E M B

E M B

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EMBER-DAYS. See Ember-Weeks.

EMBERIZA, a genus of the class and order aves passeres.Bill conical, the mandibles recede from each other towards thebase ; interior mandible has the sides narrowed inwards, upper oneis still narrower. There are about threescore species.

E. CiTRrKELLA, the Yellow-Hammer , has a blackish tail,only the two outward side-feathers are marked on the inner edgewith a sharp white s'pot. It builds its nest on the ground in mea-dows.

E. II ortolan a, the Ortolan, has black wings; the first threefeathers on the tail are white on the edges, only the two lateral areblack outwardly. The orbits are naked and yellow : the head isgreenish, and yellow towards the inferior mandible. It feeds prin-cipally upon the panic grass ; grows very fat; and is reckoned adelicate morsel by certain epicures, especially when fattened arti-ficially. The<e birds are found in several parts of Europe , butare not met with in Britain .

E. Niv.ALrs, the great ,pyed mountain finch of Ray, and thesnow bird of Edwards, lias white wings, blit the outer edge of theprime feathers are black ; the tail is black, with three white fea-f thers on each side. These birds are called in Scotland Snow-Flakes, from their appearance in hard weather and in deep snows.

'J heir appearance is a certain fore-runner of hard weather, andstorms of snow, being driven by the cold from their common re-treats. T. heir progress southward is supposed to be thus ; Spitz-bergen and Greenland, Hudson’s Bay, the Lapland Alps, Scan-dinavia, Iceland, the Ferroe Isles, Shetland, Orkneys, Scotland ,and the Cheviot hills. They visit at that season all parts of thenorthern hemisphere, Prussia, Austria, and Siberia . They arrivelean, and return fat. In Austria , they are caught and fed withmillet, and, like the Ortolan, grow excessively lat.

K. Oryzivoka, or the Rice Bird, is peculiar to America ,where its depredations on the rice and maize, subject it to the pe-culiar aver inn of the fanner. These birds often mingle with birdsof other species, as the red winged oriole, and tire blue jay. Thevare occasionally kept for the sake of their music. See Elute

lvih. '

EMBER WEEKS, by (lie canonists are called qttatuor annitempura, the four cardinal seasons', on which the circle of the year(urn-.: and lienee II -n-liaw takes tire word to have been formed,viz. by corruption, from tempora. They are now chiefly takennotice of, on account of the ordinal inn of priests and deacons; be-cause the canon appohits tiie Sundays next succeeding the emberweeks, lor ttie solemn tines of ordination; though the bishopsmay ordain on any Sunday or holiday.

EMBEZ/I.KM E.N F, m law, by slat. 39 G. 3. c. 35, for pro-tecting masters against embezzlements by their clerks and servants;servants or clerks, or persons employed for the purpose, or in (In-cap city of servants or clerks, who shall by virtue of such employ-ment receive, or take into their possession, any money, goods,bond, bill, note, banker’s draft, or other valuable security or ef-fects, for or in the name, or on account of their master or em-ployer ; or who shall fraudulently embezzle, secrete, or make awavwith .the same, or any part thereof; every such offender, shall bede. .,,ed to have feloniously stolen the same from his master or em-ployer, for whose use,ot -<m whose account, the same was deliveredto, or taken into the pus-ration of such servant, clerk, or otherperson, so i mpioyed, uldu-ugii -itch money, goods, bond, bill,note, ljanker’s draft, or oilier valuable security, was or were nootherwi-e received into the r-o-sessiott of his or their servants,c rk, or other person so - mpioyed ; and every such oliender,Ids adviser, procurer, aider, or abetter, being thereof lawfullyconsulted or attainted, shall he liable to be transported beyondsea-.

EMBLEM , [tjw/3'ijw*,] a kind ef painted enigma, which, re-presenting some obvious history, with rellections underneath, in-structs us in some moral truth. See .-Enigma, Devise, A-c.Much is that vr-rv significant image of Scievola holding his hand intbe fire ; with the words, Ag'-ro et pati fortitcr R -.nanum e-.’,To do and sulier courag-.oiisly is Roman.” Theembiem issome-1 what plainer than the auiigma. Gale defines emblem an inge-litbus picture, leprestiiting one thing to the eye, ’and ano'her tothe understandim*. The Gretks also gave the name Emblems ,[from to insert,] to iniayed or Mosaic works,

and even to all kinds of ornaments of vases, moveables, garments,

&c. And the Latins used emblema in the same sense. Accord*ingly’, Cicero reproaching Vcrres with having plundered statuesand fine wrought works from the S.oilkns, calls the ornaments,fixed to them (and which on occasion might be separated,) cmble-mata. Latin authors frequently compare the figures and ornamentsof discourse to these emblimata. With us, emblem ordinarilysignifies no more than a painting, basso-relievo, or other represen-tation, intended to hold forth some moral or political instruction.What distinguishes an emblem from a devise is, that the words ofan emblem have a full ermplete sense of themselves ; nay, all thesense and signification which they have together with the figuie.But there is a yet further difference between emblem and devise:for a devise is a symbol appropriated to some person, or that ex-presses something which concerns him particularly'; whereas anemblem is a symbol that regards all the world alike. These dif-ferences will be more apparent, from comparing the emblem abovequoted, with the devise of a candle lighted, and the words Aliis inserviendo eonsumor, “ J waste myseli in serving, others.”

EMBLEMENTS, in law, signify the profits of land sown; butthe word is sometimes used more largely, for any profits that ariseand grow naturally from the ground, as grass, fruit, hemp,flax, &c.

EMBOT.ISMIC, or intercalary, [ifzSoXn-|Woi] a term used bychronologisis in speaking of the additional months and years,which they insert to bring the lunar to the solar year. Since thecommon lunar year consists of twelve synodic months, or 354 daysnearly, and the'solar consists of 363 days (throwing av.-ay the oddhours and minutes) it is plain that the solar year will exceed thelunar by about 11 days; and consequently in the space of about33 years, the beginning of the lunar year will be carried throughall the seasons, and lienee it is called the moveable Umar year.This form of the y r ear is used at this time by the Turks and Ara-bians ; and because in three years’ time the solar year exceeds thelunar by 33 days, therefore, to keep the lunar months in the sameseasons "and times of the solar year, or near it, chronologisis addeda whole month to the lunar year every third year, and so made itconsist of 13 months; this year they called the embolismic year,and the additional month the embolismic, or embolimean, or in- ■tercalary month. This form of the year is called the fixed lunarvear, and it was used by the Greeks and Romans till the time ofJ 1 .1 ins Cicsar.

EMBOSSING, or EMBOSSING, in architecture and sculp-ture, the forming or fashioning of works in relievo, whether cut w itha ehissel or otherwise. Embossing is a kind ot sculpture, whereintbe figures stick out from (he plane whereon it is ml: and ac-cording as the figures are more or less prominent, they are said tobe in alto, mezzo,- or basso, relievo ; or high, mean, or low, re-lief. See Enchasing.

EMBOT11ERIUM, in botany, a genus of the inonogynia or-der, and tefrandria class of plants. No calyx ; petals four, linear,oblique; follicle, round, unilocular, sharpened at both ends; seedsfour or live, egg-shapi il, compressed. It has foul-species.

EMBRACE the Volt, in the manege. A horse is said toembrace a volt, when working upon volts, he makes a good wayevbry time with his fore-legs.

EMBBACEOH, among lawyers, a person, who, having re-ceived a reward so to do, comes to the bar with one of the par-' ties, and speaks in the case ; or privily labours the jury, or standsin court to over-look them, whereby they are awed or put in fear.Actions of this kind will lie embracery, whether the jurors giveverdict on tlie side of the party or not. The penalty of this of-fence is 20/. and imprisonment of the parly at the discretion ofthe court: and may be prosecuted either by indictment at com-mon law, as well as by action on the statute. But attorneys andother lawyers are excepted.

EMBRASURE , in architecture, the enlargement made of theaperture of a door or window, on the inside of the wall; its usebeing to give the greater play for the opening ot the door, or case-ment, or to admit the more light. When the wall is very thick,thev sometimes make embrasures on the outside.

Embrasure, in fortification, a hole or aperture in a parapet,through which !he cannon are pointed to fire into the moat orfield. See Foetii'ication.

EMBROCATION, in surgery and pharmacy, is an externalkind of remedy, which consists of an irrigation ot the part affected,

with