Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 15.djvu/157

* ORTONA. 126 OSAGE. extensive trade in wine. Population, in 1S81, l2,-2>: in l!)01, 14.974. OR'TYGAN (Xco-Lat. ortyx (ortyg) + an, from Gk. 6pTi>^, iiuail). A button-quail (q.v. ) or bush-quail of the Old World geuus Turuix, which includes a large number of diminutive game-birds of pleasing appearance and excellent qualities. These birds are called 'hemipods' in the older books. ORTTGIA, 5r-tlj'i-!l. An ancient name of Dehis ( q.v. ) . ORTZEN, er'tscn, Georg, Baron (1S29— ). A German poet. He was born at lirunn. Mccklen- burg-Strclitz; studied law, served in the Prussian Army { IS.'iO-.l.T), and then entered the consular service. He was eniploved in Xew York (1870), Constantinople (1880),' Marseilles (1881), and Christiania (1889). and retired in 1892. He wrote several volumes of verse, including: Oedichte (3d ed. 18G1); Aus den Kaiiipfen des Lehciis (18G8) ; Satiren und Glossen eincs Welt- maiincs (1874): Ei>igramme vnd Epiloge in Prosa (1880); Eincs Ltjrikcrs Chronik (1888); Atif Schwarziraldiregcn (1890); Xacht (1900); and Si/mphoiiitn drs Windrs (1901). Under the pseudonym "l.udwig Robert" he published Er- lebni-ssc und Studicn in dcr (Jegcnwart (1875). ORUTBA. An island of the Dutch West In- dies. Sec Aruba. ORTJRO, o-roo'ro. A western department of Bolivia, bounded by the Department of La Paz on the nortli, Cocliabamba on the east. Potosi on the south, and by Chile on the west (Jlap: Bolivia, D 7). Area estimated at 21,321 square miles. The surface is an elevated plateau, a part of the great Titicaca basin, and is inter- spersed with marshes and arid plains. The climate is cold and the soil mostly unfit for agriculture, though some cattle-raising is car- ried on. The mineral deposits of the State are ricli. including tin, silver, and eop])cr, which are profital)ly mined. The civilized population was officially'cstiniated in 1S98 at 130.000. including over 90,000 Indians. Tlio capital is Oruro. ORURO. The capital of the Department of Oruro, Bolivia, situated 9 miles east of the Desaguadero River, in a valley bordering an arid plain, 12,200 feet above .sea level, and 120 miles southeast of La Paz (Map: Bolivia, D 7). A portion of the city is in ruins, and its former fine public buildings are in a decayed condition. A railroad connecting the town with Antofagasta on the Chilean coast has somewhat revived its importance, which is derived mainly from the valuable tin mines in the neighborhood. Popu- lation. 10.000. Oruro was founded in IGOfi. ORVIETO, Or-vyii'tft. A town and episcopal see of Central Italy, in the Province of Perugia, with a station on the Rome-Klorence Railroad, 60 miles northwest of Rome (Map: Italy. F 5). It occupies a strong position on a steep hill, llfjo feet high, accessible by an inclined railway, is well built, and is surroimded by walls. It has been the see of a bishop since a.d. 509. The cathedral, a beautiful specimen of the Italian Gothic, and one of the most richly decorated edi- fices in Italy, is of black and white marble; it was begim in 1290 and completed about the middle of the fourteenth century. The facade is unsurpassed in the beauty of its mosaics, sculp- tures, and elaborate ornamentation. The interior is also finely decorated with sculptuics and paintings. There are several other churclies, chief of which is the Gothic San (Jiovenale, dat- ing from the eleventh century. Other interesting features are the castle with the ])ublic garden and amphitheatre, Saint Patrick's Well, and the former Papal i)alaee, or Palazzo Soliano, with a museum containing mediaeval works of art and a collection of antiquities, most of them found in an Etruscan necropolis between the town and the railroad station. The city trades in grain, cattle, silk. oil. and white wine. Po])ulation (com- mune), in 1881. 15,931; in 1901. 18.543. Orvieto, known in the Middle Ages as "Urbs Vetus,' occu- ])ies the site of an ancient and wealthy Etruscan city. It was repeatedly a place of refvige for the popes. ORYX, 6'riks (Lat., from Gk. 6pvi, oryx, ga- zelle, pickaxe, from 6piir<Tei.p, oryssrin. to dig). A large antclo|ie of Northern Africa [Oriix Iru- coryx). distinguished by its uniform whitish color, often reddish on the under part, ami by the sabre-like curve of the great horns, which may touch the ruiuj) when the head is thrown back. These horns are able to sweep around with immense force and efl'eet, and hunters find oryxes dangerous animals to approach when wounded. This species, which is confined to the Eastern Sudan and Nubia, is known by the Arabs as 'abu harte,' and represents the gentis which in- cludes the gemsbok. addax. beatrix antelope, beisa (qq.v. ), and some other species of the desert and plains regions of Africa. The word 'oryx' among the ancients was the name of an antelope often represented on the monuments of Egypt, usually in profile, so that it seems to have but one horn. It is evident that one or another species of this genus was portrayed ; and the fable of the unicorn may have arisen from these mural jiaintings. ORZESZKOWA, Or'zhfsh-ku'va. Eliza (1842- — ). A Polish novelist. She was born near Grodno; at sixteen married a Polish noble, who was banished to Siberia in 1803; and after that time devoted herself to literature and the ad- vocacy of woman's rights. Iler more important novels are: Eli Makoivcr (1874), which treats of the relations of the Jews to the Polish nobility; Meir Ezofoiricz (1878), which bears upon the contest between Talnmdic orthodoxy and liberal theology in a rural setting; Lost .S'o»/.5 (1880), and C/iom (1888), sketches of life in White Rus- sia; On the Xiemen (1888), and Bene ati (1892). both descriptive of the lesser noliility; as well as the earlier and more tyiiical I'rin Oraha (1872). More recently she published The Argonauts (1889) and The Votaries of Power (1900). Her collected works, with a biography by Chmielowsky, appeared at Warsaw (1899). OSAGE, 6-saj', or 6'saj (properly Onasage, the French form of Washashc. or TT'o.sa.sZi, the name used by themselves ). An important In- dian tribe of Siouan stock (q.v.). formerly hold- ing an extensive area between the Missouri and Arkansas rivers, in what is now Missouri. Arkan- sas. Kansas, and the Indian Territory, and at present gathered upon a reservation in north- eastern Oklahoma. They are mentioned by ilar- quette as early as 1073. and through the colonial period generally acted as allies of the French against the other tribes, who seem almost with- out exception to have considered them as com-