Optics
in physics, that branch of knowledge which treats of the properties of light and of vision as performed by the human eye. The modern division of the science is into: 1. Sources of light; 2. Transmission, velocity, and intensity of light; 3. Reflection of light-mirrors; 4. Single refraction-lenses; 5. Dispersion and achromatism; 6. Optical instrument; 7. The eye considered as an optical instrument; 8. Phosphorescence and fluorescence; and 9. Double refraction, interference, and polarization.
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Optimism
in philosophy, the name given to the view propounded in the "Thédicée" of Leibnitz that this world, as the work of God, must be the best among all possible worlds montera to take the hopeful view of matters in general; the belief that the world is growing better. OPTOCHIN. Ethylhydrocupreine. C19H22N2OH. C.C2H5. A derivative of cupreine, which occurs, together with quinine in the bark of Remijia pedunculata. It is a white, or faintly yellow powder, with a bitter taste. Almost insoluble in water. Possesses properties similar to those of quinine, and is used in the treatment of certain infections of the cornea of the eye. Internally the drug is uncertain in its action, and its administration has sometimes been followed by deafness and blindness, either temporary or permanent. For treating the eye a 2 per cent. solution of optochin hydrochloride is recommended.
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Opuntia
in botany, Indian fig; the typical genus of the family Opuntidæ. The stem consists of flat joints broader above than below, at length becoming cylindrical and continuous. All the species were originally American. O. vulgaris is indigenous in tropical America, Bermuda, etc., whence it has been introduced into Southern Europe; its fruit imparts a red tinge to the urine of those who eat it. O. tuna furnishes a rich carmine pigment, used in Naples as a watercolor. O. dillenii is used in the Deccan as a hedge plant about cantonments. Cochineal insects brought to India flourished on it, and it yields a coarse fiber used in paper making.
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Oracle
. See Delphi
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Oracle
in anthropology, oracles are of high antiquity. They existed among the Egyptians (Herod. v: 89, viii: 82), and the poetry of the Greeks and the Romans is full of allusion to them. The Hebrews might lawfully, by the high priest, consult the Urim and Thummim (Num. xxvii: 21), but they also illicitly sought responses from teraphim (Judges xvii: 5), and from the gods of surrounding nations (II Kings i: 2, 3, 6, 16). The responses were supposed to be given by a supernatural afflatus, either through a person, as at Delphi and Cumæ, or through some object, as in the rustling of the sacred grove at Dodona. But in every case there is present the idea of a power more than human taking possespos sion of a person or thing, and making that person or thing the vehicle of the response.
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Oran
a seaport of Algeria, stands on the Gulf of Oran, 261 miles W. by S. of Algiers, and 130 miles S. of Cartagena edge of the principles of the profession, in Spain. It stretches up the foot of a which may have been gained either in a hill, is defended by detached forts, has a recognized school, or by employment un- thoroughly French appearance, having der a practitioner of the profession, and been mainly built since 1790, when the old Spanish town was destroyed by an earthquake, and possesses a Roman Catholic cathedral (1839), a grand mosque, a large military hospital, a college, a seminary, and two citadels or castles. The harbor is protected on the N. and E. by moles constructed in 1887 at a cost of $1,400,000; alfa, iron ore, and cereals are the chief of the exports. Oran was built by the Moors. During the second half of the 15th century it was a highly prosperous commercial town, and was celebrated for its cloth and arms and fine public buildings. But it was taken by the Spaniards in 1509 and made a penal settlement. It was captured by the Turks in 1708, but retaken by the Spaniards in 1732. In 1790 it was destroyed by an earthquake, and shortly after was abandoned by the Spaniards, aban altogether the Turks occupying it again in 1792. The French took possession of the town in 1831. Pop. about 125,000.
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Orange
Prince of. See William Iii
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Orange
a town of Connecticut, in New Haven co. It is on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad. It is chiefly a farming community, but its industries include the manufacture of automobiles, ribbons, and buckles. Pop., including West Haven 11,272; (1920) 16,614.
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Orange
FORT, an old fort built by the Dutch in 1623, on the site of the present city of Albany, N. Y.
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Orange
PRINCE OF. See WIL- LIAM THE SILENT, PRINCE OF ORANGE: WILLIAM III., KING OF ENGLAND: MAURICE.
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Orange (Anciently Arausio a city)
anciently Arausio, a city and commune of France, 18 miles N. of Avignon, on left bank of the Aigue, tributary of the Rhone. There are two great monuments of the Roman period, a triumphal arch (72 feet high), the finest in France, and the ruins of a theater, 340 feet long; the only modern building of interest is the cathedral. For five centuries (till 1531) Orange was an independent principality ruled by its own sovereigns, the estates and title passing to the Count of Nassau, and thus to William III., afterward King of Great Britain. In 1713 Orange was for certain equivalents conceded to France by the King of Prussia, though the title of prince has descended by the younger Nassau line to the kings and stadtholders of Holland. The district is very productive; manufactures silks, woolens, and fruits.
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Orange (City in Essex co N J)
a city in Essex co., N. J.; on the Lackawanna railroad; 4 miles N. W. of Newark. It is built on the lower slopes of the Watchung Mountain, and in its vicinity are Eagle Rock, 650 feet above tide-water, Hemlock Falls, a wild mountain attraction, and Llewellyn Park, which comprises 750 acres, and contains many costly residences. Here are the Orange Memorial Hospital, House of the Good Shepherd, a Masonic temple, Orphan Home, a public library, National banks, daily and weekly newspapers. It has extensive manufactories, and industries of importance. Pop. (1910) 29,630; (1920) 33,268.
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