ORCHESTRA

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) In Architecture, that part in the interior of a theatre situate immediately between the stage and the place a igned to the audience. In the Greek and Roman theatres it was the part appropriated to the chorus and its evolutions, and was almost level with the stage. In the theatres of the moderns, it is the place appropriated to the musicians. The word is also applied to any erection for the performers in a concert. ORCHID ACE.'E. (Orchis, one of the genera.) A natural order of Herbaceous Endogens, inhabiting all parts of the world excepting those climates situated upon the verge of the frozen zone, or remarkable for their exceeding dryne . They are well known for the singular form of their flowers. Some of them grwv in the earth, others inhabit rocks and the branches of trees, and a few appear to be true parasites. They all belong to the cla Gynandria of Linnajus; are often very agreeably scented; and sometimes produce an aromatic fleshy fruit, as in the case of vanilla, which contains a large quantity of benzoic acid. The nutritious substance called salep is prepared from the amylaceous roots of several terrestrial species. [s. 864]