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-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_.