embalm
    v 1: preserve a dead body

Embalm \Em*balm"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Embalmed; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Embalming.] [F. embaumer; pref. em- (L. in) + baume
   balm. See Balm.]
   1. To anoint all over with balm; especially, to preserve from
      decay by means of balm or other aromatic oils, or spices;
      to fill or impregnate (a dead body), with aromatics and
      drugs that it may resist putrefaction.
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            Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to
            embalm ?is father; and the physicians embalmed
            Israel.                               --Gem. l. 2.
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   2. To fill or imbue with sweet odor; to perfume.
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            With fresh dews embalmed the earth.   --Milton.
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   3. To preserve from decay or oblivion as if with balm; to
      perpetuate in remembrance.
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            Those tears eternal that embalm the dead. --Pope.
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EMBALM, v.i.  To cheat vegetation by locking up the gases upon which
it feeds.  By embalming their dead and thereby deranging the natural
balance between animal and vegetable life, the Egyptians made their
once fertile and populous country barren and incapable of supporting
more than a meagre crew.  The modern metallic burial casket is a step
in the same direction, and many a dead man who ought now to be
ornamenting his neighbor's lawn as a tree, or enriching his table as a
bunch of radishes, is doomed to a long inutility.  We shall get him
after awhile if we are spared, but in the meantime the violet and rose
are languishing for a nibble at his _glutoeus maximus_.