through a minister of war and an inspector-general. The mode of officering the Austrian army is as follows: 1. By passing, as a cadet, through a military college; 2. Rising from the ranks. 1. Cadets are trained at public cost, and remain ten years in active service from the date of their leaving the academy. After the aspirant has practically learnt every duty of the private and non-commissioned officer, he attends the school which is established at the head-quarters of every division. He goes then through a course of eleven months, followed by an examination. If successful, he performs the duties of an officer, though still not commissioned, and receives his commission when a vacancy occurs. 2. The preparation for promotion is also regimental, and in this manner non-commissioned officers of good character and antecedents, and of sufficient attainments, may obtain a commission. Promotion goes right through, arm by arm, and rank by rank. It is by seniority and non-seniority. The former depends on the confidential reports giving testimony of the individual's efficiency, and the latter is followed every sixth step below field rank, and every fourth step above it. There is an examination twice a year for promotion. (Vide Appendix C.) Austrian Field Gun-A muzzle-loading rifled gun made of bronze. There are two sizes, the 4-pr. and the 8-pr.; the former for horse artillery, the latter for field batteries. The projectiles are iron-ribbed, not studded, for taking the rifling. The Austrians are about to change their bronze guns for steel of their own design; the proof lately of one of their guns answered all that was required of it. The gun experimented on was an 8.7-centimetre steel cannon, and is said to be an improvement on the Prussian field gun. Auxiliary Forces The militia, yeomanry, and volunteers of Great Britain form what are termed the Auxiliary Forces. (Vide Appendix E.) Axe, vide Battle-axe. Axe, Felling—An implement used for felling trees and jungle, and attached to field batteries for clearing any impediments in their march. Axis-In gunnery, the axis of a gun is an imaginary line drawn from the breech to the muzzle. It will be better understood by imagining a gun supported in the lathe at its two extreme points, when a line drawn between these points will represent the axis of the piece. Axle-tree- A transverse beam supporting a carriage, and on the ends of which the wheels revolve. Lieut.-Colonel Owen, in his Modern Artillery,' states that "axle-trees are, like wheels, divided into four classes, named, respectively, siege, field, general service, and naval service axle-trees; each class contains several natures of axle-trees, but all those in a class have arms of the same size, and only differ in the amount of metal between the arms; the similarity in the arms allows of an interchange of wheels when required." Axle-tree Arm-That part of the axletree which enters into the nave of the wheel. It tapers from the shoulder to the end of the arm. For information on the friction of axle-tree arms, vide Friction. Axle-tree Bed-In an artillery carriage, the wooden or iron bed into which the axletree is firmly fitted. In the wooden gun carriage, the axle-tree bed is secured by bolts passing through the block trail. It is further fastened to the brackets of the carriage by the axle-tree band, which passes under it, and also by bolts passing through the brackets, two of which have eye-pins, and fasten on the cap squares. A wrought iron axle-tree bed has been substituted for the wooden bed in the 9-pr. and 16-pr. M.L.R. carriages, and it is likely to supersede the present service pattern in future manufacture, as will be seen from the following extract from Captain Kemmis's paper on the Construction of Field Artillery Carriages': 6 "The wooden axle-tree bed, hitherto used, served as a convenient means of securing the axle-tree to the carriage body, more particularly in wooden guncarriages; it also distributed the load in travelling, and the strain in firing, more uniformly over the axle-tree, serving by this means, and by its own additional strength, to admit of the axle-tree being made lighter than it otherwise could be. "In iron carriages, however, it gives no additional facility of construction, and be embarked and the time of embarking though it has the advantage of assisting it. "Light" baggage is anything that the axle-tree to some extent, it is a ques- can be taken in the hand, such as clothing tionable advantage; so that in this case and light articles, and which can be taken it would appear to be a superfluous and on board on the day of embarkation; it may even be said to be a faulty form whereas "heavy" baggage is sent on of construction—a compound axle-tree board the day before when feasible. On as it were, being made of two substances the movement of troops on home service, differing so much in elasticity as wood the baggage, if wagons are available, is and iron, and further, the material having carried by the army transport; if not, . the greatest elasticity placed to receive then the commanding officer has power the pressure or blow; in fact, the iron by the Mutiny Act to impress the carts may be broken before the full strength of of the country to convey the baggage to the wood has been called into play. For or from the barracks, to the railway or this reason it is probable that in iron place of embarkation. carriages of the future it will be dispensed with, and the axle-tree modified." Ayenee (Artocarpus hirsuta)—A tree which grows in the forests of Southern India, Godavery, and Burmah; the wood is strong, tolerably close, even-grained, and of a light yellowish colour. It is a wood that may be used for gun-carriage purposes. B. Babool (Acacia arabica) — A tree which is found in different parts of India. The wood is close-grained and tough, of a pale red colour, inclining to brown. It is used in the gun-carriage agencies of Madras and Bombay for naves and felloes of wheels. This tree, which grows in abundance in the north-west of India, forms the staple food of the camel. Badge-An honorary distinction worn on the colours of a regiment. The Queen's Regulations direct that all regimental badges granted under special authority to different corps are to be strictly preserved. The term is also plied to the royal arms mounted on pieces of ordnance. The good-conduct stripes worn on the arm by men of good behaviour are also called badges. (Vide Good-conduct Badges.) ap In India, before the introduction of . railways, the baggage of troops was conveyed, and is even still, where there are no railways, by the native carts of the country, or on elephants and camels, sometimes on bullocks, according to the part of India in which the troops might be moving. In the north-west of India, elephants and camels (when off the line of railway) are almost exclusively used; in other portions of the country, carts; but along the line of railroad, advantage is taken of it for the transport both of troops and baggage, except for cavalry or batteries of artillery, which in time of peace invariably march. Carts vary in size in different districts, and are drawn by two, three, or four bullocks. A fourbullock hackery, which in the northwest of India is generally the size used, will carry 1600 lbs., or 400 lbs. to every bullock. An elephant can carry about 1200 or 1400 lbs. in a flat country, and a camel 320 lbs., without being distressed. Baggage-master-An officer appointed to take charge of the baggage of each brigade and division of an army in the field. He is selected from the line if the senior officer of the Army Service Corps is not suited for the work. During the march he is the staff officer of the field officer of the day, who, commanding the rearguard, can give him orders if necessary. The Queen's Regulations of 1873, sect. 16, par. 24, state that each regiment on a march is to furnish its own baggageguard, under the care of an officer of the regiment. Bagpipe-A wind instrument, very popular in the Highlands of Scotland. This instrument, the performers of which are called "pipers," is played by the bandsmen of Highland regiments. Up to the eighteenth century, the bagpipe was a very common instrument over the greater part of Europe. It is supposed to be of Grecian origin, and the Romans in all probability took it from the Greeks. The natives of India have an instrument very similar to the bagpipe. The bagpipe has long been a favourite instrument with the Scots, inspiring them with great enthusiasm and valour in the day of battle. Bags-In the military service, are used for a variety of purposes; but their number is so infinite that space will not permit of their being all given in detail in this work. Bags, Blowing-Bags filled with a small charge of gunpowder and coal dust, and placed inside a common shell, when it is not intended to burst the shell. The charge is ignited by means of a fuze. Blowing bags are used at artillery practice, to show where, if the shell had been a live shell, it would have burst. Bags, Bursting-Bags for the bursting charges of common shell. In order to prevent the liability to occasional premature bursts, when firing filled common shells from M.L.R. guns of 7-inch calibre and upwards, it has been found necessary to inclose the bursting charge in a serge bag. Bags, Calico-This nature of bag is used in and attached to the interior of metal-lined and brass pentagon cases, for the preservation of loose powder in a damp climate when it cannot be preserved in ordinary barrels. Bags, Cartridge Waterproof- Are waterproof bags for holding small-arm cartridges when despatched to foreign stations. They are made of waterproof cloth. Cannon cartridges are packed in waterproof paper when specially asked for. Bags, Gunny-Are bags made of coarse gunny cloth, and used in India with siege-trains for carrying charcoal, for the use of the artificers. Bags, Gunpowder-Are bags made of serge or other cloth, and used for blowing open gates, stockades, &c. The size of the bags differs according to the charge intended to be placed in them; they are fired generally by means of a Bickford fuze. The bags are either placed on the ground or fastened by a hook to the gate. In Burmah, in 1852, experiments were made to test the value of powder bags in blowing down stockades, and the result proved most satisfactory; bags containing about 50 lbs. of powder causing a rent large enough to admit of a section of infantry entering within the enclosure. Experiments were also at the same time made with 8-inch howitzers, which failed to make much impression on this mode of defence. The Indian watercarriers' mussuck, or water-bag, can be used as a powder-bag on an emergency. A late report on gun-cotton shows this material to be most effective in blowing down stockades, and indeed for many of the purposes for which gunpowder has hitherto been used. Bags, Sand-Bags made of coarse canvas, tarred or untarred; they are filled with earth, and used for revetting the interior slopes of field works, and to give cover to riflemen firing over a parapet; they are also used for other general purposes. Bags, Serge Bags made of serge cloth and used for the bursting charge of rifled M.L. common shells, and for the bursting charge of Palliser shells from 7 inches to 12 inches. Bags, Soldiers'-Bags of two kinds, painted and unpainted, and made of canvas or vitry cloth. The painted bag contains the soldier's kit for the march, and is carried with the baggage. The unpainted, or haversack, is slung over his shoulder, and is used by the soldier on the march to carry extra rations, or any spare articles he may have in his posses→ sion. Bakeries, Military-As the name implies, are means adopted for baking soldiers' bread. At Aldershot, military bakeries have been introduced for some years past, whereby a saving of expense has resulted. Not only at Aldershot, but at the Curragh, Dublin, Chatham, and Shorncliffe, bakeries are established, worked by soldiers, under the direction of the Control. At other stations the supply of bread is carried out by contractors. The training of bakers for the army in the field is organised at the above-named places. The foregoing relates to permanent ovens in a standing camp. When troops are in the field, field ovens are used; they are of three kinds, baking wagons, sheet-iron field ovens, and extemporised ovens of clay, stones, &c. All have been found to work admirably, and to afford large results, even more than is required of them. Of baking wagons, the smaller-sized one is that used with all flying columns, &c.; it can bake eight batches of 210 lbs. a day. Of iron field ovens, commonly carried in the field, there are different patterns, and that termed the common pattern bakes 150 lbs. at a time. The Aldershot pattern oven bakes over 200 lbs. in a batch. During the Crimean War a bakery ship was fitted out which baked 18,000 lbs. daily. Bread is usually baked in 1-lb. or 3-lb. loaves for field service. The Prussians attach so much importance to bakers being up with the force that they are attached to the advanced guard. The Austrians, in the war of 1866, were often greatly inconvenienced on account of their bakeries and ovens not being up with the troops. Baldric, vide Baudrick. Balista-A machine used by the ancients before the invention or introduction of gunpowder. It projected masses of stone to a distance of 90 yards. Darts and arrows were also thrown from the balista. Ball-The collective name given to all kinds of shot and bullets. It is also explained as any round substance of iron or lead discharged from cannon or small arms. The first balls for cannon were generally made of stone. Cast-iron was subsequently used, of a spherical form. Since the introduction of rifled cannon, oblong shot are projected from this nature of ordnance. Ball Cartridge - Ammunition used with the several natures of small arms in the service; for the Martini-Henry rifle the cartridge contains 80 grains of R.F.G.2 powder, and the bullet weighs 410 grains. The Snider or converted Enfield rifle cartridge contains 2 drs. of R.F.G. powder, and the bullet weighs 480 grains. Ballistic Pendulum-This was formerly the instrument used in testing the strength of gunpowder in order to ascertain the velocity of projectiles. It is unnecessary to describe it, as it has been superseded, advantageously, by Navez Leurs's ballistic apparatus. Ballistics-The science of the motion of projectiles. By this science all problems that can be imagined with reference to the flight of spherical and oblong shot or shell are resolved. It is divided into two distinct parts, according as to whether the projectile is supposed to fly through empty space, or through the resisting medium of the air. The calculations, based on the former hypothesis, are found to tally with the results of practice with shells of large calibre fired with small initial velocities, and consequently short ranges. The trajectory is suppo-ed to be a parabola, and the curve of the actual trajectory of shells fired under such circumstances, or of the steel ball of the eprouvette mortar, differs but little therefrom; when the velocity increases, on the other hand, the formulæ of the parabolic system have to be altered by certain co-efficients, which have to be calculated in each case, and this can be done with great ease, with the assistance of the published tables of the French artillery by General Didion. Problems worked out with these altered formula give results approaching so closely to those of actual practice as to leave but little to be desired. The following is the method of calculating the path of a projectile in vacuo: (i) The Path. Let A be the initial position of the particle; P its position at time t; theof projection; and V the initial therefore referred to Sandemann's dynavelocity. mics of a particle on this subject. Then, with the above construction, ... PM = Vt and AM = AT Vt and TP: g t2 = g t2 .. Eliminating t PM2 = 2V2 g AM Balloon-A hollow silken vessel filled with gas (hydrogen), which, being lighter than air, causes the balloon to ascend. Balloons of a large size are used for scientific and military purposes. Messrs. Glaisher and Coxwell made several ascents in England in 1862 to a height of upwards of five miles, with the .. the path is a parabola, as in the view of ascertaining certain meteoro figure, and AS a V2 2g logical points. It appears, from the description given of their voyages, that the air at the height of five miles is so rare (ii) To find AB and BS; i.e. the Focus. fied as to render human existence pre Z SAB = 90 2TAy= 90 2(904) 20 = 90 carious. The barometer showed at this height 11 inches, and the thermometer 2° below zero of Fahr. Balloons are useful in warfare for purposes of reconnoitring, and in the case of a beleaguered city, for keeping up communication with the outside world (vide the accounts of ascents from Paris in 1870). The Prussians are said to have reconnoitred the French position before Metz in the war of 1870 by means of a balloon with telegraph attached, and it is further said that the survey, made with great care, was most successful, and conveyed instantaneously to General von Moltke the true position of the French army at all points, and its movements. From an account given of the first balloons used for war purposes, it appears that the proposal for employing what were then termed captive balloons was made by the Committee of Public Safety in 1793. After some preliminary experiments at Meudon, a small corps of aërostats, skilled in precarious crafts, was formed on the model of an engineer company, and despatched to Manberg, then besieged by the Dutch and Austrian troops. The balloon used was 30 feet in diameter, and rose 1800 feet with two observers and 130 lbs. of ballast. It was = 2g (AE PN) if EF be the managed by two ropes attached to the directrix, = 2g. FP. Hence the velocity is that which would be acquired in falling from the directrix. The discussion of the path in a resisting medium is too complicated to admit of much abridgment, and the reader is net, and was filled with hydrogen, obtained with much difficulty and expense from water. The immediate moral effect upon the enemy of the use of this balloon by the besieged was extraordinary. They imagined, which was far from being the case, that their every movement was at once made patent to the French, and it |