employ for their support. The gradual metamor- admission and circulation of air; and also to draw phosis of the tree into the column, suggests itself, off the water, which collects at the bottom, by indeed, so obviously to the mind, that the progress means of drains, pumps, or steam engines, as the of art, in this instance, scarcely requires to be situation or circumstances require. After the traced. If the first architect used the trunks ex- metallic ores are drawn from the mine, they, in actly as he found them, he that worked at greater general, go through several processes before they leisure would infallibly so far improve upon the are in a state fit for use. Some of these are first contrivance, as to select trees of nearly equal size, washed in running water, to clean them from and trim away whatever, in their new situation, loose, earthy particles. They are then piled tosavored of deformity. Taste would gradually re- gether with combustible substances, and burnt, or fine; the proportions of that which appeared roasted, for the purpose of ridding them of the beautiful would be ascertained; and fixed rules sulphur or arsenic with which they may happen would be established. to be combined, and which rises from them in a state of fume or smoke. Thus having been freed from impurities, they undergo the operation of melting, in furnaces constructed according to the nature of the respective metals, or the uses to which they are subsequently applied.

The orders originated in the mere necessities of life; but a refined age adopted and embellished them. The proportions of the columns were regulated by those of the human body. The Doric was compared with a man of strong make; the Ionic, with a woman; and the Corinthian, with a girl.

The Tuscan is more massy than the Doric, and the Composite more gay than the Corinthian.

To give a general idea of the orders, it is necessary to observe, that the order is composed of two parts, at the least, viz. the column and entablature; and of four, at the most, viz. the pedestal, column, entablature, and one acroter, or little pedestal, placed upon the entablature: that the column has three parts, viz. the base, the shaft, and the capital; the entablature three, likewise, viz. the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice; and the pedestal also, three, viz. the square trunk or die, which makes the body; the cornice, or head; and the base, the foot of the pedestal.

To determine the proportions of the Tuscan order, any height being given, divide it into ten equal parts, called diameters, that is, parts equal to the thickness of the shaft at the bottom; and of these parts or diameters, allow two to the pedestal, seven to the column, and one and three quarters to the entablature. The Doric order contains twelve diameters and one third; the Ionic, thirteen and a half; the Corinthian, fourteen and a half; and the Composite, fifteen and a third.

In what is called the Gothic architecture, the same variety of proportions, or orders, is observable. The Saxon is massive; the Moresk, light; and that which is usually distinguished by the name of Gothic, of a middle character.

The Grecian and Doric modes of architecture are adapted to, as they were the produce of, different climates: and each of their orders is applicable to buildings erected for peculiar purposes; as temples, state buildings, and theatres, &c.

ORGAN. In Physiology, an instrument by which any natural faculty in an animal body is exercised; as the ear, which is the organ of hearing; the eye, which is the organ of sight.

ORGAN IN MUSIC. A wind instrument blown by bellows, and containing numerous pipes of various kinds and dimensions, which, for its solemnity, grandeur, and rich volume of tone, is peculiarly fitted for the purpose for which it is commonly employed. Organs are sometimes of an immense size: the organ in the cathedral church at Ulm, in Germany, is said to be 93 feet high and 28 broad, its largest pipe being 13 inches in diameter, and it having sixteen pair of bellows

ORGANS OF ANIMALS. That the organs of animals are essential to their preservation, and even to their existence, will appear from considering the construction and properties of the eye, which is one of the most remarkable and the most useful. Supposing an animal endued with life and motion, yet still it could not know in what place to find sustenance, or by what means to avoid danger, without the faculty of sight. This constitutes in man, as well as in other animals, a refined kind of feeling, extended to the various objects of nature and art. The organ of vision is a most lively and delicate instruinent of exquisite structure, through which sensations are conveyed to the mind. Its form is the most commodious that can possibly be imagined, for containing the different humors of which it consists, and receiving the images of all external objects. By its situation in the head, it can take in a greater number of objects, than if placed in any other part of the body. ORES. Metals, when found in a state of com- And by its power of motion, it can be turned to bination with other substances, have the name of view those objects, in whatever direction they may ores. They are in general deposited in veins of appear. The wonder of this examination is greatvarious thickness, and at various depths in the ly increased on investigating the more minute parts earth. The mode of obtaining them is to penetrate and mechanism of the eye. The pupil is confrom the surface of the earth to the vein, and then tracted or dilated, according to the distance or reto follow it in whatever direction it may lie. The moteness of objects, or the increase or diminution hollow places thus formed are called mines, and of light. The coverings or tunics are of the firmthe men employed in them are denominated min- est texture, and softest substance. The vitreous, ers. When the veins are at a great depth, or ex- the aqueous, and the crystalline humors are all retend to any considerable distance beneath the sur-markable for clearness and transparency, and are face of the earth, it is necessary, at intervals, to formed according to the most exact rules of vision, make openings, or shafts, to the surface, for the for collecting the rays of light to a point.

tects their arts, and discovers their retreats; who entraps them with his snares, when not present himself; and who, lurking behind the thick covert, discharges his unerring instrument of death, and slays them at a distance so great, as not to awaken their apprehensions of danger.

Clumsy and misshapen are the instruments of seek in the distant recesses of the forests, or the art, when compared with this finished and beauti-impenetrable fastnesses of the mountains, protecful organ. True it is, that the microscope enables tion from an enemy, whose superior sagacity deus to survey the smaller works of nature, and that the telescope exalts our prospect to the wonders of the celestial bodies: but these are fixed and limited to certain distances, and particular points of view; one is adapted to measuring the magnitude of a planet, the other to examining the formation of an insect: but the eye wonderfully accommodates itself to every distance within its own extensive sphere. Without diminution of its force, or the energy or distinctness of its powers, it alike surveys the page of learning, embraces the wide prospects of sea and land, and takes in the countless constellations of the heavens. In what manner it can adapt itself to these very different objects and distances, seems not to be clearly understood by anatomists; we know however enough of its effects to see the most evident traces of design in its formation, and its most perfect fitness to the spheres in which different animals move. The study of optics, to which these remarks may lead, is one of the most pleasing branches of science.

It is thus he maintains his power over all living creatures, alike in the frozen regions of the north, and in the hot and burning plains of the torrid zone. Whenever they are discovered by his penetrating eye, the most savage and hostile tribes may for a time hold his empire in dispute: but their opposition and their force serve only to awaken his ingenuity, and call his powers into more daring action. The horse and the dog, which enjoy his protection from the earliest period of their lives, are taught to know their master, and to adopt many of his habits of life. Upon the lion and the tiger, which the African leads captive from the forests, or upon the vulture and the eagle, which he secures when young, or brings down The final cause for the production of animals from their rapid and sublime flights, he at first imwas a subject of deep and serious speculation poses the severity of famine, watching, and fatigue, among ancient philosophers: Aristotle, Cicero, to conquer their savage nature, and reduce them Seneca, and Pliny concluded, that all things were to obedience. The dangers of the ocean stop not created for the service of man. In modern times, the pursuits of man; the sailor catches the raventhis prejudice, so indulgent to the pride of man-ous shark, and transfixes the mighty whale. With kind, has been strengthened rather than weakened, a boldness still more desperate, the fowler of the by more enlarged inquiries, and more intimate north climbs the perpendicular rocks of Norway acquaintance with nature.

or St. Kilda, or lowered from their airy summits which overhang the tempestuous deep, explores the nests of the clamorous birds, and plunders them of their eggs and their young. From such arduous labors does man draw the means of his subsistence; from such exertions he acquires peculiar habits of courage and agility, becomes reconciled to his situation, and enjoys it without re

The dominion of man is sufficiently extensive to relieve his wants, administer to his luxury, and indulge his pride, as the lord of the creation. Is there any thing peculiarly august in his countenance, or commanding in his erect figure, which impresses the most savage beasts of the forest with terror, and awes them into submission? Or does he derive his superiority from his intellectual pow-pining at the easier lot of others. ers, and his contrivance of various expedients to subdue and tame them? The latter is certainly the more probable supposition. Those animals, which have not yet become acquainted with his prowess, meet his first attacks with the most hardy presumption. The albatross and the whale only fly from his presence, when they have felt the force of his weapons. The enormous bear of the polar regions boldly advances to meet his attack; and the ferocious lion of Zaara, confiding in his strength, ventures singly to engage a whole caravan, consisting of thousands; and when repulsed by numbers, and obliged to retire, he still continues to face his pursuers. On the contrary, in the most populous parts of Africa, when the lion has been frequently hunted by the hardy natives, such is his dread of the human race, that even the sight of a child puts him to flight. In all countries, in proportion as man is civilized, the lower ranks of animals are either reduced to servitude, or treated as rebels; all their associations are dissolved, except such as will answer his purposes, and all their united strength and natural powers are subdued, and nothing remains but their solitary instincts, or those foreign habitudes, which they acquire from human education. Those whose daring, or those whose timid natures admit not of being tamed,

Thus is constantly executed that primeval law, which secured the empire of the creation to man by the express voice of divine revelation, even after he had forfeited his innocence, and was debased by guilt. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hands are they delivered.' Genesis ix. 2.

Much as we may discern in the animal economy to convince us of the benevolence of nature, there are many things, which excite our surprise, and for which we cannot readily account. That she should so far in appearance counteract her own designs, as to make one animal prey upon another, seems extraordinary; but perhaps this law is not so severe as it appears to be, when we consider, that animals have no presentiment of their fate; that contracted as their existence is, all of them evidently enjoy that portion of happiness, which is consistent with their formation and powers. By the present constitution of the animal system the life and happiness of its superior orders are promoted: the bodies of the inferior classes, which from their delicate structure, must more quickly perish, become the materials of sustaining life in

For what reason nature is so prodigal in the production of animals invisible, as well as visible, to the unassisted eye; for what cause such ingeni-rience has conferred upon its parents, and, though ous contrivance is bestowed upon their structure, and so much elegance displayed in their colors and forms; why the more noxious animals should exist, such as the tarantula, the rattlesnake, the crocodile, and the izal salya; are questions which naturalists will not be able to answer, until they are more perfectly acquainted with the general economy of her designs, and the particular relation and dependance of one animal upon another.

It is upon these principles that we shall endeav-prevails.

Origin of regal Authority.-Extraordinary talents, | danger threatens them. In these assemblies, age however, and uncommon exertions, especially in will obtain a voluntary respect, and personal prowwarlike exploits, will always inspire the bulk of ess and daring intrepidity will be admired, as consuch a people with respect and admiration, and stituting superior excellence. In this state of soconsequently will confer upon the person who ciety, the idea of country strongly prevails. In possesses those qualities, in a high degree, a singu- cases of danger they find it necessary to associate lar sway over others, who without any deputation for mutual defence. Extent of territory is, to men to that effect, venerate him, and are influenced by in these circumstances, extremely necessary. An his will. They are pleased, and he acquires a idea of property in territorial possession therefore sway proportioned to the general opinion enter- takes its origin here; but this idea of territory tained of his prowess. Their subjection is volun- is only connected with the nation, or the tribe. tary; and they submit to it as long as they feel As no individual could make use of a small spot themselves inclined to do so, and no longer. for his own wants, he is satisfied if the hunting grounds he values most belong to his tribe; he has no wish to annex any part of it to his own person :-therefore, in this state of society, the idea of personal property in land has not yet originated; and of course all the intricacies, in respect to civil government, which this engenders, and the disputes these give rise to, are entirely obviated.

But if men have been accustomed, for a time, to view another as greater than themselves, they thus imperceptibly lose the idea of equality. The longer this person is capable of securing this sway, the more they admire him, and sink themselves in their own opinion. He comes, in time, to be thought of a superior nature. His near connexions participate, in some degree, of the respect paid to him. His family becomes elevated above others; and thus in time is formed, without foreseeing it, and without concert of any sort, a distinction of ranks, which gradually gives rise to hereditary authority and despotism.

Having given this short sketch of the rise of personal rank and hereditary authority, we shall next endeavor to trace, with somewhat more discrimination, the modifications of that authority in different stages in the progress of civil society.

The Pastoral State.-As men come gradually to tame animals, and pass into the state of pastors, the notion they had already imbibed, with regard to territorial property, continues to operate; but new institutions become necessary. It is not enough that the territory belongs to the tribe. In this case it becomes necessary, when they stop from any migratory journey, in quest of pastures, by some conventual agreement, to distribute the land to individuals in such lots as may be found necessary to preserve peace and order among them. Here every man acquires, by degrees, a notion of personal property in land; but in this case his connexion with that land is very slight;— he considers it as his property only so long as till

In the progress from rudeness to refinement in society, there are three stages that are distinctly marked. In the first, men subsist on the spontaneous productions of the earth, and the wild animals they can destroy. Men in this state of soci-the crop upon it, at the present time, be consumed. ety are Hunters.

Man gradually acquires a dominion over some of the most gentle animals, tames them, and feeds them for his own use. He lives upon the milk of his flocks, clothes himself with their skins, and cats their flesh when other provisions fail. This state of society is called the Pastoral.

In time, however, they learn to cultivate the fruits of the earth, and to make these subservient to their own use, both immediately by furnishing food to themselves, and mediately by affording ineat to beasts fit for the sustenance of man. This state of society has been denominated the Agricultural.

Each of these stages of society give rise to particular notions and institutions; and as men in society always advance through these stages in the order above enumerated, the ideas and habits that had become familiar in the one state, continue to form the basis, and have a great influence on those of the succeeding period. It is necessary for us, therefore, if we wish to acquire a just notion of the political institutions that now prevail, to trace their progress from the first period to the present times.

Hunters. While men continue to be hunters only, their civil government will be of the rudest kind; and, of course, every head of a family will be then in a great measure independent. Assemblies of the people, however, must be called, to deliberate on national affairs, and to provide for the common defence of the whole tribe, when

After that is done, he relinquishes it, and goes in quest of fresh pastures elsewhere, within the territories of the state. In this situation, therefore, the idea that land is entirely the property of the state, still prevails; but individuals consider themselves as entitled to make use of its produce exclusively, for a time.

Agriculturists. In temperate climates, where the surface of the country is diversified with hill and vale, and where fruits in abundance for man, and herbage for cattle, are to be found at all seasons, we can easily conceive an idea that communities may continue to exist, for many ages, in this migratory state, without ever acquiring any idea of personal property in land. But in less temperate climates that cannot be the case. There, the fruits that nature spontaneously produces are less abundant, and are to be found only at one season of the year. The herbage for cattle also fails entirely for a time, and the rigor of the winter's cold is such as to render the poor protection of a tent inadequate for affording the shelter required. To guard against this cold, and to provide places for storing up such fruits for himself, and provender for his cattle, as he can collect during the summer, more solid and permanent habitations become necessary for man. He builds himself a hut, and covers it in the most durable and effectual manner he can ;-this he effects with no little labor to him self;-and having once reared, he becomes un willing to abandon it. He considers this therefore as his own, and thus gradually begins to acquire

land.

some slight notions of fixed personal property in albumen, which first nourishes the chick during incubation; and a yolk, which is so suspended When he has thus attached himself to a place within it as to preserve the side on which the little of fixed residence, he will endeavor to render it as rudiment of the chicken is situated continually commodious to himself as possible. He finds some uppermost, and next to the mother that is sitting plants afford him a more agreeable repast than upon it. The yolk is in great measure received others; he tries to cultivate them by art ;-to pre-into the abdomen of the chicken, a little before the vent these plants from being destroyed by cattle, time of its being hatched, and serves for its supthe ground must be inclosed;-within this inclo- port, like the milk of a quadruped, and like the sure he finds he can cultivate grain, which may be cotyledons of young plants, until the system is bestored up for his own use, and that of his cattle, come sufficiently strong for extracting its own food in winter. He therefore acquires as great a fond-out of the ordinary nutriment of the species. ness for this bit of inclosed land as for his house. This is mine,' he says, 'and I will preserve it.' ORRERY. A curious machine, or movement, The idea accords with the general sense of men ;the community pronounce it reasonable, and de- dies; so called, because one, copied from the origfor representing the motions of the heavenly bocree, by a tacit consent, that it shall be his, and in inal invention of a Mr. Graham, was first made the use of it he is protected by universal custom, for the Earl of Orrery; and otherwise known by which gradually forms the basis of law. Of this the name of planetarium. It consists of represenkind of territorial property we find mention made tations of the planets, and of the zodiac, and other by Tacitus, and all the earliest Roman historians lines imagined by astronomers. By means of an who have treated of Germany, under the name of the field of the house. Here too we have the ori-orrery, persons who have not leisure to study asgin of that kind of landed property which was tronomy, may, in the space of a few days, obtain afterwards known by the name of Allodial, in distinction to those feudal tenures which came into use at a later period of society in Europe. This kind of Allodial property, to which the owner claims no other title than that of possession, acquired by transfer from another, or descent, is known till this day in the Shetland isles, that lie off the N. E. coast of Scotland, under the name of Udal property; a kind of tenure that probably once prevailed over all Scotland, though the name of it be now lost in our law books.

ORION. In Astronomy, a constellation of the southern hemisphere, consisting of thirty-seven stars, according to Ptolemy; of sixty-two, according to Tycho; and of no less than eighty, in the Britannic catalogue. The lately improved telescopes have discovered several thousand stars in this constellation of these, there are two of the first magnitude, four of the second, and several of the third and fourth. The stars of the first magnitude are Regel and Betelguese. Those of the second, are Bellatrix, on the left shoulder, and three in the belt; lying nearly in a right line, and at equal distances from each other.

ORNITHOLOGY. That branch of natural history which considers and describes birds, their natures and kinds, their form, external and internal, and teaches their economy and uses; also the several orders and genera in the alphabetical order. Birds are divided, according to the form of their bills, into six orders, viz. Accipitres, as eagles, vultures, and hawks: Picæ, as crows, jackdaws, humming-birds, and parrots: Anseres, as ducks, geese, swans, gulls: Grallæ, as herons, woodcocks, and ostriches: Gallinæ, as peacocks, pheasants, turkies, and common fowls: and Passeres, comprehending sparrows, larks, swallows, &c.

Birds are distinguished from quadrupeds, by their laying eggs: they are generally feathered; some few are hairy, and instead of hands or forelegs, they have wings. Their eggs are covered by a calcareous shell, and they consist of a white, or

a competent knowledge of several of the celestial
phenomena, and, especially, release their minds
from the common prejudices respecting the motion
of the earth: its principal use being to render the
theory of the earth and moon intelligible, and to
make evident to the senses the causes of those
appearances, that depend on the annual or diurnal
of the moon.
rotation of the earth, and the monthly revolutions

ORTHOEPY. The art of correct pronunciation, to be best acquired by hearing public speakers, and keeping good company.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

That part of grammar which teaches the nature and properties of letters, and the just method of spelling or writing words, making one of the four greatest divisions or branches of grammar.

ORYCTOLOGY. The science which treats of the vegetable and animal remains, found by digging in the earth, and by breaking rocks: one of the most curious subjects of inquiry, for it shows the gradual progress of the globe to its present state, and displays numerous genera and species no longer in existence. The whole proves that all dry land has more than once been covered by the sea, for marine and land remains alternate in the strata; and that owing to some change, perhaps, in the component and energizing parts of the atmosphere, the whole of the organized existence of the globe has been changed also, while future changes seem not less probable than the past. Vegetables, in general, have been converted into coal, or stone, and found as trunks, leaves, and fruit, of species not now existing. The animal remains are still more perfect and wonderful, in bones, horns, teeth, &c. of unknown kinds; and every thing seems different and changed, though the same classes are often found. Remains of fish, and sea-shells in vast masses, are found in the interior of all countries, and imbedded in rocks on the highest mountains.