ELZEVIR EMBALMING. 



849 



most beautiful meadows alternated with pleasant 

 groves ; a serene and cloudless sky was spread over 

 them, and a soft, celestial light shed a magical 

 brilliancy over every object ; the heroes there re- 

 newed their favourite sports ; they exercised them- 

 selves in wrestling and other contests, danced to the 

 sound of the lyre from which Orpheus drew the 

 most enchanting tones, or wandered through odori- 

 ferous laurel groves, on the smiling banks of the 

 Eridanus, in delightful vales, or-in meadows watered 

 by limpid fountains, amid the warbling of birds, 

 sometimes alone and sometimes in company ; a per- 

 petual spring reigned there ; the earth teemed three 

 times a-year; and all cares, pains, and infirmities 

 were banished from those happy seats. (For the 

 origin of the fable, see Cemetery.) The voluptuous 

 description of the gardens of Armida, in Tasso's 

 Jerusalem Delivered, is an imitation of the ancient 

 ideas of the Elysian fields. The Parisians have cal- 

 led one of their favourite gardens and principal places 

 of amusement Champs-Elisees. 



ELZEVIR, or ELZVIER. This iamily of prin- 

 ters, residing at Amsterdam and Leyden, is cele- 

 brated for beautiful editions, principally published 

 from 1595 to 1680. The best known are Louis, 

 Matthew, Isaac (associated with Buonaventura), 

 John and Daniel, at Amsterdam and Leyden. Be- 

 sides these was Peter Elzevir, at Utrecht, who has 

 done less for the art. Louis was the first printer 

 who made a distinction between the consonant v and 

 the vowel u. Abraham and Buonaventura prepared 

 the small editions of the classics, in 12mo and 

 1 Gmo, which are still valued for their beauty, and 

 correctness. Daniel was one of the most active of 

 this family. Although the Elzevirs were surpassed 

 in learning, and in Greek and Hebrew editions, by 

 the Stephenses (Etiennes, printers and booksellers 

 at Paris), they were unequalled in their choice of 

 works, and in the elegance of their typography. 

 Their editions of Virgil, Terence, the new Testa- 

 n.ent, the Psalter, &c., executed with red letters, 

 are masterpieces of typography, both for correctness 

 nd beauty. Several catalogues of their editions 

 have been published : the last is by Daniel (1674, 

 12mo), in seven parts, much increased by the ad- 

 mission of foreign works. See Brunei's Notice de la 

 Collect. cCAuteurs, etc. p. les Elzeo. in the 4th vol. of 

 the Manuel du Libraire. 



EMANATION, EFFLUX (from the Latin ema- 

 nare, to issue, to flow out, to emanate). Philoso- 

 phical systems, which, like most of the ancient, do 

 not adopt a spontaneous creation of the universe 

 by a Supreme Being, frequently explain the universe 

 by an eternal emanation from the Supreme Being. 

 This doctrine came from the East. Traces of it are 

 found in the Indian mythology, and in the old Persian 

 or Bactro-Median doctrine of Zoroaster. It had a 

 powerful influence on the ancient Greek philosophy, 

 as may be seen in Pythagoras. In theology, the 

 doctrine of emanation is the doctrine of the Trinity, 

 which regards the Son and Holy Ghost, &c., as 

 effluxes from the Deity himself. 



EMANCIPATION. See Catholic Emancipation. 



EMANUEL THE GREAT, king of Portugal, 

 ascended the throne in 1495. During his reign 

 were performed the voyages of discovery of Vasco 

 da Gama (1497), of Cabral (1500), of Americus 

 Vespucius (1501 and 1503), and the heroic exploits 

 of Albuquerque, by whose exertions a passage was 

 found to the East Indies (for which the way was pre- 

 pared by the discovery of the cape of Good Hope, in 

 1486, by Bartholomew Dias), the Portuguese domi- 

 nion in Goa was established, the Brazils, the Moluc- 

 cas, &c., were discovered. The commerce of Por- 

 tugal, 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 

 December, 13, 1521, aged fifty-two, deeply la- 

 mented by his subjects, out hated by the Moors, 

 whom he had expelled, and by the Jews, whom he 

 had compelled to submit to baptism. As a monu- 

 ment of his discoveries, Emanuel built the monastery 

 at Belem, where he was buried. He was a friend 

 to the sciences, and to learned men. He left Me- 

 moirs on the Indies. 



EMBALMING ; to embalm, to fill and surround 

 with aromatic and desiccative substances any bodies, 

 particularly corpses, in order to preserve them from 

 corruption. The ancient Egyptians were the inven- 

 tors of this art. Other people, for example, the 

 Assyrians, Scythians, and Persians, followed them, but 

 by no means equalled them in it. The art was degen- 

 erated very much from the high degree of perfection 

 at which it stood among the ancients; perhaps because 

 the change in religious opinions and customs has made 

 the embalming of the dead less frequent. In modern 

 times, only distinguished persons are occasionally em- 

 balmed; but this process does not prevent corruption. 



The intestines are taken out of the body, and the 

 brains out of the head, and the cavities filled up with 

 a mixture of balsamic herbs, myrrh, and others of 

 the same kind ; the large blood-vessels and other 

 vessels are injected with balsams dissolved in spirits 

 of wine ; the body, is rubbed hard with spirits of the 

 same kind, &c. (See Mummies.) The ancient 

 Egyptians removed the viscera from the large cavi- 

 ties, and replaced them with aromatic, saline, and 

 bituminous substances, and also enveloped the outside 

 of the body in cloths impregnated with similar ma- 

 terials. These were useful in preventing decompo- 

 sition and excluding insects until perfect dryness 

 took place. 



In later times, bodies have been preserved a 

 long time by embalming, especially when they have 

 remained at a low and uniform temperature, and have 

 been protected from the air. The body of Edward I. 

 was buried in Westminster abbey, in 1307, and in 

 1770 was found entire. Canute died in 1036 ; his 

 body was found very fresh in 1776, in Winchester 

 cathedral. The bodies of William the Conqueror 

 and of Matilda his wife were found entire at Caen, 

 in the sixteenth century. Similar cases are not un- 

 frequent. 



In many instances, bodies not embalmed have 

 been preserved from decay merely by the exclusion of 

 the air, and the lowness of the temperature. Impreg- 

 nation of the animal body with corrosive sublimate 

 appears to be the most effectual means of preserving 

 it, excepting immersion hi spirits. The impreg- 

 nation is performed by the injection of a strong solu- 

 tion, consisting of about four ounces of bichloride 

 of mercury to a pint of alcohol, into the blood-ves- 

 sels, and, after the viscera are removed, the body is 

 immersed, for three months, in the same solution, 

 after which it dries easily, and is almost imperish- 

 able. Wet preparations, or those immersed in alco- 

 hol or oil of turpentine, last for an indefinite time. 



Messrs. Caprou and Boniface, two celebrated 

 chemists of Chaillot in France, have recently made 

 an important discovery, by which they can preserve 

 the human figure in a manner superior to any hi- 

 therto practised. By a process which they keep 

 secret, and to which they have given the name of 

 " Momification ;" they have succeeded, after expe- 

 rimenting for many years, in so modifying and per- 

 fecting the known process of preserving bodies, as 

 to reduce them to mummies, leaving all the forms 

 unaltered. All the elements of disorganization 

 which show themselves in the human body so soon 

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