El´zevir, or Elzevier, the name of a family of publishers and printers, residing at Amsterdam and Leyden, celebrated for the beauty of the editions of various works published by them, principally between 1595 and 1680. Louis, the founder of the family (born 1540, died 1617), settled in Leyden, and between 1583 and his death produced about 150 works. Five of his seven sons followed his business:—Matthæus at Leyden; Louis (II) at the Hague; Gilles at the Hague and afterwards at Leyden; Joost in Utrecht; and Bonaventure, who in 1626 associated himself with Abraham, the son of Matthæus. From the press of Abraham and Bonaventure issued the exquisite editions of the classics which have made the name of Elzevir famous. Of these the Livy and Tacitus of 1634, the Pliny of 1635, the Virgil of 1636, and the Cicero of 1642 are perhaps the most beautiful. The Elzevir books are distinguished by the types and the choice of the paper rather than by the critical preparation of their texts.
Emanation, in a specific sense, an idea at the centre of many philosophic systems which seek to explain the universe as an eternal efflux or emanation from the Supreme Being, comparable with the efflux of light from the sun. The idea of emanation came from the East, and traces of the doctrine are found in the system of Zoroaster. It had a powerful influence on the ancient Egyptian philosophy, as also on that of the Greeks, as may be seen in Pythagoras. It was subsequently developed by Plotinus,the Gnostics, Manicheans, Pantheists, and other sects.
Eman´uel the Great, King of Portugal, born in 1469, died in 1521. He ascended the throne in 1495, and during his reign were performed the voyages of discovery of Vasco da Gama, of Cabral, of Americus Vespucius, and the heroic exploits of Albuquerque, by whose exertions a passage was found to the East Indies, the Portuguese dominion in Goa was established, and the Brazils and Moluccas were discovered. The commerce of Portugal, under Emanuel, was more prosperous than at any former period. The treasures of America flowed into Lisbon, and the reign of Emanuel was justly called 'the golden age of Portugal'. He died at the age of fifty-two, deeply lamented by his subjects, but hated by the Moors and the Jews, whom he had expelled from the country. He was a patron of learned men, and himself left memoirs on the Indies. He married three times: in 1497 Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, heiress of Castile; in 1500 her sister Maria; and in 1519 Eleonora of Austria, sister of Charles V.
Embalming (em-bäm´ing; Gr. balsamon, balm), the process of so treating dead bodies with aromatic and antiseptic substances as to preserve them from corruption and decomposition. The ancient Egyptians employed this art on a great scale, embalming not only human corpses, but also the bodies of cats, ibises, crocodiles, and other animals held sacred. The mummy of King Mer-en-rē, who lived about 2500 years before our era, found in 1880, was in an excellent state of preservation. Other peoples, such as the Assyrians and Persians, also followed the practice, though hardly equalling Egyptian methods. The abdomen was emptied through an incision, and the brains drawn through the nostrils by means of a special instrument. The ancient Peruvians appear to have injected and washed the corpses with a fluid that flows from imperfectly burned wood, in which pyroligneous acid, creosote, and other antiseptics are present. Pliny alludes to the use of a similar fluid by the Egyptians. In more recent times bodies have been preserved for centuries by embalming, especially when they have remained at a low and uniform temperature and have been protected from the air. The corpse of Edward I, buried in Westminster Abbey in 1307, was found entire in 1770. Canute died in 1036, and his body was discovered very fresh in Winchester Cathedral in 1776. The bodies of William the Conqueror and of his wife Matilda were found entire at Caen in the sixteenth century. Of the various modern artificial means of preserving bodies, impregnation with corrosive sublimate appears to be one of the most effective, next to immersion in spirits. An injection of sulphate of zinc into the blood-vessels is also stated to be satisfactory; while natron, various spices, and other aromatic compounds are sometimes employed. The original reason for embalming was most probably the preservation of the body to await a resurrection and a future life.—Bibliography: W. Budge, The Mummy; G. Elliot Smith, A Contribution to the Study of Mummification in Egypt; Myers, Textbook of Embalming.
Embank´ment, a mound of earth, &c., thrown up either for the purpose of forming a roadway at a level different from that of the natural surface of the ground, or for keeping a large body of water within certain limits. When
constructed wholly of earth or clay, it is triangular in cross-section, with the apex cut off parallel to the base line, the angle of the sloping sides varying with the nature of the material used. Thus the slope of loose rubble, chalk, stone, loamy sand, or gravel requires about 1½ base to 1 vertical; dry, loose, and ordinary clay, 2 horizontal to 1 vertical, while some clays require a much wider base. To prevent subsidence on marshy or peaty soils, either the weight of the heart of the embankment is diminished, as in Holland, by introducing layers of reeds or fascines, or artificial foundations are prepared. The embankment may be prevented from slipping laterally by forming steps in the earth of the subsoil, or by cutting deep trenches at the feet of the slopes. In cases where embankments are raised for the storage of water, a 'puddle-dike', that is, a water-tight wall, must be inserted through the whole depth of the bank down to the impermeable strata beneath. To resist the action of wind and rain, or of the waters of a slow-flowing stream, the banks should in all possible cases be covered with turf. Among the largest embankments hitherto executed are those on the banks of the Po, the Meuse, the Scheldt; on the shores of the Netherlands; the Oberhäuser embankment on the Augsburg and Lindau Railway, the Gadelbach cutting on the Ulm and Augsburg line, and the Tring cutting on the London and North-Western Railway.
Embar´go, in commerce, an arrest on ships or merchandise by public authority; or a prohibition of State, commonly on foreign ships, in time of war, to prevent their going out of or coming into port. A breach of embargo, under knowledge of the insured, discharges the underwriters of all liability.
Em´bassy, in its strict sense, signifies a mission presided over by an ambassador, as distinguished from a legation or mission entrusted to an envoy. An ambassador, as the representative of the person of his sovereign, can demand a private audience of the sovereign to whom he is accredited, while an envoy must communicate with the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Ember-days, in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, fast-days occurring at the times in the year appointed for ordinations. As now observed they are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent, after the feast of Pentecost or Whitsunday, after the festival of the Holy Cross (14th Sept.), and after the festival of St. Lucia (13th Dec.). The weeks in which these days fall are called Ember-weeks.
Ember-goose (Colymbus septentrionalis), an aquatic bird, known also as the great northern diver and loon. The latter name, however, is also applied to the great crested grebe.