O R M 
75 6 
native writers exifted. The Eaft-India Company, duly 
fenfible of his merits and the importance of his hiftorical 
refearches, not only gave him free accefs to all their re¬ 
cords, but appointed him to be their hiftoriographer, 
with a fiilary,of 400I. per annum. In order to obtain the 
moll accurate information refpefting the war, which was 
to form the fubjedt of his fecond volume, he went over 
to France in 1773, where he was furnifhed with various 
authentic documents. It was not till 1778 that this work 
was brought to a completion. The fecond volume then 
appeared, containing all the events which took place in 
the Englifh fettlements of India from 1756 to the peace 
of 1763, with an inveftigation of the rife and progrefs of 
the Englifh commerce in Bengal, and an account of the 
Mahometan government from its firft eftablifhment in 
1200. It was diftinguifhed by the fame hiftorical excel¬ 
lences which had been fo much applauded in the firft 
volume, and was (till more interefting, on account of the 
national fucceffes which were its principal topics. A 
third improved edition of the firft volume in 1781, gave 
proof of the author’s continued attention to his work, 
and of its favourable reception by the public. In 1782 
Mr. Ornre publifhecL an odtavo volume entitled “ Hifto¬ 
rical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, of the Morattoes, 
and of the Englifh Concerns in Indoftan, from the Year 
1659.” Notwithftanding the modeft title and moderate 
compafs of this work, it coft him much labour in the 
compofition; for he had thought- it neceflary, in the col- 
leftion of his materials, to confult in their original lan¬ 
guages many writers of the Portuguefe, Spanifh, Dutch, 
and Italian, nations. This was his Jaft publication ; for, 
though his literary purfuits were unremitted, the ftate of 
his health and fpirits would not allow the aftive exertion 
neceflary for compofition. In 1792 he left London, and 
retired to Ealing, which village thenceforth became his 
refidence. He was there occafionally vifited by his 
friends, but his books were his chief companions; and, 
though he had fold the greateft part of his library for 
want of room in his country habitation, he retained 
enough to occupy all his leifure hours. In the beginning 
of 1801 he fell into a ftate of debility which announced 
a fpeedy difiblution, and on the 15th of January he ex¬ 
pired, in the feventy-third year of his age. There is a mo¬ 
nument to his memory on the north wall of the church of 
Ealing thus inl'cribed : “ Sacred to the memory of Robert 
Orme : a man endeared to his friends by the gentlenefs 
of his manners, and refpefted by the public as the ele¬ 
gant hiftorian of the Military Tranlaftions of the Britifh 
Nation in India. Ob. 15 January 1801, astat. 73.” Mr. 
Orrne’s valuable colleftion of printed books and MSS. 
relative to the affairs of India, were, purfuant to his re- 
queft, prefented, after his deceafe, to the Eaft India Com¬ 
pany. 
The intelleftual cliaradter of Mr. Orme was chiefly 
marked by good fenfe, fagacity, and judgment. To thefe 
qualities were added an adtive curioiity and a cultivated 
tafte, which fitted him both for the colledlion, and for 
the lucid arrangement and happy difplay, of the materials 
of hiftory. He indulged little in thofe large and philo- 
fophical views which make a fplendid, but often a delu- 
fory, part of many modern works on human fociety. He 
is Amply a narrator, but certainly one of the molt meri¬ 
torious of the clafs. He poflefled a refined tafte for mufic, 
the arts of defign, and poetry ; and among his literary 
compofitions are fome elegant copies of verfes. He had 
a Angular talent for monumental infcriptions, many of 
which he wrote for his friends. After his death, his 
Hiftorical Fragments were reprinted in a quarto volume, 
with the addition of a paper on the “ Origin of the Eng- 
lifh Eftablilhment and of the Company’s Trade at Broach 
and Suratand another, containing “ A general Idea of 
the Government and People of Indoftan.” An account 
pf his life and writings was prefixed; to which our rea¬ 
ders are referred for farther information : fee alfo Ni¬ 
chols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii. 
O R M 
ORME’s HEAD' (Great), a cape on the north coaft 
of Wales, in the county of Caernarvon. Lat. 33. 24.. N. 
Ion. 2.5. W. 
ORME’s HEAD' (Little), a cape on the north coaft of 
Wales, and county of Caernarvon : five miles fouth-eaft 
of Great Orme’s Head. 
ORME'A, a town of France, in the department of the 
Stura, on the Tanaro: fix miles well-fouth-weft of Gar- 
refio, and ten fouth of Ceva. 
OR'MES (Les), a town of France, in the department 
of the Indre and Loire: ten miles fouth of Richelieu. 
OR'MIA. See Urmia. 
ORMIL'LOS (Los), a town of South America, in the 
province of Tucuman: thirty-fix miles north of St. Sal¬ 
vador de Jugui. 
OR'MO, a fmall ifland in the Baltic, between the coaft 
of Finland and the ifland of Aland. Lat. 60. 27. N. Ion. 
20. 41. E. 
OR'MOND, the name of two extenfive baronies in the 
county of Tipperary, Ireland, diftinguilhed by the terms 
Upper and Lower. From them the illuftrious family of 
Butler took the titles of earl, marquis, and duke, of Or¬ 
mond. This family was defcended from a filter of Thomas 
a Becket archbilhop of Canterbury. At the acceflion of 
George I. the laft duke was attainted of high treafon, and 
died abroad. In that part of the country the family had 
great prerogatives and privileges, granted by Edward 
III. See the article Heraldry, vol. ix. p. 635. 
ORMO'SIA, Jlin botany; [a genus founded by the late 
Mr. George Jackfon, F. L. S. and named by him from 
the Gr. a necklace, or firing of beads, becaufe the 
beautiful feeds, parti-coloured of fcarlet and black, are 
worn by ladies in the Welt-Indies, as well as in Eu¬ 
rope; being ufually intermixed with thofe of Abrus pre- 
catorius, with which they agree in colours, though they 
greatly exceed them in lize.] Clafs decandria, order mo- 
nogynia, natural order papilionaceas, Linn, (legutninofe, 
Jujf.) Generic c ha rafters—Calyx : perianthium of one 
leaf, inferior, Ihort, bell-fliaped, gibbous at the bale, 
two-lipped ; upper lip two-lobed, lower in three deep 
fegments. Corolla: papilionaceous, of five petals, with 
linear claws; ftandard roundilh, emarginate, eredf, 
fcarcely longer than the wings, convex; wings two, 
oblique, obtufe, fomewhat heart-lhaped at the bale ; keel 
of two obtufe hatchet-fhaped petals, the length of 
the wings. Stamina: filaments ten, feparate, awl- 
fhaped, tl;e length of the corolla, concealed in the keel; 
antherse roundilh, of two cells. Piftillum : germen fupe- 
rior, ovate-oblong ; ftyle the fize and lhape of the fila¬ 
ments, incurved ; ftigmas two, obtufe, approximated, one 
above the other. Pericarpium : legume woody, com- 
prefled, of two valves and one cell. Seeds one or more, 
orbicular, comprefled, large, coloured.— Effential Charac¬ 
ter. Calyx five-cleft, two-lipped ; corolla papilionaceous; 
ftigmas two, approximated, obtufe; one of them lateral; 
legume woody, cotnprefled. Seeds one to three. There 
are three fpecies ; the firft of which is the Robinia cocci- 
nea of Aublet, excluding Plumier’s fynonym ; and the fe¬ 
cond is the Sophora monofperma of Swartz, adopted by 
Martyn. 
1. Ormofia coccinea, the fcarlet necklace-tree; leaves 
pinnate; leaflets coriaceous, ovate, revolute, naked on 
both lides. Legume fmooth and fhining. Native of Gui¬ 
ana ; not yet introduced alive into Europe. A tree, with 
zigzag branches, clothed with rufty down. Leaves a 
foot long or more, elliptical or ovate, and entire, fur- 
niflied with a ftrong midrib, and many fine tranfverfe 
veins. Stipules in pairs, diitindt from the footftalk. 
Flowers in a large terminal racemofe panicle, purplilh. 
Legume fliort, very hard, and fhining. Seeds moftly foli- 
tary, rarely two, ihining, fcarlet with a large black fpot. 
This is fliown on the annexed Plate ; where alfo b is 
the legumej and c, the fame laid open, to fliow the feed. 
2. Ormofia dafycarpa, the rufty-podded necklace-tree, 
or bead-tree: leaves pinnate ; leaflets numerous, pointed, 
flat. 
