EMBARGO. 



EMBLEMENTS. 



860 



port a vertical weight), the slope required to be given to loose rubble 

 stone, chalk, loamy sand or gravel, is about 1^ base to 1 in height. 

 Light incoherent sand, and ordinary clay, ought to have slopes of 

 about 2 base to 1 in height ; whilst the more unctuous clays, such as 

 the Oxford clay or the London clay, frequently require slopes of as 

 much as 3 to 1, in order to prevent slips. Evidently, however, it must 

 be dangerous to lay down any invariable rules on this subject. The 

 nature of all geological materials is liable to great local varieties ; and 

 the conditions of the foundations of an embankment, as well as the 

 purposes the embankments themselves are intended to fulfil, differ in 

 such extraordinary manners that it is not possible to say, a priori, the 

 course it would be advisable to adopt in every case. It is the duty of 

 the engineer to examine and to allow for the various disturbing cir- 

 cumstances which may affect the application of the general rules above 

 given. 



If it should be necessary at any time to form a bridge, or a culvert, 

 drain, Ac., under an embankment of any considerable height, precau- 

 tions must be taken to prevent any unequal thrusts against the side 

 walls of those structures ; and the weight thrown upon their crowns 

 must be deposited without producing any sudden shock of a nature to 

 disturb the brickwork or masonry. Care must also be taken to cover 

 the top and the inner sides of the retaining walls with an impermeable 

 material, in order to obviate any danger to the masonry by the infil- 

 tration of water through the superincumbent earth. This precaution 

 is far too much neglected in English engineering works, and there can 

 be no doubt but that the fall of many of the railway bridges recently 

 erected may be accounted for by the gradual removal of the mortar 

 from the joints of the masonry, by the passage of the waters falling 

 upon the exposed upper surfaces. It is singular even that there is no 

 special technical word in our language to express the rendering coat 

 laid upon the top of an arch, such as the French word " chape." Hy- 

 draulic lime, hydraulic cement, and asphalte, are much used by foreign 

 engineers in the execution of these " chapes." 



In addition to the consideration above referred to, with respect to 

 the amount of compression which may be expected to take place in the 

 materials carried to an embankment, according to the method of trans- 

 port adopted, it U necessary also to bear in mind the relative cost of 

 those different methods, which naturally will vary according to the 

 quantities of earthwork to be dealt with. It is usually admitted that 

 it is preferable to execute embankments, where the rate of compression 

 may be neglected, by means of barrow-work, when the lead, or distance 

 of transport, does not exceed from 70 to 100 yards; when the lead is 

 between 70 and 180 yards it is most economical to employ carts drawn 

 by men, but at about 150 yards lead it begins to be advisable to employ 

 carts drawn by horses; between the distances of 150 and 300 yards, 

 cart-work by horses is decidedly the most economical : but above 300 

 yards lead there is an economy in using temporary railroads, and wag- 

 gons drawn by horses, for transporting the material. In very large 

 embankments, locomotives are sometimes advantageously employed, 

 when the lead attains or exceeds a quarter of a mile ; local consider- 

 ations must, however, often render it advisable to modify the appli- 

 cation of these calculations. 



Amongst the most important embankments hitherto executed may 

 be cited those upon the banks of the Po, the Loire, the Rhine, Meuse, 

 Scheldt, Thames, Ouse, Nene, the shores of Zeeland, Holland, Fries- 

 land, Ac., to be noticed hereafter ; the embankment upon the Elles- 

 mere Canal, near the Pont y Cysilte ; the embankments which close 

 the gorges of the gathering grounds of the Liverpool and Manchester 

 Water-works, Ac. Upon some of the railways there are also gigantic 

 works of this description ; as, for instance, on the Ulm and Augsburg 

 line, the embankment of Gadelbach, cubing H millions of cubic yards, 

 nearly ; that of Tabotsofen, on the same line, cubing 1 j millions of 

 cubic yards ; that of Cowran, on the Carlisle railway, cubing 1^ millions 

 of cubic yards ; those near Ellsworth on the Birmingham railway, of the 

 Pont de Yonne on the Lyon, the Malaunay valley on the Rouen and 

 Havre, the Poincy valley on the Strasburg lines, are of somewhat 

 analogous magnitude. 



EMBARGO, the word used to denote the act by which the public 

 authorities of a country lay an arrest on ships to prevent their leaving 

 its ports. On the breaking out of war with any nation it has been 

 usual for the government of each country to lay an embargo upon 

 such of the enemy's ships as are within reach, with a view to their 

 declared good and lawful prize. During the progress of war, 

 when any expedition is on foot against the enemy, and it is desirable 

 to keep the circumstance from the knowledge of the party to be 

 attacked, it is usual to lay an embargo upon all private vessels, as well 

 those under the national flag as foreign vessels, until the object to be 

 attained by secrecy is accomplished. An embargo may also be laid by 

 the government upon ships belonging to its subjects with a view to 

 their employment for the service and defence of the nation. In all 

 these cinon it is clear that embargoes are detrimental to commerce ; 

 nVy case in which they have an opposite character is when a 

 foreign vessel of war i>r privateer frequents a neutral port, and is 

 restrained from quitting the same until a certain time shall have 

 elapsed after the departure from the port of any vessel of which it 

 might otherwise make prize. 



KMUKR-DAYS and WEEKS, certain scsaons of the year set apart 

 for imploring the blessing of the Almighty on the produce of the 



ARTS AMD SCI. BIV. VOL. III. 



earth by prayer and fasting, observed in the Christian Church as early 

 as the 3rd century. Pope Calixtus, who first directed them to be 

 observed, also ordained that the same seasons should be especially 

 devoted to the preparation of the clergy before their ordination. These 

 seasons are mentioned in the laws both of Alfred and Canute. At 

 first the Ember-days were not uniformly observed by different Churches 

 at the same time ; but the Council of Placentia, A.D. 1095, fixed the 

 spring and summer Ember-days to be the Wednesdays, Fridays, and 

 Saturdays after the first Sunday in Lent and Whitsunday ; those of 

 autumn and winter upon the same days after the feast of the holy 

 cross (September 14th) and St. Lucia (December 13th). The Sundays 

 immediately following all these seasons are still appointed by the 

 thirty-first canon of the Church of England for the ordination of 

 ministers. The four weeks in which the Ember-days severally occur 

 are called Ember-weeks. Shakspere speaks of Ember-eves. The ety- 

 mology of Ember-days is uncertain. Some have derived the term 

 from ember, ashes ; others from r/fitpat, days ; and others from ymbren, 

 which in the Anglo-Saxon means a circle or revolution, the Ember- 

 days being set seasons in the course or circuit of the year. 



EMBEZZLEMENT, from the old French word besler, or cmbenter, to 

 filch, is the fraudulent appropriation by servants and others of money 

 or goods entrusted to their care, or received by them on account of 

 their employers. 



By Clerks and Servants. Is an indictable offence under the 7th and 

 8th Geo. IV. c. 29, s. 46, and by that statute is declared to be larceny, 

 and punishable with transportation for a term not exceeding fourteen 

 or less than seven years, or by imprisonment for any term not exceed- 

 ing three years. If the offender be a male he is liable to be once, 

 twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so 

 think fit), in addition to such imprisonment. This statute extends to 

 the clerks and servants (both male and female) of all persons, whether 

 in or out of trade, provided they are entrusted to receive moneys for 

 then- employers. Notwithstanding the statute declared the offence to 

 be larceny, it was necessary to indict the offenders for the particular 

 offence ; and the legal distinctions between larceny and embezzlement 

 being often very subtle, offenders escaped. This was remedied by the 

 stat. 14 A 15 Viet. c. 100, allowing persons indicted for larceny to be 

 convicted of embezzlement, and vice versd. 



By Workmen in certain manufactures. A number of statutes, from 

 the 1 Anne, stat. 2, c. 18, to the 6 A 7 Viet. c. 40, provide against 

 fraudulent appropriations by workmen in woollen, linen, fustian, 

 cotton, iron, and other manufactures, and by colliers and miners. 



By Agents, Bankers, Attorneys, <0c. Of moneys and securities, when 

 entrusted to them for any special purpose, is constituted a misde- 

 meanor by the statute 7 A 8 Geo. IV. c. 49, and subjects the offender 

 to transportation, as in the case of clerks and servants, or to fine and 

 imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. Further important pro- 

 visions for the punishment of frauds committed by trustees, bankers, 

 directors, officers, members of bodies corporate and public companies, 

 and other persons entrusted with property, are contained in the statute 

 20 A 21 Viet. c. 54. 



By Public Servants. Under the 2nd Wm. IV. c. 4, s. 1, persons 

 employed in the public service and embezzling any moneys or securities 

 entrusted to them are to be deemed guilty of felony, and are punish- 

 able in the same manner as clerks and servants for the like offence, 

 except being whipped. Embezzlement of money or stores by officers 

 of her Majesty's forces is provided for by the annual army and marine 

 Mutiny Acts. There are, moreover, several acts relating to the embez- 

 zlement of naval and public stores. (See the 55 Geo. III. c. 127, and 

 acts there referred to.) Until the 4 A 5 Viet. c. 56, embezzlement by 

 servants of the Bank of England was a capital felony. 



As to bankrupts and insolvents, see BANKRUPT and INSOLVENT. 



EMBLEM ; in Greek, eju/SXij/ia (from 4v and &d\\fiy, to cast in), a 

 thing inserted, inlaid work, mosaic, or the like. [MOSAIC]. In English, 

 an emblem is a figurative representation ; a representation which by 

 virtue of association suggests to our minds something not expressed 

 to our senses. For instance, a lion is the emblem of courage, a cock 

 of watchfulness, because watchfulness and courage are qualities com- 

 monly associated in our minds with those animals, as their character- 

 istics. So by historical association, without any intrinsic fitness, one 

 thing may become the emblem of another, as the wheel and other 

 instruments of torture are emblems of saints who have perished by 

 them. Any device, however arbitrary, when established by usage as 

 a distinctive mark, may become the emblem and be put for that 

 which assumes it, either in writing or in imitative art ; as for instance 

 in Wordsworth's lines : 



From town to town, from tower to tower, 

 The red roue is a gladsome flower, &c. 



The red rose is the emblem of the house of Lancaster, though no 

 mention of that house has been made, just as the cross is now the 

 general emblem of Christianity. 



EMBLEMENTS, from the French words emblavence de bled (corn 

 sprung or put above ground), in its strict signification means the profits 

 of land sown, but in its usual sense it extends to roots planted and 

 other annual artificial profits which arise from the soil, as for example, 

 standing corn, hemp, saffron, flax, hops, and garden produce growing 

 above ground, as melons and cucumbers, all of which annually require 



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