795 
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vernment of Kolivan : fixteen tniles fouth-eaft of Mun- 
gatzkoi. 
OR'TEGAL, a town of Spain, in the province of Ga¬ 
licia, near Cape Ortegal. 
ORTE'GIA, /'. [named by Loefling in honour of the 
friend and companion of his travels, Jofeph Ortega, whofe 
nephew, Don Cafimiro Gomez de Ortega, M.D. F.R.and 
L.S. is the. prefent profefl’orof botany at Madrid. Among 
the publications of this gentleman, which confift of fe- 
veral botanical trails, is an account of the plants grow¬ 
ing in the royal gardensat Madrid, publifhed in numbers.] 
In botany, a genus of the clafs triandria, order monogy- 
nia, natural order of caryophyllese. Generic charaders 
—Calyx : perianthium five-leaved, erect, with oval leaf¬ 
lets, membranaceous at the edge, permanent. Corolla: 
none. Stamina : filaments three, awl-(haped, fhorter than 
the calyx. Antheras linear, compreffed, fhorter than the 
filaments. Piftillum : germ ovate, three-fided at top; 
flyle filiform, almoft the length of the calyx; fligma 
blunt-headed. Pericarpium: Capfule ovate, three-cor¬ 
nered above, one-celled, three-valved at the top. Seeds 
very many, extremely fmall, oblong, fharp at both ends. 
—Effential Character. Calyx five-leaved ; corolla none ; 
caplule one-celled ; feeds very many. There are but two 
fpecies. 
1. Ortegia Hifpanica, orSpanifh ortegia : flem branched, 
peduncles many-flowered. Root round, knobbed, de- 
fcencling, with branched fibres in the lower part. Stems 
feverai, a foot high, thickened at the joints, which are 
red, and aidant; branches from bottom to top, decuf- 
fately oppolife, ered, fubdivided. Leaves almoft linear, 
oppofite, fefiile, ered, bright-green, as is the whole plant. 
Between each pair of leaves are two red tubercles on each 
fide, from the centre of which iffues a briftle-fhaped, 
whitifh, deciduous, ftipule. Flowers herbaceous, fmall, 
from each axil, and frequently a third from the forking 
of the branchlets, fo clofe as to appear to be glomerate, 
on very fhort peduncles. It is a low trailing annual 
plant, native of Spain, where it was firft obferved by 
Clufius. Cultivated in 1768 by Mr. Miller. It flowers 
in June and July. In the Kew Catalogue it is marked as 
perennial. 
2. Ortegia dichotoma, or forked ortegia: flem dicho¬ 
tomous, peduncles one-flowered. Root perennial. Stem 
ered, (lift, fomewhat rugged, channelled on each fide, 
thickened at the joints. Leaves oppofite, linear, fpread- 
ing, by no means fmooth at the back. Flowers dichoto¬ 
mous on very fhort peduncles, green. It is very nearly 
allied to Polycarpon. Native of Italy : introduced in 
1781 by Monf. Thouin. It flowers in Auguft and Sep¬ 
tember. 
ORTE'LIUS (Abraham), a celebrated Flemifh geo¬ 
grapher, was born at Antwerp in the year 1527. He en¬ 
joyed the advantage of a good education ; and, as he had 
a ftrong inclination for learning, he made a rapid progrefs 
in his ftudies, particularly excelling in the knowledge of 
the languages and of the mathematics. In the fcienceof 
geography he became fo great a proficient, that he was 
called the Ptolemy of his age. With a particular view' to 
improve himfelf in this branch of knowledge, he travelled 
into England, Ireland, France, Italy, and Germany, di¬ 
recting his enquiries to every objed that was worthy of 
liis attention, and forming a correfpondence and friend- 
fhip with men of learning and fcience in thofe countries. 
He vifited Italy thrice ; and he fpent fome time at Oxford 
in the reign of Edward VI. He alfo paid a fecond vifit 
to England in 1577. In this country he formed an inti¬ 
macy \yith William Camden, who, at his requelt, as we 
are informed in-the preface to the work, was engaged to 
undertake his Britannia. Amply furnifhed with ltores 
of geographical knowledge, Ortelius fettled at Antwerp, 
where, in the year 1570, he publifhed hisT/ieatrum Orbis 
Terrarum, in folio, confiding of maps, accompanied with 
fhort defcriptions of the feverai countries on the globe, 
and the objeCts in them moft interefting to curiofity; 
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which was the moft complete work of the kind that had 
ever appeared, and gained the author a reputation ade¬ 
quate to his immenfe labour in compiling it. This pro¬ 
duction occafioned his being honoured with the poll of 
geographer to Philip II. king of Spain. It underwent 
various impreflions, with improvements and enlarge¬ 
ments; and, in its moft perfeCt ftate, was publifhed by 
John Baptill Vrientius, in Latin, Spanifh, and Italian. 
An epitome of it was alfo publifhed by Michael Coignet, 
from the Plantin prefs. Ortelius likewife publifhed feve¬ 
rai other geographical works; among which were, 2. Sy- 
nonima Geographica, 1578, 4-to. confifting of a fhort 
defcription, in alphabetical order, of ail the countries in 
the world. This work was afterwards greatly enlarged, 
and publifhed under the title of Thefaurus Geographi- 
cus, folio, in 1587, 1597, and other periods, in different 
places. 3. Itinerarium per nonrjullas Galliae-Belgicse 
partes. Abrahami Orteliiet Joannis Viviani, 1584. i:mo. 
with engravings of antiquities. 4. Aurei Sseculi Imago, 
&c. 1598. 4to. containing a defcription of the manners 
and religion of the Germans, with plates. Ortelius had 
colleCled a mufeum of ancient ftatues, medals, &c. from 
which Francis Sweert publifhed “ Deorum Dearumque 
Capita,” in 4to. and, from the manufcripts which he left 
behind him was publifhed, 5. Syntagma Herbarum Enco- 
miafticum, 1614,410. Ortelius died at Antwerp in 1598, 
in the feventy-firft year of his age. Hutton's Math. Ditt. 
ORTEL'LI, f. [orteil, Fr. a toe.] A foreft-word, fig- 
nifying the claws of a dog’s foot. 
OR'TELSBURG, a town of Pruffia, in the province 
of Oberland: fixty-eight miles north of Konigfburg,and 
100 eaft-fouth-eall of Dantzic. Lat. 53. 23. N. Ion. 20. 
58. E. 
OR'TENAU, a trad of Germany, fituated between the 
Brifgau, the Marquifate of Baden, the Black Forelt, and 
the Rhine, difmembered from the duchy of Swabia in 
the time of the emperor Henry IV. and annexed to the 
eftates of the dukes of Zaliringen : on the extindion of 
whom it came by marriage to the count of Habfburg. In 
the difpofition of indemnities in 1802, agreeably to the 
peace of Luneville, the Ortenau, with the Brifgau, was 
adjudged to the duke of Modena, and afterwards to the 
duke of Baden. • 
OR'TENBURG, a town of Germany, in the county of 
Hanau Munzenburg, on the Nidder: feventeen miles 
north-eaft of Frankfort on the Maine, and feventeen fouth- 
eaftof Gieflen. 
OR'TENBURG, a town and citadel of Bavaria, which 
gives name to a county. The count and inhabitants are 
Lutherans : three miles fouth of Vilzhofen, and ten weft 
of Paflau. 
OR'TENBURG, a town and citadel of Carinthia, on 
the Drave: fix miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Saxenberg, and 
thirty-two weft of Clagenfurt. 
OR'TENBURG, a town of Germany, in the Ortenau: 
two miles fouth-eaft of Offenburg, and three north-weft 
of Gengenbach. 
ORTH, a town of Auftria : eight miles eaft of Ent- 
zerftorff. 
OR'THES, a town of France, and principal place of a 
diftrid, in the department of the Lower Pyrenees. Be¬ 
fore the revolution it was a bilhop’s fee. The cathedral 
is a wretched edifice, very ancient, built in a barbarous 
llyle, and almoft in ruins. The remains of the caltle are 
very noble, and its fituation fine, on a hill which com¬ 
mands the town ami-a great extent of country. The 
people call it Le Chateau de la Peine Jeanne, becaufe Jane 
d’Albret, mother of Henry IV. of Navarre, refided in it 
during many years, in preference to the caftle of Pau. 
Some of the apartments, though in ruins, may yet be en¬ 
tered. The princefs Blanche, daughter to John king of 
Arragon and Navarre, was fiiut up and died here in 
1464. Her brother being dead, (he became heirefs to the 
crown of Navarre ; but, her father having delivered her 
into the hands of her younger filter Leonora countefs of 
Foix, 
