ftyle faftened to the upper 
lip of the nedtary, very fliort; ftigma comprefled, blunt. 
Pericarpium: capfule oblong, one-celled, three-keeled, 
three-valved, ope'ning three ways under the keels, co¬ 
hering at the top and bafe. Seeds: numerous, very 
fmall, like fawduft.— EJJintial Character. Nedtary a horn 
or fpur behind the flower. There are fifty-two fpecies, 
in five divifions. 
I. Helmet of the corolla fpurred. 
t. Orchis carnea, or great-flowered Cape orchis: bulbs 
undivided, helmet of the corolla two-fpurred, bra dies 
eredt. Leaves roundilh, grooved underneath. Spike coin- 
pad ; bradtes roundifli, acute, eredt. Flowers inodorous, 
white within, flelh-coloured without; the two uppermoft 
petals and the lowed narrower than the others; all keeled 
on the outfide, the keel running down into the germ, 
whence the germ is five-ribbed below. The column of 
the frudtification is the length of the helmet. Found at 
the Cape of Good Hope by Mr. Francis Malfon : it was 
introduced in 1787, and flowers in September. 
2. Orchis bicornis, or yellow-flowered Cape orchis : 
bulbs undivided; helmet of the corolla two-fpurred ; lip 
five-parted, bradtes reflex. Leaves ovate-oblong, marked 
8 Q with 
