Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/876

Rh 812 ORANGE Orange cultivation has been attempted with success in several parts of Australia, especially in New South Wales, where the orange groves near Paramatta yield an abundant colonial supply. The orangeries of Queensland and South Australia are likewise producing well, though, as yet, Australian fruit is chiefly consumed at home. In many of the Pacific Islands the plant has been long established : Tahiti exports oranges largely to San Francisco, and in Fiji the culture promises to become of considerable importance. Certain varieties of orange deserve mention, from the peculiar character of their fruit. The Mandarin orange of China, sometimes made a distinct species, C. nobilis, is remarkable for its very flat spheroidal fruit, the rind of which readily separates with the slightest pressure ; the pulp has a peculiarly luscious flavour when ripe. The small Tangerine oranges, valued for their fine fragrance, are derived from the Mandarin. &quot;Maltese&quot; or &quot;Blood&quot; oranges, much grown in southern Italy, are distinguished by the deep-red tint of the pulp. The Bergamot has been already described (see vol. iii. p. 587). Orange plantations in Europe suffer much at times from a disease called by the French chnrbon, caused by a fungus (Demathium monophyllum), which rapidly spreads over stems, leaves, and green fruit. Several insect enemies attack the plant, of which the scale-like Coccus citri is the most injurious in Europe ; in the Azores C. Hespcridis takes its place. Cold weather in winter has sometimes proved destructive in Provence, and many planta tions were destroyed by the hard frosts of 1789 and 1820. Besides the widespread use of the fruit as an agreeable and wholesome article of diet, that of the sweet orange, abounding in citric acid, possesses in a high degree the antiscorbutic properties that render the lemon and lime so valuable in medicine ; and the free consumption of this fruit in the large towns of England during the winter months has doubtless a very beneficial effect on the health of the people. The juice is sometimes employed as a cooling drink in fevers, as well as for making a pleasant beverage in hot weather; it is likewise an essential ingredient in &quot;orange wine.&quot; The bitter orange is chiefly cultivated for the aromatic and tonic qualities of the rind, which render it a valuable stomachic. Planted long ago in Andalusia by the Moorish conquerors, it is still ex tensively grown in southern Spain, deriving its common English name of &quot; Seville &quot; orange from the abundant groves that still exist around that city, though the plant is now largely cultivated else where. The fruit is imported into Great Britain and the United States in considerable quantities for the manufacture of the favourite confection known as orange marmalade, which is prepared from the pulp and rind, usually more or less mingled with the pulp of the China orange. In medicine the dried peel is largely employed as an aromatic tonic, and often, in tincture and infusion, as a mere vehicle to disguise the flavour of more nauseous remedies. The essential oil of the rind is collected for the use of the perfumer, being obtained either by the pressure of the fresh peel against a piece of sponge, or by the process known as ecmllc, in which the skin of the ripe fruit is scraped against a series of points or ridges arranged upon the surface of a peculiarly -shaped dish or broad funnel, when the oil flows freely from the broken cells. Another fragrant oil, called in France essence dc petit grain, is procured by the distillation of the leaves, from which also an aromatic water is prepared. The flowers of both sweet and bitter orange yield, when distilled with water, the &quot; oil of Neroli &quot; of the druggist and per fumer, and likewise the fragrant liquid known as &quot; orange - flower water.&quot; The candied peel is much in request by cook and con fectioner ; the favourite liqueur sold as &quot; cui^oa &quot; derives its aromatic flavour from the rind of the bigarade. The minute imma ture oranges that drop from the trees are manufactured into &quot;issue- peas&quot; ; from those of the sweet orange in a fresh state a sweetmeat is sometimes prepared in France. Orange trees occasionally acquire a considerable diameter ; the trunk of one near Nice, still standing in 1789, was so large that two men could scarcely embrace it ; the tree was killed by the intense cold of the winter of that year. The wood of the orange is of a fine yellow tint, and, being hard and close-grained, is valued by the turner and cabinetmaker for the manufacture of small articles ; it takes a good polish. Although the bitter &quot; Poma de Orenge&quot; were brought in small quantities from Spain to England as early as the year 1290, no attempt appears to have been made to cultivate the tree in Britain until about 1595, when some plants were introduced by the Carews of Beddington in Surrey, and placed in their garden, where, trained against a wall, and sheltered in winter, they remained until de stroyed by the great frost of 1739-40. In the last century the tree became a favourite object of conservatory growth ; in the open air, planted against a wall, and covered with mats in winter, it has often stood the cold of many seasons in the southern coun ties, in such situations the trees occasionally bearing abundant fruit ; but in Great Britain the orange can only be regarded as an object of ornamental culture. The trees are usually imported from Italy, where, especially near Nervi, such plants arc raised in great numbers for exportation ; they are generally budded on the stocks of some free-growing variety, often on the lemon or citron. For details of orange varieties, cultivation, &c., see Risso and Poiteau, His- toire et culture ties Grangers (edited by A. Du Breuil, Paris, 1872); for early history and diffusion, G. Gallesio, Traitc du Citrus, Paris, 1811. (C. P. J.) ORANGE, a city of France, the chief town of an arron- dissement in the department of Vaucluse, is situated 18 miles north of Avignon on the railway from Lyons to Marseilles at some distance from the left bank of the Rhone, in the midst of meadows, orchards, and mulberry plantations, watered by a stream called the Meyne, and overlooked by the majestic summit of Mount Ventose, which lies 22 miles to the east. The district is highly fertile, and the city deals largely in silks, woollens, and fruits, and also till quite recently in wines and madder. The population of the city numbers 6860. Orange is in teresting mainly from its Roman remains. The triumphal arch is not only far finer than any other in France, but ranks third in size and importance among those still ex tant in Europe. Measuring 72 feet in height, 69 feet in width, and 26 feet in depth, it is composed of three arches supported by four Corinthian columns. On three sides it is well preserved, and displays remarkable variety and elegance in its sculptured decorations. To judge from a partly decipherable inscription, the arch seems to have been erected in the reign of Tiberius. It suffered from being used as a fortification in the Middle Ages. Another most imposing structure is the theatre, built against the hill commanding the town. The facade, which is 118 feet high, 340 feet long, and 13 feet thick, is pierced by three square gates surmounted by a range of blind arches and a double row of far-projecting corbels. Of the seats occu pied by the spectators to the number, it might be, of 7000 only the lower ranges remain. By many this theatre is regarded as the most beautiful, or at least the most im posing, of the Roman monuments of France. The princes of Orange made it an outwork of the castle which they erected on the hill, and which was demolished by De Gri- gnan after he had taken the town for Louis XIV. Up to the beginning of the present century it was filled with hovels and stables ; these are now quite swept away, and the preservation of the building assured. In the neigh bourhood of the theatre traces have been found of a hippo drome capable of containing 20,000 persons ; and statues, bas-reliefs, and ruins of an aqueduct also serve to show the importance of the Roman town. Several of the churches at Orange are very old. Notre Dame, the old cathedral, originally erected by the prefect of Gaul, was ruined by the Barbarians, rebuilt in the llth century, and damaged by the Protestants. A statue of Rambaud II. count of Orange and that of Gasparin the celebrated agriculturist may also be mentioned. Orange (Arausio], capital of the Cavari, became after Cassar an important Roman colony. Its ramparts and fine buildings were partly destroyed by the Alemanni and Visigoths, and partly ruined by the erections of the Middle Ages. Orange was included in the kingdom of Austrasia, fell into the hands of the Saracens, and was recovered by Charlemagne. It became an independent count- ship in the llth century; and Count Bertram! de Baux (d. 1181) received from Frederick I. the title of prince of Orange. On the death of Philibert of Chalons in 1530 the inheritance fell to his sister s son, Rene (Reuatus) of Nassau Dillenburg, stadholder of the Netherlands, who, dying childless, chose (1544) as his successor his cousin William, afterwards William I. Though Francis I., king of France, whose predecessors had long claimed to be suze rains of the principality, caused it to be declared part of the domain of Provence, Henry II. recognized William s rights in the treaty of Cateau Cambresis, and &quot;prince of Orange&quot; remained the title of the stadholders from Maurice to William III. In 1672 Louis XIV. seized the principality and handed it over to the count of Auvergne in compensation for his loss of the marquisate of Bergen-op-Zoom confiscated by William ; but the claims of the house of Nassau were acknowledged by the peace of Ryswick. On William s death there were two claimants, John William Friso of Nassau - Dietz, desig nated heir by William s will, and Frederick I. king of Prussia, who