for elem1 containing elements at xpath, embed elem1 inside each of those elements,
        and then remove the original elem1

def interior_nesting(cls, elem1, xpath, namespaces=None):
        """for elem1 containing elements at xpath, embed elem1 inside each of those elements,
        and then remove the original elem1"""
        for elem2 in elem1.xpath(xpath, namespaces=namespaces):
            child_elem1 = etree.Element(elem1.tag)
            for k in elem1.attrib:
                child_elem1.set(k, elem1.get(k))
            child_elem1.text, elem2.text = elem2.text, ''
            for ch in elem2.getchildren():
                child_elem1.append(ch)
            elem2.insert(0, child_elem1)
        XML.replace_with_contents(elem1)