that exactness in his inventions, nor that gracefulness of delivery, as might be wished. He carried on his works with so great ease, that he is said to have dictated to seven or eight persons at a time; and he was so ready in expressing himself, that he made the greatest part of his homilies extempore: upon which account his style was not very correct or coherent. He had a vast memory, but often trusted too much to it. Ile was a person of most profound learning: he particularly studied Plato's philosophy, and was indeed too much addicted to it for a Christian. He understood likewise the doctrines of other philosophers. He applied himself mightily to the study of human learning. He was neither ignorant of history nor mythology; and he had as great a knowledge in all the profane sciences, as those who studied nothing else. But he particularly excelled in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which he learned all by heart; and that he might neglect nothing for attaining a right understanding of the letter thereof, he carefully examined all the versions of the Bible, and compared them all together with the Hebrew text, subjoining a literal commentary upon the most difficult places. He was not very well skilled in the Hebrew; yet he knew enough of it to understand it, and to observe the difference of the text and the translations. Nevertheless, he did not adhere to the literal explication of the Bible, but thought it necessary, for the sake of gaining it credit with the hea thens, who despised its plainness and simpli city, and of rendering it more useful to the world, to give mystical and allegorical interpretations of every thing in it.”

Dr. Jortin tells us, "That Origen was very learned and ingenious, and indefatigably industrious. His whole life from his early years was spent in examining, teaching, and explaining the scriptures, to which he joined the study of philosophy and of all polite literature. He was humble, modest, and patient under great injuries and cruel treatment, which he received from Christians and Pagans: for though he ever had a considerable number of friends and admirers, on account of his amiable qualities and useful accomplishments, he was persecuted and calumniated by men, who had neither his learning nor his virtue, degraded from the order of presbyters, driven from his home, and excommunicated by one Demetrius bishop of Alexandria, who envied him, says Eusebius, for the reputation which he had gained. His inquisitive genius, and his mixing philosophy with christianity, led him perhaps into soine learned singularities and ingenious reveries; but he was by temper far from dogmatizing in such points, from fomenting schisms, and setting up himself for the head of a party. He lived in times when Christians were not so shackled with systems and determinations, as they were afterwards, nor so much exposed to disingenuous and illiberal and had more liberty to pures and to speak their mind. einely sober and exemplary,

practising what he preached to others; and h lived and died poor, and destitute even of com mon conveniences."

Origen was the author of a great number of excellent works. The principal of those which have been handed down to us are, 1. A Treatise against Celsus, of which Spencer has given a good edition in Greek and Latin, with notes: this learned treatise has been translated into French by Elias Bouhercau, a protestant minister born at Rochelle. 2. A great number of Homilies, with Commentaries on the Holy Scriptures. 3. Philocalia, and several other treatises. 4. Fragments of his Hexaples, collected by father Montfaucon,- in two volumes folio. Of all Origen's books, the loss of the Hexaples is most to be regretted. This work was thus named from its containing six columns; in the first of which was the Hebrew text of the Bible; in the second, the same text in Greek characters; in the third, the Greek version of the Septuagint; in the fourth, that of Aquila ; in the fifth, that of Symacchus; and in the sixth, Theodosian's Greck version. This admirable work gave the first hint for our Polyglot Bibles. 5. The book of Princi ples; of which we have only an incorrect Latin version. Till lately the most complete edition of his works was that of father De larue, a Benedictine, in Greek and Latin. The celebrated Montfaucon likewise published, in 2 vols. folio, some remains and fragments of his Hexapla. But we must now mention, Origenis Adamantii opera omnia, ad editionem Parisensem, Caroli de la Rue recusa, Gr. et Lat. a Franc. Oberthur, 8vo. Wirceburgi, 1780, et ann, seq. vol. 1-9. This is a very neat edition, and forms a part of the Sanctorum Patrum Græcorum Opera Palemica, begun by Oberthur, at Wurceburg, in 1777.

This Origen ought not to be confounded with another Origen, a Platonic philosopher, and the disciple and friend of Porphyry, who studied philosophy under Ammonius perhaps this Origen was the founder of the Origenians.

ÖRIGENIANS (origeniani), ancient he retics, who even surpassed the abominations of the Gnostics. Epiphanius speaks of them as subsisting in his time; but their numbers, be says, were inconsiderable. He seems to fix their rise about the time of the great Origen; but does not say that they derived their name from him. On the contrary, he distinguishes the from the Origenists, whom he derives from Origen Adamantius; adding, indeed, that they first took their name from one Origen; by which he intimates, that it was not the great Origen, And St. Augustine expressly asserts, that it was another. Their doctrines were shameful: they rejected marriage; they used several apocryphal books, as the acts of St. Andrew, &c. and endeavoured to excuse their open crimes, by saying, that the catholics did the same in private.

ORIGENISTS, in church-history, a Christian sect in the fourth century, so called from their drawing their opinions from erroneous interpretations of the writings of Origen. The

Origenists maintained, that the souls of men had a pre-existent state; that they were holy intelligences, and had sinned in heaven before the body was created; that Christ is only the son of God by adoption; that he has been successively united with all the angelical natures, and has been a cherub, a seraph, and all the celestial virtues one after another; that, in future ages, he will be crucified for the salvation of the devils, as he has already been for that of men; and that their punishment, and that of the damned, will continue only for a certain limited time.

O'RIGIN. ORIGINAL. S. (origine, Fr. origo, Latin.) 1. Beginning; first existence (Bentley). 2. Fountain; source; that which gives beginning or existence (Atterbury). 3. First copy; archetype. In this sense origin is not used (Locke). 4. Derivation; descent (Dryden).

ORIGINAL. a. (originel, Fr. originalis, Lat) Primitive; prisune; first (Stillingfleet.)

ORIGINALLY. ad. (from original.) 1. Primarily, with regard to the first cause; from the beginning (Smalridge). 2. At first (Woodward). 3. As the first author (Roscommon).

ORIGINALNESS. s. (from original.) The quality or state of being original.

ORIGINARY. a. (originaire, French.) 1. Productive; causing existence (Cheyne.) 2. Primitive; that which was the first state (Sandys).

To ORIGINATE. v. a. (from origin.) To bring into existence.

To ORIGINATE. v. n. To take existence. ORIGINATION. s. (originatio, Latin.) 1. The act or mode of bringing into existence; first introduction (Keil). 2. Descent from a primitive (Pearson).

ORIGUELA, a town of Spain, in Valencia, with a bishop's see, a university, and a citadel built on a rock. It is seated on the Segura, 33 miles N. of Carthagena. Lon. 1. 3 W. Lat. 38. 10 N.

ORILLON, in fortification, is a small rounding of earth faced with a wall; raised on the shoulder of those bastions that have casements, to cover the cannon in the retired flank, and prevent their being dismounted by the

enemy.

CRIO, a town of Spain, in Guipuscoa, at the mouth of the Orio, eight miles S.W. of St. Sebastian. Lon. 2. 19 W. Lat. 43. 3 N. ORIOLE, in ornithology. See ORIOLUS. ORIOLUS. Oriole. In zoology, a genus of the class aves, order picæ. Bill conic, convex, very sharp and straight; upper mandible a little longer, slightly notched; tongue bifid, sharp-pointed; feet ambulatory. Fifty-one species, chiefly inhabitants of America, one only found in our country. They are grega rious, noisy, numerous, voracious, and great devourers of corn: they often build pendulous

nests.

The following are the chief species. 1. O galbula. Golden oriole. Pale yel low; lores and limbs black; outer tail feathers

on the hind part yellow: bill and irids red. Female; dusky brownish green, lateral tail feathers yellowish white. Inhabits Europe, Asia, and Africa; nine and a half inches long'; is migratory; feeds on cherries, berries, and insects; is occasionally found in our own country: builds an urceolate nest of leaves in the branches of trees, and lays four or five dirtywhite eggs with small dusky-brown spots; voice sharp; flesh good.

There are four or five other varieties, chiefly from variation of colour, found in Cochinchina and India.

2. O. icterus. Icteric oriole. Tawny : head, throat, back, quill and tail-feathers black; wings with a white spot. Inhabits the warmer parts of America and the Caribbees; active and bold; builds a large cylindrical nest, hanging from the extreme branch of a tree'; is domesticated in America for the purpose of destroying insects: nine and a half inches long.

3. O. phoeniceus. Red-winged oriole. Black; wing-coverts tawny. Inhabits in vast flocks from New York as far as New Spain; from eight to nine inches long; is very destructive to rice-plantations, and devours likewise the swarms of insects and worms that infest the low grounds; builds a thick pensile nest between reeds, and just beyond the reach of floods; eggs white with a few scattered black streaks.

There is another variety with red shoulders, edged with yellow; an inhabitant of Africa.

4. O. Persicus. Black and yellow oriole. Black; hind part of the back, spot on the wing-coverts, and base of the tail-feathers yellow. There are two or three other varieties from variations of colour. Inhabits South America; forms a pendent nest, shaped like ap alembic, on the extreme branches of trees; sometimes four hundred nests are found hanging from the same tree; eggs dirty white, with small pale-brown spots.

5. O. Bonana. Bonana oriole. Tawny; head and breast chesnut; back, quil! and tailfeathers black. Inhabits South America and the Caribbee Islands; seven inches long; forms a nest of leaves and stalks under a plantain leaf, the leaf itself constituting one end.

6. O. nidipendulus. Hang-nest oriole. Frontlet and wreath black; crown, neck, back and tail reddish-brown; breast and belly tawny-yellow. Inhabits the woods in Jamaica; sings charmingly; builds a pendulous nest on the extreme branch of a high tree.

7. O. niger Black oriole. Totally black. Female, greenish-brown. Inhabits North America; about ten inches long; is gregarious, and in breeding time sings delightfully: feeds on worms and beetles; builds in trees about eight feet from the ground, and lays five eggs, dusky, with black spots.

ORION, in fabulous history, a celebrated giant, sprung from the urine of Jupiter, Neptune, and Mercury. These three gods, pleased with the hospitality they received from the peasant Hyricus, and the piety he exhibited as

they travelled through Boeotia in disguise, promised to grant him whatever he required; and the old man desired a son without another marriage. The gods consented, and they ordered him to bury in the ground the skin of the victim, into which they had all three made water. Hyricus did as they commanded, and when, nine months after, he dug for the skin, he found in it a beautiful child, whom he called Urion, ab urina. The name was changed into Orion by the corruption of one letter, as Ovid says, Perdidit antiquam littera prima sonum. Orion soon rendered himself celebrated, and Diana took him among her attendants, and even became deeply enamoured of him. His gigantic stature, however, displeased Enopion, king of Chios, who promised to make him his son-in-law as soon as he delivered his island from wild beasts. This task was soon performed by Orion, but Enopion intoxicated his guest, and put out his eyes on the sea shore, where he had laid himself down to sleep. Orion, however, miraculously recovered his sight, it is said, by turning his face to the rising sun, and amply punished the perfidy of Enopion. It is said, that Orion was an excellent workman in iron, and that he fabricated a subterraneous palace for Vulcan. Aurora, whom Venus had inspired with love, carried him away into the island of Delos, to enjoy his company with greater security; but Diana, who was jealous of this, destroyed Orion with with her arrows. According to Ovid, Orion died of the bite of a scorpion, which the earth produced, to punish his vanity in boasting that there was not on earth any animal which he could not conquer. After death, Orion was placed in heaven, where one of the constellations still bears his name. The constellation of Orion, placed near the feet of the bull, was composed of 17 stars in the form of a man holding a sword, which has given occasion to the poets often to speak of Orion's sword. As the constellation of Orion is generally supposed to be accompanied, at its rising, with great rains and storms, it has acquired the epithet of, aquosus given it by Virgil. Orion was buried in the island of Delos.

ORION, in astronomy, one of the constellations of the southern hemisphere.

The word is formed from the Greek par, to make water; the ancients supposing, that it raised tempests at its rising and setting.

The stars in the constellation Orion, in Ptolemy's catalogue, are thirty-eight; in Tycho's 42, Hevelius's sixty-two, in the Britannic catalogue seventy-eight, viz. 2, 4, 3, 13, 21, 35, reckoned in the order of their magnitudes.

ORION'S RIVER. See ERIDANUS. ORISON. s. (oraison, Fr.) A prayer; a supplication (Milton).

In anatomy.

ORIS CONSTRICTOR. See ORBICULARIS ORIS. ORISSA, a province of the peninsula of Hindustan, bounded on the N. by Bahar and on the W. by Berar, on the S. by and on the E. by the bay of Ben

gal. The district of Midniapour, in this province, is subject to the English East India Company; but all the rest belongs to the Berar Mahrattas.

ORISTAGNI, an ancient town of Sardinia, with a good harbour and au archbishop's see. It is large, and well fortified, but thinly inhabited, on account of the unhealthy air. It is seated on the west coast, on a bay of the same name, 42 miles N.W. of Cagliari. Lon. 8. 51 E. Lat. 40. 2 N.

ORIXA, in botany, a genus of the class tetrandria, order monogynia. Petals four, lanceolate; calyx four-parted; stigma capí tate; capsule uncertain. One species, a Japan shrub; flexuous; branches alternate; leaves alternate, ovate, entire, above green, beneath paler and villous; flowers in alternate racemies.

ORKNEY ISLANDS, a cluster of islands north of Scotland, from which they are separated by Pentland Frith. They are twenty-six in number, of which one greatly exceeds the other in extent. This, like the principal one of Shetland, is dignified with the appellation of Mainland: it is also frequently called Pomona. (See MAINLAND.) Beyond this island, to the north-east are seen, among others, Rowsay and Westra, Shappinsha and Edda, Stronsa, Sanda, and North Ronalsha; and to the south appear Hoy, and South Ronalsha, with others of inferior note. The currents and tides which flow between these islands are extremely rapid and dangerous; and near the small isle of Swinna are two whirlpools, that have been known to snatch in boats and light ves sels, which were instantly swallowed up. Springs of pure water are found in all the mountainous parts of these islands; and there are numerous lakes and rivulets abounding in fish. The heath, on these mountains, shelters grouse, plovers, snipes, &c. but here are neither partridges, hares, nor foxes. There are numbers of sheep and small black-cattle. The products of the vallies and plains are big and oats, but no other sort of grain. In general, the air is moist; and they are often visited by dreadful storms of wind, rain, and thunder. For about three weeks in midsummer, they enjoy the sight of the sun, almost without intermission: but, for the same space in winter, that luminary hardly rises above the horizon, and is commonly obscured by clouds and mists, In this gloomy season, the absence of day is supplied partly by moonlight, and partly by the radiance of the Aurora Borealis. See SHETLAND. The chief exports are linen and woollen yarn, stockings, butter, dried fish, herrings, oil, feathers and skins of various kinds, and kelp. The English language prevails in all these islands, though there are many words in the Norse, or Norwegian, still in use. The churches are numerous; but the office of a minister is truly laborious, the parochial duty being often extended to several distant islands.

ORLE, ORLET, or OR LO, in architecture, a fillet, under the ovolo, or quarter round of a capital. When it is at the top or bottom of

a shaft, it is called cincture. Palladio uses the word orlo for the plenith of the bases of the columns.

ORLEANA TERRA. (orleana, so named fromthe place where it grows.) The substance so called is a ceraceous mass obtained from the seeds of the bixa orleana of Linnéus. In Jamaica and warm climates it is considered as a useful remedy in dysentery, possessing adstringent and stomachic qualities.

ORLEANOIS, a late province of France, now forming the department of Loiret. It is divided by the river Loire into the Upper and Lower, and is a very plentiful country.

ORLEANS, an ancient city of France, capital of the department of Loiret and late province of Orleanois, with an episcopal see. It is seated on the Loire, in the form of an oval, and is supposed to contain 40,000 souls. Under the sons of Clovis, it was the capital of a kingdom. It stood a memorable siege in 1428, against the English, which was raised by the celebrated Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans. The streets of Orleans are spacious and pleasant, and that of the fauxbourg of Paris is of a prodigious length. Its commerce consists in wine, brandy, corn, grocery, and particularly sugar, which is brought raw from Nantes and Rochelle. Sheep skins, and stockings, both knit and woven, form also a considerable article of trade. The fauxbourg or suburb of Olivet, on the left side of the Loire, has a communication with the city by a bridge of nine arches, the centre one 100 feet wide. Near the city is a forest, containing 100,000 acres, planted with oak and other valuable trees. Orleans is 30 miles N.E. of Blois, and 60 S.S.W. of Paris. Lon. 1. 59 E. Lat. 47. 54 N.

ORLEANS (Louis duke of), a pious prince of France, was the son of Philip the regent, and born at Versailles in 1703. On his father's death he married Augusta Maria of Baden, who died in 1726, having been married only two years. The prince was deeply sensible of the loss, and betook himself to the consolations of religion for support. He retired in 1730 to the abbey of St. Genevieve, where he led a life of great austerity. The instances of his mortification render him an object of pity; but the motives of his conduct, and his extensive liberality, entitle him to admiration. He adhered steadily to this course of life above 20 years, and died in 1752. His writings are nu

merous.

ORLEANS (Peter Joseph), a French jesuit; born at Bruges in 1641, and died in 1698. He wrote a history of the Revolutions in Eng land, under the Stuarts. He was the author of some other works.

ORLOPE, in the sea language, the uppermost space or deck in great ship, reaching from the main to the mizen mast. In three deck ships, the second and lowest decks are sometimes called orlopes.

ORMOND, the northern division of the county of Tipperary, in the province of Munster in Ireland. For a long time it gave the VOL. VIII.

title of earl, and afterwards of marquis and duke, to the noble family of Butler, descended from a sister of Thomas à Becket archbishop of Canterbury; till, at the accession of George I. the last duke was attainted of high treason, and died abroad. In that part of the country the family had great prerogatives and privileges granted by Edward III.

ORMSIDE, a town of England, near Appleby, in Westmoreland, with a church and parish, but small. A great number of vessels of brass, some of which seemed to have been gilt, were discovered near the manor-house, by the water washing away the soil. The manorhouse is built castleways.

ORMSKIRK, in Lancashire, in England, is a handsome town, with a good inland trade. By the late inland navigation, it has communication with the rivers Mersey, Dee, Ribble, Ouse, Trent, Darwent, Severn, Humber, Thames, Avon, &c. which navigation, including its windings, extends above 500 miles, in the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, York, Lancaster, Westmoreland, Stafford, Warwick, Leicester, Oxford, Worcester, &c. There is a bituminous earth about this place, from which oil of amber is extracted, that preserves raw flesh, and serves the poor people instead of candles. There is nothing remarkable at Ormskirk, but the monuments of some of the ancient family of the Stanleys before they were ennobled. Not far from it is Latham house; to which belongs a large estate, and a fine park. It is remarkable only because it was gallantly defended in the civil wars by lady Charlotte countess of Derby, who held it to the last extremity against the parliament forces, which could never oblige her to capitulate. She held out gloriously till she was relieved by prince Rupert. It was, however, ruined in a second siege; and sold by the family to the late sir Thomas Bootle, who built a very magnificent house upon it.

ORMUS, a small island, in a strait of the same name, at the entrance of the gulf of Persia, nine miles S. of Gombron. In 1507, the Portuguese were permitted to form a settlement here; and it was afterward frequented by a number of rich merchants. In 1622, the Persians, by the assistance of the English, expelled the Portuguese, and demolished the buildings. Some time after, the Persians rebuilt the fort, and though they could never bring it to be a place of trade as before, it is still the key of the gulf of Persia, on account of the commodiousness of the harbour. It is almost deserted; for it produces nothing but salt, which sometimes is two inches deep upon the surface of the earth. Lon. 56. 25 È. Lat. 27. 20 N.

O'RNAMENT. s. (ornamentum, Latin.) 1. Embellishment; decoration (Rogers). 2. Honour; that which confers dignity (Addison).

ORNAMENTAL. a. (from ornament.) Serving to decoration; giving embellishment (Swift).

ORNAMENTALLY. ad. In such a manner as may confer embellishment.

TT

ORNAMENTED. a. (from ornament.)

Embellished; bedecked.

ORNATE. a. (ornatus, Lat.) Bedecked; decorated; fine (Milton).

O'RNATENESS. s. (from ornate.) Finery; state of being embellished.

O'RNATURE. s. (ornatus, Latin.) Decoration (Ainsworth).

ORNE, a department of France, including the late province of Perche and part of that of Normandy. It takes its name from a river, which rises in the department, and runs into the English channel, eight miles below Caen, The capital is Alençon."

ORNITHOGALUM. Star of Bethlehem. In botany, a genus of the class hexandria, order monogynia. Corol six-petalled, erect, permanent, spreading from about the middle; filaments dilated at the base; capsule superior, three-celled; seeds roundish, naked. Fortythree species. South of Europe; Siberia; Cape: three common to the woods and pastures of our own country.

The species chiefly cultivated are,

treats of birds; describes their form external and interual; and teaches their economy and uses.

Of all the departments of natural history, ornithology appears to be that which Las been followed up with the greatest degree of avidity, while it is that which has perhaps offered the greatest delike fishes, exist in a region into which it is dif gree of difficulty. In respect to ourselves, birds, ficult to follow them; great numbers of them are perpetually migrating from climate to climate, and still more of them are so frequently shifting their plumage and colour at different seasons of the year, or different periods of life, or assume so dissimilar an appearance from a completion of sex, that nothing but a very long, and repeated, and accurate attention to them, difficult as such an attention must be under such circumstances, can enable us to speak with any decision concerning their individuality, or even generic station.

To furnish therefore a history of birds as complete as that of quadrupeds, must necessarily prove the work of ages; and from these causes, M. Buffon justly asserts, that the number and characters of birds are still in an ocean of obscurity.

In travelling through this multifarious group, we shall avail ourselves of every light that may

4. O. Pyrenaicum. Pyrenean star of Bethlehem.

writer of authority who has already arranged or described this part of the animal kingdom. The natural history of birds comprehends two distinct objects: first, the discovery and classification of every individual, and assigning it a name; and, secondly, the describing its manners and econo

Many of these are hardy, and highly ornamental among other flowering bulbousrooted plants in borders and clumps.

ORNITHOGLOSSUM. (ornithoglossum, opviboyev, from 0s, a bird, and yoos, a tongue, so called from its shape.) Birds tongue. The seeds of the ash tree, as sometimes so called.

ORNITHOLITHUS. In oryctology, a genus of the class petrifactions, order animal. The body or parts of a bird changed into a fossile substance. Three species.

1. O. rostri. The beak of birds. Found in the neighbourhood of Jena, and in the mountains on the confines of Switzerland, sometimes perfect, sometimes only impressed on a schistose swinestone.

2. O. ossium. The bones of birds. Found in Silesia.

3. O. plumarum. The feathers of birds. Found principally at Oenengen on the confines of Switzerland, impressed on a schistose

swinestone.

ORNITHOLOGY. (from pveç, a bird, and A treatise or discourse). The science which

the subject, is also the least agreeable: it is dry, mechanical, and incomplete. The second exhibits new pictures to the imagination; and, by leading to the developement of final causes, opens delightful views of the economy of nature, and of the wis dom of Providence. Both are necessary to those who would understand this science in its utmost extent; and both, accordingly, have been attempted by ornithologists, in different systems and arrangements.

We shall examine both these points in the following six sections, which will treat progressively of the classification of birds; their external characters; their flight, plumage and migration; their food, longevity, diseases and fertility; their nidification and incubation; and their general uses in the economy of nature.

SECTION I. Classification of Birds.

When we inquire into the history of ornithology, at various periods, we find it in three different stages of improvement. To the first of these it was brought by Aristotle and Pliny, who are almost the only authors of antiquity who seem to have directed their attention to this branch of science. They, however, contented themselves with seizing upon the great outlines of natural knowledge; passing by what appeared trivial or com. mon, they dwelt principally on whatever was new, marvellous, or astonishing. Like historians who describe the operations of a campaign, they have characterised the generals, but left it to meaner hands to carry the muster-roll. Despising the minutie of a dry detail, they amuse the reader, and warm his imagination, not unfrequently at the expence of truth. The moderns, who, after the revival of learning, resumed this subject, have treated it in a manner totally different: they have divided birds into orders, genera and species, ac