Part 17

ELO'HIM (plural of _Eloah_), one of the Hebrew names for God, of frequent occurrence in the Bible. Elohim is used in speaking both of the true God and of false gods, while Jehovah is confined to the true God. The plural form of Elohim has caused a good deal of controversy, some considering it as containing an allusion to the doctrine of the Trinity, others regarding it as the plural of excellence, others holding it as establishing the fact of a primitive polytheism. The Elohistic passages in the _Pentateuch_, or, in other words, the passages in which the Almighty is always spoken of as Elohim, are supposed to have been written at an earlier period than those in which he is spoken of as Jehovah. The Elohistic passages are simpler and more primitive in character than the Jehovistic; thus _Gen._ i, 27 is Elohistic; _Gen._ ii, 21-4 is Jehovistic.

EL PASO ('the pass' or crossing), a town of the United States, in Texas, at an important ford or crossing of the Rio Grande del Norte, where there is now a railway bridge, with extensive railway connections and large trade with Mexico, the smaller Mexican town of same name being on the opposite bank of the river. Pop. (including suburbs), 39,280.

ELPHINSTONE. Hon. Mountstuart, Indian administrator, son of the eleventh Lord Elphinstone, born in Scotland in 1778, died in 1859. He joined the Bengal Civil Service in 1795, was Ambassador to the Afghan Court in 1808, Resident at the Court of Poonah from 1810 to 1817, and British commissioner to that province from 1817 to 1819, when he became Governor of Bombay. During a government of seven years he established a code of laws, lightened taxes, and paid great attention to schools and public institutions. He resigned in 1827. A college established by the natives was called after him Elphinstone College. He was the author of an _Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies_ (1815), and a _History of India_ (1841). He was offered the governor-generalship of India in 1835, and afterwards that of Canada, both of which he declined.

ELPHINSTONE, William, a Scottish prelate, founder of King's College and University, Aberdeen, born at Glasgow in 1431, died in 1514. He was educated at Glasgow College, and served four years as priest of St. Michael's in that city. He then went to France and became professor of law, first at Paris and subsequently at Orleans, but before 1474 he returned home at the request of Muirhead, Bishop of Glasgow, who made him commissary of the diocese. In 1478 he was made commissary of the Lothians, and in 1479 Archdeacon of Argyle. Soon after he was made Bishop of Ross; and in 1483 was transferred to the see of Aberdeen. In 1484 and 1486 he was commissioned to negotiate truces with England, and in 1488 was Lord High-Chancellor of the kingdom for several months. He was next sent on a mission to Germany, and after his return held the office of Lord Privy Seal till his death in 1514. In 1494 he obtained a papal bull for the erection of the university of King's College at Aberdeen.

ELSINORE' (Dan. _Helsing[:o]r_), a seaport of Denmark, in the Island of Seeland, at the narrowest part of the Sound, here only 3-1/2 miles broad, 24 miles north by east of Copenhagen, opposite Helsingborg in Sweden, and connected with it by train-ferry. Near Elsinore is the castle of Kronberg, built by Frederick II of Denmark about 1580, and commanding the Sound. The castle, now chiefly used as barracks, is associated with Shakespeare's _Hamlet_. Before the abolition of the Sound dues in 1857 all merchant ships passing through were bound to pay toll here. Pop. 13,990.

ELSTER two German rivers, the White or Great Elster, a tributary of the Saale; the Black Elster, a tributary of the Elbe.

ELSWICK (els'ik), a suburb of Newcastle, England, containing the great ordnance-works of Armstrong, Mitchell, & Co. Pop. 58,352.

ELTON, Charles Isaac, English jurist and archaeologist, born 1839, died 1900. He was educated at Cheltenham and Oxford, became a barrister and a member of Parliament, and wrote various works on legal and other subjects, the most important being _Origins of English History_. In this work he traces the development of England and its inhabitants, from the earliest times regarding which we have any knowledge, to the acceptance of Christianity by the Anglo-Saxons, the investigation of the evidence furnished by Greek and Roman writers, and the discussion of prehistoric ethnology and archaeology being especially thorough. Other works are: _Commons and Waste Lands_, and _W. Shakespeare: His Family and Friends_.

ELU'TRIATION (Lat. _elutriare_, to wash out), the process of separating the finer particles of a clay, earth, or similar mass, from the coarser, consisting in stirring up the substance in water, letting the coarser particles subside, running off the liquid containing the finer particles, and then waiting till they subside.

ELVAS, a fortified city of Portugal, province of Alemtejo, near the Spanish frontier, 12 miles north-west of Badajoz, on a height flanked by two others, each crowned by a castle. It has a cathedral, partly Moorish and partly Gothic, and a Moorish aqueduct, a magnificent work which brings water from a distance of 15 miles. Pop. 10,645.

ELY ([=e]'li), an episcopal city of England, in the county of Cambridge, on an eminence on the left bank of the Ouse. The ecclesiastical structures comprise the cathedral, one of the largest in England, and the churches of St. Mary, and the Holy Trinity, the last belonging to the time of Edward II, and one of the most perfect buildings of that age. The superb cathedral occupies the site of a monastery founded about the year 673 by Etheldreda, daughter of the King of East Anglia. Its entire length, east to west, is 517 feet, and its west tower is 270 feet high. The whole structure comprises an almost unbroken series of the various styles of architecture which prevailed in England from the Conquest to the Reformation, yet with no loss of impressiveness as a whole. It was begun in 1083, completed in 1534, and since 1847 has undergone extensive additions and restoration. A fine gateway, built in the reign of Richard II, forms the principal entrance to the cathedral precincts. There are a few manufactures, but most of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural labour. Pop. 7917.

ELY, ISLE OF, a portion of the county of Cambridge, separated by the Ouse from the rest of the county, and forming itself a sort of county. It is about 28 miles long by 25 miles broad; area, 239,259 acres. The name is also given to a smaller tract, about 7 miles long by 4 miles broad. The soil is very fertile. Pop. 69,752.

ELYMUS, a genus of grasses, natives chiefly of the north temperate zone. The British species, _E. arenarius_ (lyme grass) is a good sand-binder.

ELYS'IUM, or ELYSIAN FIELDS, among the Greeks and Romans the regions inhabited by the blessed after death. They are placed by Homer at the extremities of the earth, by Plato at the antipodes, and by others in the Fortunate Islands (the Canaries). They were at last supposed to be in the interior of the earth, where Virgil described them as being. The happiness of the blessed consisted in a life of tranquil enjoyment in a perfect summer land, where the heroes, freed from all care and infirmities, renewed their favourite sports.

ELY'TRA, the horny cases into which the front wings of beetles are modified, and which meet in a straight line down the middle of the back. The membranous hind-wings are here the organs of flight, and when not in use are folded longitudinally and transversely, and tucked away under the elytra.

ELZE (el'tse), Karl, German writer, distinguished for his studies in English literature, born 1821, died 1889. He studied in Leipzig and Berlin, was long a teacher in the gymnasium of his birth-place, Dessau, and in 1875 was appointed to the chair of English language and literature at Halle. Among his writings were valuable biographies of Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron (the latter translated into English), and a biographical and critical work on Shakespeare, also translated into English (1888).

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:--Matthaeus 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 Matthaeus. 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-b[:a]m'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-r[=e], 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 1-1/2 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 Oberh[:a]user 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.

EMBERIZ[=I]'DAE, a family of small perching birds, typical genus Ember[=i]za. It includes the buntings, the snow-flake, the yellow-hammer, and reed sparrow. The ortolan belongs to this family. By some naturalists it is classified as a sub-family of the finches.

EMBEZ'ZLEMENT is the appropriation, by a clerk or servant, to himself, of money or property put into his hands in trust. In English law it is a felony punishable by penal servitude for not more than fourteen years, or by imprisonment; and in the case of a male under the age of sixteen, by whipping in addition to the imprisonment.

EM'BLEMENTS (Fr. _emblaver_, to sow with grain), in law, the crops actually growing at any time upon land. They are considered in law as personal property, and pass as such to the executor or administrator of the occupier, if the latter die before he has actually cut, or reaped, or gathered the same.

EM'BOLISM is the obstruction of a blood-vessel by an embolus, the name given to a blood-clot or other body carried by the blood-stream, and obstructing the circulation at the point of lodgment. An embolism in a vital organ gives rise to serious symptoms which may cause death in a short time, or more remotely by the production of gangrene or pyaemia.

EMBOS'SING, the art of producing raised figures upon plane surfaces, such as on leather for bookbinding; on paper for envelopes; on wood or bronze, in architecture or sculpture. Embossing in needlework is effected by embroidery over figures padded with wool felt.

EMBRA'CERY, an attempt to corrupt or influence a jury by money, promises, letters, entertainments, persuasions, or the like.

EMBRA'SURE, in fortification, an opening in the breastwork or parapet of a battery or fortress, to admit of a gun being fired through it.

EMBROI'DERY (O. Fr. _embroder_, from _bord_, border), figured work in gold, or silver, or silk thread, wrought by the needle, upon cloths, stuffs, or muslins. In embroidering stuffs a kind of stretching-frame is used, because the more the piece is stretched the easier it is worked. The art was common in the East in very ancient times. The Jews appear to have acquired it from the Egyptians; Homer makes frequent allusion to it; and Phrygia was celebrated for its embroidery, which was in great demand at Rome. The Nineveh mural reliefs in the British Museum show Assyrian robes with floral ornaments, and a relief (now in the Louvre, Paris) from the palace of Darius I shows Persian robes with embroidery. The Anglo-Saxons had a Continental reputation, and from the eleventh to the sixteenth century the art of pictorial needlework was of the highest importance both as a recreation and as an industry. Embroidery is commonly divided into two classes: white embroidery applied to dress and furniture, in which the French and the Swiss excel; and embroidery in silk, gold, and silver, chiefly in demand for ecclesiastical vestments. The Chinese, Hindus, Persians, and Turks excel in such work.--Cf. Christie, _Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving_.

EMBRUN ([.a]n-br[.u]n), a picturesque walled town, France, department Hautes-Alpes, on a rocky eminence on the Durance. It was sacked successively by Vandals, Huns, Saxons, and Moors, by the Protestants in 1573, and by the Duke of Savoy in 1692. It has a fine cathedral. Pop. 3556.

EM'BRY, an immature organism, especially in the earlier stages of development from the fertilized ovum onwards. The embryo of a mammal (except in the egg-laying duck-bill and spiny ant-eater), which develops internally, is known as a _foetus_. The dormant plantlet in a seed is also known as an embryo.

EMBRYOL'OGY, the branch of biology concerned with the fertilization of the ovum and its development into the adult. Aristotle and Galen made some observations on the subject, as regards animals, while Harvey and his successors considerably advanced our knowledge, but as a distinct and important subject embryology only dates from the nineteenth century. In the course of its development an organism repeats the evolution of its group in an abbreviated fashion, thus furnishing a clue to its actual affinities. The subject also throws light on the problems of heredity.

EMBRYO-SAC, the name given to the megaspore of seed-plants. In Angiosperms the ripe embryo-sac is typically a large ovoid sac enclosed in a thin membrane and lined by cytoplasm; it contains seven or sometimes eight nuclei with associated masses of cytoplasm, distributed in a characteristic manner. At the apical end, next the micropyle, is the egg-apparatus, comprising the egg-cell or ovum flanked by the two synergidae or helping-cells, while the basal or chalazal end is occupied by the three antipodal 'cells'. The cavity of the sac is filled with cell-sap traversed by stout protoplasmic strands, suspended in which, near the centre, are two polar nuclei, or a single fusion-nucleus formed by the union of these. A characteristic feature of Angiosperms is the process of 'double fertilization'. The pollen-tube contains two male gametes, both functional; one fertilizes the egg-cell, the resulting zygote or oospore giving rise by cell-division and growth to the embryo; the other unites with the fusion-nucleus (or the two polar nuclei), and the product is the origin of the special nutritive tissue or endosperm, which is used up by the embryo, either during ripening of the seed (exalbuminous seeds), or at germination (albuminous seeds). See _Gymnosperms_; _Ovule_.

EM'DEN, a town of Prussia, province of Hanover, near the mouth of the Ems, occupying a low flat intersected by numerous canals. It was raised to the rank of a free Imperial city in 1595, was made a free port in 1751, was incorporated with the kingdom of Hanover in 1815, and in 1866 was united to Prussia. The principal building is the great church, built in 1455. The harbours admit large vessels, and several canals run inland. It exports grain, dairy produce, and gin, and has shipbuilding yards, and manufactures hosiery and leather. Pop. 24,000.

EM'ERALD, a variety of beryl, a well-known gem of pure green colour, somewhat harder than quartz; specific gravity, 2.67 to 2.73. It is a silicate of aluminium and the rare element glucinum or beryllium, which was detected in it by Vauquelin after it had been discovered by the same chemist in the beryl. Its colour is due to the presence of chromium, of which there may be 0.2 to 0.3 per cent present. Its natural form is either rounded or that of a short six-sided prism. It is one of the softest of the precious stones, but is not acted on by acids. Emeralds of large size and at the same time free from flaws are rare and more valuable than diamonds or rubies; the largest on record is said to have been possessed by the inhabitants of the valley of Manta in Peru when the Spaniards first arrived there. It was as big as an ostrich egg, and was worshipped as _the mother of emeralds_. The ancients, who valued them, especially for engraving, are said to have procured them from Ethiopia and Egypt. The finest are now obtained from Colombia. The Oriental emerald is a variety of the ruby, of a green colour, and is an extremely rare gem.

EMERALD GREEN, a vivid light-green pigment, an aceto-arsenite of copper, used both in oil and water-colour painting. It is extremely poisonous. Hydrated chromium sesquioxide is another mineral emerald green. There is also an aniline dye of this name.

EMERALD LORE The emerald as a sacred stone was anciently believed to blind a serpent which gazed at it, but to strengthen human eyes, and was, according to Theophrastus, worn as a ring-stone on account of this property. It was confused with 'false emerald', a kind of malachite. This fact explains the reference to ancient kings presenting blocks of emerald 1 or 2 cubits long to temples. The Babylonian name was _barraktu_, the Sanskrit _marakata_, the Hebrew _bareket_ or _barkat_, the Greek _maragdos_ or _smaragdos_.

EMERGENCES, in botany. See _Hairs of Plants_.