O R O B U S. 
Teemed to be dying. Upon this a phyfician and furgeon, 
vcho were attending in a neighbouring apartment, were 
called in, to give their opinion whether the torture could, 
be continued without danger of death, left the eccle- 
fiaftical tribunal (hould be guilty of an irregulari ty by the 
criminal’s expiring under his torments. Thefe gentle¬ 
men, who were far from being enemies to Orobio, an- 
fwered that his ftrength would allow him to endure the 
remainder of the torture ; which was accordingly inflicted 
upon him, but without forcing from him the c.onfeffion 
that he was a Jew. By the opinion which they gave, the 
phyfician and furgeon knew that they prelerved Orobio 
from a repetition of the tortures which he had already 
endured, fince his fentence required that he ftiould iuffer 
them all at one time, one after another; fo that, had they 
defifted from proceeding through the fear of his death, 
his mifery would have been protracted by his being again 
fubjefted to the fame tortures which he had before luf- 
fered. 
Having baffled his enemies by the ftrmnefs with which 
he fuftained the laft trial, he was carried back to prifon, 
and his wounds were healed ; after which he was con¬ 
demned, not as one convicted, but fufpefled, of Judaifm, 
to wear for two years the infamous habit called Sanbinito, 
and then to perpetual baniftiment from the kingdom of 
Seville. As Coon as opportunity offered, Orobio withdrew 
from Spain : but, inftead of retiring to a country where he 
might avow his principles with fafety, lie (till concealed 
■them under the profeftion of the catholic religion, and jvent 
to Tonloufe, where he became candidate for the vacant 
chair of profeflor of phyfic. In the tbefes which he main¬ 
tained on that occafion, he fo completely embarraffed his 
opponents by his metaphyfical fubt'lety, that the victory 
was awarded to him, and he was eleded profeflor, though 
a ftranger. Here he continued for fome time; but at 
length, weary with fuftaining his difiembled character, he 
took his leave of France, and retired to Amfterdam, 
where he received circumcifion, and on that occafion ex¬ 
changed his Chriftian name of Balthazar for that of 
Ifaac. In this city he met with fo much fuccefs in the 
practice of a phyfician, that, as he informs us, he had not 
the leifure for ftudy which he could wifti; yet he found 
fome time to devote to literary purfuits. When Spi¬ 
noza’s Tradatus Theologico-politicus made its appear¬ 
ance, M. John Bredenbitrg, a citizen of Rotterdam, 
wrote a confutation of it; though he afterwards fo far 
changed his fentiments, that he drew up a treatife, in 
which he advanced principles equally objedionabie with 
thofe of Spincza, and tending to the fame confequeuces. 
A copy of this treatife having accidentally fallen into the 
hands of a Socinian at Rotterdam called Francis Cuper, 
he publifhed it, with a reply, in the Dutch language ; and 
thus commenced a controverfy in which various writers 
took a. part. Among others, Orobio aftumed the pen, 
and publifhed at Amfterdam fome very able ftridures on 
the performances both of Bredenburg and Spinoza, in a 
work, entitled “ Certanien philofophicum Propugnatas 
Veritatis Divinas ac Naturalis, adverfus Jo, Bredenburgii 
Principia,” 1,684, quarto. But the public attention was 
particularly excited by his controverfy, in defence of Ju¬ 
daifm and againft Chriftianity, with the learned Philip 
Limborch ; in which lie exerted the full force of his in¬ 
genuity and fkill as a difputant, and carried on the de¬ 
bate with coolnefs and good temper. The pieces which 
he wrote on this fubjeft were publiftied by Limborch, in 
his account of the controverfy, entitled “ De Veritate 
Religionis Chriftianai Arnica Collatio cum erudito Ju- 
da 50 ,” 1687, quarto. In the fame year Orobio died, 
efteemed by all who knew him, as an amiable and worthy 
man. Wolfii Bib/. Hebrcea. Limborch's Hift. Inqnijit. vol. ii. 
OR'OBUS, J. [a name borrowed from the Greeks, 
tvhofe ogo/2o$, however, is generally fuppofed to be the 
Ervum, or tare, of the Latins, a very different genus from 
what we now call Orobus. Ambrofinus derives the word 
from o£io, to excite, and an ox; becaufe horned cattle 
Vol. XVII. No. 1216. 
78 5 
feeding upon this plant thrive, and grow courageous, or 
prone to combat.] Bitter Vetch; in botany, a genus 
of the clafs diadelphia, order decandria, natural order erf 
papilionaceae, or leguminofte. Generic characters—Ca¬ 
lyx: perianthium one-leafed, tubular, blunt at the bafe: 
mouth oblique, five-toothed, very (hort; the three lower 
toothlets. (harper; the two upper (horter, more deeply 
and bluntly divided ; Jhrivelling. Corolla: papilionace¬ 
ous; banner obcordate, reflex at the tip and (ides, longer; 
wings two, oblong, almoft the length of the banner, 
"riling, converging; keel manifeftly bifid below, acumi¬ 
nate, rifing; with the edges converging, parallel, com- 
preffed ; th? bottom ventricofe. Stamina: filaments dia- 
delphous (fimple and nine-cleft), afeendirig; aiitherae 
roundilh. Piftillum: germen cylindrical, compreffed ; 
ftyle filiform, bent upwards, eredf ; ftigma linear, pubef- 
cent on the inner fide from the middle to the top. Peri- 
carpium : legume round, long, acuminate, and aicending 
at the end, one-celled, two-valved. Seeds very many, 
roundilh.— EQ'mtinl Character. Calyx blunt at the bafe; 
the upper teeth deeper and fhorter; ftyle linear. There 
are twenty lpecies. 
1. Orobus iathyroides, or upright bitter vetch : leaves 
conjugate, fubfefflle; ftipule toothed. Root perennial. 
Stalks three or four, branching, about a foot high. Leaf¬ 
lets fmooth, ftilf, of a lucid green. Flowers in clofe 
fpikes on (hort.peduncles, from the axils of the leaves at 
the'top of the ftalks, where are generally three or four of 
thefe (pikes Handing together. The corolla is of a fine 
blue colour. The flowers appear in June, and are fuc- 
ceeded by (hort flattifh pods, containing two or three 
feeds in each, which ripen in Auguft. Native of Siberia. 
Cultivated in 1759 by Mr. Miller. 
2. Orobus hirfutus, or hairy bitter vetch : leaves con¬ 
jugate, petioled ; ftipules entire. Native of Thrace. 
3. Orobus luteus, or yellow bitter vetch': leaves pin¬ 
nate, ovate-oblong; ftipules rounded-crefcent-lhaped, 
toothed. Root very thick, often tranfverfe, hard, with 
the fibres widely diffufed. Stem a foot high and more, 
ftraight, angular, ftriated, fmooth. Flowers in loofe 
fpikes, all directed the fame way, twelve or more; corolla 
pale-yellow, with the (landard and keel of the fame 
length. 
According to Turra in Linn. Mant. the ftem is three 
feet high, fimple. or branched; leaves glaucous under¬ 
neath. Gerard fays, that the ftem is fimple: Haller, that 
it is altogether branched ; Villars, that it is fimple or 
branched. Haller deferibes it as one of the handfomeft 
of the papilionaceous tribe; the ftem three feet high and 
more; leaves numerous, afeending, fmooth; (lowering 
(terns from all the axils, a long (pan in length, bearing a 
loofe pendulous fpike of ten flowers. Native of Siberia, 
Swifferland, the South of France, and Italy. Cultivated 
in 1757 by Mr. Miller. 
4. Orobus vernus, or fpring bitter vetch: leaves pin¬ 
nate, ovate; ftipules femi-fagittate, quite entire; ftem 
fimple. Root perennial, creeping,„not tuberous, woody, 
black, with many (trong fibres. Stem about a foot high, 
upright, unbranched, fmooth, angular, twifted or elbowed 
at each infertion of the leaves. Peduncles axillary, an 
inch and a half long, terminated by a one-fided loofe ra¬ 
ceme, confiding of from four to eight or ten flowers; 
corolla large and handfome, lingular in the different 
(hades of colour: the ftandard is wide and emarginate, 
the upper part of it is red or purple with blood-red 
veins, the wings are blue, the keel is blue, tinged with 
green ; the colours change as the corolla advances, and 
become ficy-blue when the corolla is ready to fall. Le¬ 
gumes ftraight, round; from red becoming black, and 
containing from five or fix to nine or ten rounded corrt- 
preffed feeds. Native of many parts of Europe, in woods. 
Cultivated here in 1629, as appears from Parkinfon. It 
flowers early; namely, in March or April, or, as Scopoli 
expreffes it, before the arrival of the (wallow, 
o | 3 . Mr. Miller mentions a variety of it with pale flowers. 
9 O 5. Orobus 
