Chapter X: Part 10

ARK'WRIGHT, Sir Richard, famous for his inventions in cotton-spinning, was born at Preston, in Lancashire, in 1732, died 1792. The youngest of thirteen children, he was bred to the trade of a barber. When about thirty-five years of age he gave himself up exclusively to the subject of inventions for spinning cotton. The thread spun by Hargreaves' jenny could not be used except as weft, being destitute of the firmness or hardness required in the longitudinal threads or warp. But Arkwright supplied this deficiency by the invention of the _spinning-frame_, which spins a vast number of threads of any degree of fineness and hardness, leaving the operator merely to feed the machine with cotton and to join the threads when they happen to break. His invention introduced the system of spinning by rollers, the carding, or _roving_ as it is technically termed (that is, the soft, loose strip of cotton), passing through one pair of rollers, and being received by a second pair, which is made to revolve with (as the case may be) three, four, or five times the velocity of the first pair. By this contrivance the roving is drawn out into a thread of the desired degree of tenuity and hardness. His inventions being brought into a pretty advanced state, Arkwright removed to Nottingham in 1768 in order to avoid the attacks of the same lawless rabble that had driven Hargreaves out of Lancashire. Here his operations were at first greatly fettered by a want of capital; but two gentlemen of means having entered into partnership with him, the necessary funds were obtained, and Arkwright erected his first mill, which was driven by horses, at Nottingham, and took out a patent for spinning by rollers in 1769. As the mode of working the machinery by horse-power was found too expensive, he built a second factory on a much larger scale at Cromford, in Derbyshire, in 1771, the machinery of which was turned by a water-wheel. Having made several additional discoveries and improvements in the processes of carding, roving, and spinning, he took out a fresh patent for the whole in 1775, and thus completed a series of the most ingenious and complicated machinery. Notwithstanding a series of law-suits in defence of his patent rights, and the destruction of his property by mobs, he amassed a large fortune. He was knighted by George III in 1786.

ARLBERG ([.a]rl'ber_h_), a branch of the Rhaetian Alps, in the west of Tyrol, between it and Vorarlberg, pierced by the fourth longest railway tunnel in the world. It is 6 1/2 miles long, and was finished in Nov., 1883, and connects the valley of the Inn with that of the Rhine, and the Austrian railway system with the Swiss railways.

AR'LECDON, an urban district of England, in Cumberland, 4 miles east of Whitehaven, with coal and iron mines. Pop. (1921), 5152.

ARLES ([.a]rl; ancient, AREL[=A]TE), a town of Southern France, department Bouches du Rhone, 17 miles south-east of Nismes. It was an important town at the time of Caesar's invasion, and under the later emperors it became one of the most flourishing towns on the farther side of the Alps. It still possesses numerous ancient remains, of which the most conspicuous are those of a Roman amphitheatre, which accommodated 24,000 spectators. It has a considerable trade, manufactures of silk, &c., and furnishes a market for the surrounding country. Pop. 16,746.

AR'LINGTON, Henry Bennet, Earl of, member of the Cabal ministry, and one of the scheming creatures of Charles II, born 1618, died 1685. He is supposed to have lived and died a Roman Catholic.

AR'LON, a Belgian town, capital province of Luxemburg, a thriving town, with manufactures of ironware, leather, tobacco, &c. Pop. 12,012.

ARM, the upper limb in man, connected with the thorax or chest by means of the scapula or shoulder-blade, and the clavicle or collar-bone. It consists of three bones, the arm-bone (_hum[)e]rus_), and the two bones of the fore-arm (_radius_ and _ulna_), and it is connected with the bones of the hand by the _carpus_ or wrist. The head or upper end of the arm-bone fits into the hollow called the _glenoid cavity_ of the scapula, so as to form a joint of the ball-and-socket kind, allowing great freedom of movement to the limb. The lower end of the humerus is broadened out by a projection on both the outer and inner sides (the outer and inner _condyles_), and has a pulley-like surface for articulating with the fore-arm to form the elbow-joint. This joint somewhat resembles a hinge, allowing of movement only in one direction. The ulna is the inner of the two bones of the fore-arm. It is largest at the upper end, where it has two processes, the _coronoid_ and the _olecranon_, with a deep groove between to receive the humerus. The radius--the outer of the two bones--is small at the upper and expanded at the lower end, where it forms part of the wrist-joint. The muscles of the upper arm are either _flexors_ or _extensors_, the former serving to bend the arm, the latter to straighten it by means of the elbow-joint. The main flexor is the _biceps_, the large muscle which may be seen standing out in front of the arm when a weight is raised. The chief opposing muscle of the biceps is the _triceps_. The muscles of the fore-arm are, besides flexors and extensors, _pronators_ and _supinators_, the former turning the hand palm downwards, the latter turning it upwards. The same fundamental plan of structure exists in the limbs of all vertebrate animals.

ARMA'DA, the Spanish name for any large naval force; usually applied to the Spanish fleet vaingloriously designated the _Invincible Armada_, intended to act against England A.D. 1588. It was under the command of the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, and consisted of 130 great war vessels, larger and stronger than any belonging to the English fleet, with 30 smaller ships of war, and carried 19,295 marines, 8460 sailors, 2088 slaves, and 2630 cannon. It had scarcely quitted Lisbon on 29th May, 1588, when it was scattered by a storm, and had to be refitted in Corunna. It was to co-operate with a land force collected in Flanders under the Prince of Parma, and to unite with this it proceeded through the English Channel towards Calais. In its progress it was attacked by the English fleet under Lord Howard, who, with his lieutenants, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, endeavoured by dexterous seamanship and the discharge of well-directed volleys of shot to destroy or capture the vessels of the enemy. The great lumbering Spanish vessels suffered severely from their smaller opponents, which most of their shot missed. Arrived at length off Dunkirk, the armada was becalmed, thrown into confusion by fire-ships, and many of the Spanish vessels destroyed or taken. The Duke of Medina-Sidonia, owing to the severe losses, at last resolved to abandon the enterprise, and conceived the idea of reconveying his fleet to Spain by a voyage round the north of Great Britain; but storm after storm assailed his ships, scattering them in all directions, and sinking many. Some went down on the cliffs of Norway, others in the open sea, others on the Scottish coast, others on the coast of Ireland. In all, seventy-two large vessels and over 10,000 men were lost.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. A. Froude, _Spanish Story of the Armada_; Sir J. K. Laughton, _State Papers relating to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada_; J. R. Hale, _Story of the Great Armada_.

ARMADALE, a town of Scotland, Linlithgowshire, in coal and iron district. Pop. 4739.

ARMADI'LLO (genus Das[)y]pus), an edentate mammal peculiar to South America, consisting of various species, belonging to a family intermediate between the sloths and ant-eaters. They are covered with a hard bony shell, divided into belts, composed of small separate plates like a coat of mail, flexible everywhere except on the forehead, shoulders, and haunches, where it is not movable. The belts are connected by a membrane which enables the animal to roll itself up like a hedgehog. These animals burrow in the earth, where they lie during the daytime, seldom going abroad except at night. They are of different sizes: the largest, _Dasypus gigas_, being 3 feet in length without the tail, and the smallest only 10 inches. They subsist chiefly on fruits and roots, sometimes on insects and flesh. They are inoffensive, and their flesh is esteemed good food.--There is a genus of isopodous Crustacea called Armadillo, consisting of animals allied to the wood-lice, capable of rolling themselves into a ball.

ARMAGEDDON (-ged'don), the great battlefield of the Old Testament, where the chief conflicts took place between the Israelites and their enemies--the table-land of Esdraelon in Galilee and Samaria, in the centre of which stood the town of Megiddo, on the site of the modern Lejjun: used figuratively in the _Apocalypse_ to signify the place of 'the battle of the great day of God'. It may, however, be _har migdo_, his fruitful mountain, 'the mountain land of Israel'. The phrase 'an Armageddon' expresses any great slaughter or final conflict, and has been frequently applied to the Great War of 1914-8. During this war severe fighting took place in Sept., 1918, on the field of Armageddon, the entrance to the passes of Megiddo. The battle ended in an overwhelming victory for General Allenby's armies. See _Megiddo_.

ARMAGH ([.a]r-mae'), a county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster; surrounded by Monaghan, Tyrone, Lough Neagh, Down, and Louth; area, 328,086 acres, of which about a half is under tillage. The north-west of the county is undulating and fertile. The northern part, bordering on Lough Neagh, consists principally of extensive bogs. On the southern border is a range of barren hills. The chief rivers are the Blackwater, which separates it from Tyrone; the Upper Bann, which discharges itself into Lough Neagh; and the Callan, which falls into the Blackwater. There are several small lakes. The manufacture of linen is carried on very extensively. Armagh, Lurgan, and Portadown are the chief towns. The county sends three members to Parliament. Pop. 120,291.--The county town, _Armagh_, is situated partly on a hill, about half a mile from the Callan. It has a Protestant cathedral crowning the hill, a Gothic building dating from the eighth century, repaired and beautified recently; a new Roman Catholic cathedral in the pointed Gothic style, and various public buildings. It is the see of an archbishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who is primate of all Ireland, and is a place of great antiquity. Pop. 7356.

ARMAGNAC ([.a]r-m[.a]-ny[.a]k), an ancient territory of France, in the province of Gascony, some of the counts of which hold prominent places in the history of France. Bernard VII, son of John II, surnamed the Hunchback, succeeded his brother, John III, in 1391, and was called to Court by Isabella of Bavaria, with the view of heading the Orleans in opposition to the Burgundian faction, where he no sooner gained the ascendancy than he compelled the queen to appoint him Constable of France. He showed himself a merciless tyrant, and became so generally execrated that the Duke of Burgundy, to whom Isabella had turned for help, found little difficulty in gaining admission into Paris, and even seizing the person of Armagnac, who was cast into prison in 1418, when the exasperated populace burst in and killed him and his followers. John V, grandson of the above, who succeeded in 1450, made himself notorious for his crimes. He was assassinated in his castle of Lectoure in 1473 by an agent of Louis XI, against whom he was holding out.

AR'MATURE, a term applied to the piece of soft iron which is placed across the poles of permanent or electro-magnets for the purpose of receiving and concentrating the attractive force. In the case of permanent magnets it is also important for preserving their magnetism when not in use, and hence it is sometimes termed the _keeper_. It produces this effect in virtue of the well-known law of induction, by which the armature, when placed near or across the poles of the magnet, is itself converted into a temporary magnet with reversed poles, and these, reacting upon the permanent magnet, keep its particles in a state of constant magnetic tension, or, in other words, in that constrained position which is supposed to constitute magnetism. A horse-shoe magnet should therefore never be laid aside without its armature; and in the case of straight bar-magnets two should be placed parallel to each other, with their poles reversed, and a keeper or armature across them at both ends. The term is also applied to the core and coil of the electro-magnet, which revolves before the poles of the permanent magnet in the magneto-electric machine.

ARME BLANCHE, a term applied to the rapier and duelling-foil, and frequently also to all weapons other than fire-arms. The phrase is particularly applied to the sabres and lances carried by cavalry, but also to the bayonet.

ARME'NIA, a mountainous country of Western Asia, of great historical interest as the original seat of one of the oldest civilized peoples in the world. The name Armenia occurs in the _Vulgate_, but the Hebrew name is Ararat. It has an area of about 120,000 sq. miles, and is intersected by the Euphrates, which divides it into the ancient divisions, Armenia Major and Armenia Minor. The country is an elevated plateau, enclosed on several sides by the ranges of Taurus and Anti-Taurus, and partly occupied by other mountains, the loftiest of which is Ararat. Several important rivers take their rise in Armenia, namely, the Kur or Cyrus, and its tributary the Aras or Araxes, flowing east to the Caspian Sea; the Halys or Kizil-Irmak, flowing north to the Black Sea; and the Tigris and Euphrates, which flow into the Persian Gulf. The chief lakes are Van and Urumiyah. The climate is rather severe. The soil is on the whole productive, though in many places it would be quite barren were it not for the great care taken to irrigate it. Wheat, barley, tobacco, hemp, grapes, and cotton are raised; and in some of the valleys apricots, peaches, mulberries, and walnuts are grown. The inhabitants are chiefly of the genuine Armenian stock, a branch of the Aryan or Indo-European race; but besides them, in consequence of the repeated subjugation of the country, various other races have obtained a footing. The total number of Armenians is estimated at 2,900,000, of whom one-half are in Armenia. The remainder, like the Jews, are scattered over various countries, and are generally engaged in commercial pursuits. They everywhere retain, however, their distinct nationality.

Little is known of the early history of Armenia, but it was a separate State as early as the eighth century B.C., when it became subject to Assyria, as it also did subsequently to the Medes and the Persians. It was conquered by Alexander the Great in 325 B.C., but regained its independence about 190 B.C. Its king, Tigranes, son-in-law of the celebrated Mithrid[=a]tes, was defeated by the Romans under Lucullus and Pompey between 69-66 B.C., but was left on the throne. Since then its fortunes have been various under the Romans, Parthians, Byzantine emperors, Persians, Saracens, and Turks. Until quite recently Armenia had no political existence, having been partitioned between Turkey, Persia, and Russia, the last acquiring considerable portions in 1829 and 1878. The hope of the Armenians to see their country formed into an autonomous province administered by Christians was frustrated by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The advanced party amongst the Armenians, therefore, determined to obtain their object by the production of disturbances and the spread of a revolutionary movement. The Porte retaliated by wholesale massacres of the Armenians in 1896, 1904, and 1908. The Armenian revolutionary and national parties in the meantime continued their activity and propaganda. Armenia proclaimed its independence in Aug., 1918. In Jan., 1920, the Supreme Council of the Allied Governments recognized the Armenian Republic of Erivan. A mandate for Armenia was also offered to the United States of America, but it was refused by the American Senate in May, 1920. On 18th March, 1922, Soviet Russia concluded a treaty with Turkey, giving to the latter most of Armenia. Batum was attached to Georgia. See _Erivan_, _Russia_, _Turkey_.

The Armenians received Christianity at an early date, most probably at the beginning of the third century, although native historians maintain that several of the apostles preached in Armenia. The real apostle of Armenia was Gregory the Illuminator, in the third century. During the Monophysitic disputes they held with those who rejected the twofold nature of Christ, and being dissatisfied with the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon (451) they separated from the Greek Church in 536. The Popes had at different times attempted to gain them over to the Roman Catholic faith, but have not been able to unite them permanently and generally with the Roman Church. There are, however, small numbers here and there of United Armenians, who acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of the Pope, agree in their doctrines with the Catholics, but retain their peculiar ceremonies and discipline. But the far greater part are yet Monophysites, and have remained faithful to their old religion and worship. Their doctrine differs from the orthodox chiefly in their admitting only one nature in Christ, and believing the Holy Spirit to proceed from the Father alone. Their sacraments are seven in number. They adore saints and their images, but do not believe in purgatory. Their hierarchy differs little from that of the Greeks. The _Catholicus_, or head of the Church, has his seat at Etchmiadzin, a monastery near Erivan, the capital of former Russian Armenia, on Mount Ararat.

The Armenian language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, and is most closely connected with the Iranic group. The Old Armenian or Haikan language, which is still the literary and ecclesiastical language, is distinguished from the New Armenian, the ordinary spoken language, which contains a large intermixture of Persian and Turkish elements. The most flourishing period of Armenian literature extended from the fourth to the fourteenth century. It then declined, but a revival began in the seventeenth century, and at the present day wherever any extensive community of Armenians has settled they have set up a printing-press. The Armenian Bible, translated from a Syriac version, and revised by means of the Septuagint, by Isaac the Great and St. Mesrop, early in the fifth century, is a model of the classic style.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. N. and H. Buxton, _Travel and Politics in Armenia_; N. T. Gregor, _History of Armenia_; W. L. Williams, _Armenia, Past and Present_.

ARMENTIERES ([.a]r-m[.a][n.]-ty[=a]r), a town in France, department Nord, 10 miles W.N.W. of Lille, on the Lys. The town had extensive manufactures of linen and cotton goods and an extensive trade. The Germans captured Armentieres by massed assault early in April, 1918, after methodically shelling the town for about two years and destroying almost every building in it. The enemy's offensive was intended to achieve greater results. Indeed, its object was to break through to the Channel ports. It began on 9th April, after artillery preparation, from La Bassee to Armentieres. When, however, the battle of Armentieres died down, the enemy plan to break through to the coast had been definitely and finally frustrated. German losses were extremely heavy, their attacks having been made with massed troops. (See _Ypres_.) Pop. 28,086.

ARM'FELT, Gustav Moritz, Count of, Swedish soldier, born 1757, died 1814. Though he had been highly favoured and loaded with honours by Gustavus III, he incurred the enmity of the Duke of Sudermania, guardian of the young king, Gustavus IV, and was deprived of all his titles and possessions. He was restored to his fortune and honours in 1799, when Gustavus IV attained his majority, and held several high military posts. Ultimately, however, he entered the Russian service, was made count, chancellor of the University of Abo, president of the department for the affairs of Finland, member of the Russian Senate, and served in the campaign against Napoleon in 1812.

ARMIDA ([.a]r-m[=e]'d[.a]), a beautiful enchantress in Tasso's _Jerusalem Delivered_, who succeeds in bringing the hero Rinaldo, with whom she had fallen violently in love, to her enchanted gardens. Here he completely forgets the high task to which he had devoted himself, until messengers from the Christian host having arrived at the island, Rinaldo escapes with them by means of a powerful talisman. In the sequel Armida becomes a Christian.

AR'MILLARY SPHERE (Lat. _armilla_, a hoop), an astronomical instrument consisting of an arrangement of rings, all circles of one sphere, intended to represent the principal circles of the celestial globe, the rings standing for the meridian of the station, the ecliptic, the tropics, the arctic and antarctic circles, &c., in their relative positions. Its main use is to give a representation of the apparent motions of the celestial bodies.

ARMIN'IANS, a sect or party of Christians, so called from Jacobus _Arminius_ or Harmensen. (See _Arminius_.) They were called also _Remonstrants_, from their having presented a _remonstrance_ to the States-general in 1610. The Arminian doctrines are: (1) Conditional election and reprobation, in opposition to absolute predestination. (2) Universal redemption, or that the atonement was made by Christ for all mankind, though none but believers can be partakers of the benefit. (3) That man, in order to exercise true faith, must be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is the gift of God; but that this grace is not irresistible and may be lost, so that men may relapse from a state of grace and die in their sins. Arminianism being a revolt against certain aspects of Calvinism, especially the absolutism of the eternal decrees, its doctrines were vehemently attacked by the Calvinists of Holland, and were condemned by the Synod of Dort in 1619. The Arminians, in consequence, were treated with great severity; many of them fled to, and spread in, other countries, and though there is no longer any particular sect to which the name is exclusively applied, many bodies are classed as Arminians, as being opposed to the Calvinists on the question of predestination.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Regenboog, _Historie der Remonstranten_; Caspar Brandt, _Life of Arminius_ (English translation by J. Guthrie); W. B. Pope, _Compendium of Christian Theology_ (3 vols.).

ARMIN'IUS, an ancient German hero celebrated by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer from the Roman yoke, born about 18-16 B.C., assassinated A.D. 19. Having been sent as a hostage to Rome, he served in the Roman army, and was raised to the rank of _eques_. Returning home, he found the Roman governor, Quintilius Varus, making efforts to Romanize the German tribes near the Rhine. Placing himself at the head of the discontented tribes he completely annihilated the army of Varus, consisting of three legions, in a three days' battle fought in the Teutoburg Forest. For some time he baffled the Roman general Germanicus, and after many years' resistance to the vast power of the Empire he drew upon himself the hatred of his countrymen by aiming at the regal authority, and was assassinated. A national monument to his memory was inaugurated on the Grotenburg, near Detmold, in 1875.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: see Tacitus, _Annals_ (translated by Murphy); O. Kemmer, _Arminius_; F. W. Fischer, _Armin und die Roemer_.

ARMINIUS, Jacobus (properly Jakob Harmensen), founder of the sect of Arminians or Remonstrants, born in South Holland in 1560, died 1609. He studied at Utrecht, in the University of Leyden, and at Geneva, where his chief preceptor in theology was Theodore Beza (1582). On his return to Holland he was appointed minister of one of the churches in Amsterdam, and chosen to undertake the refutation of a work which strongly controverted Beza's doctrine of predestination; but he happened to be convinced by the work which he had undertaken to refute. Elected in 1603 professor of divinity at Leyden, he openly declared his opinions, and was involved in harassing controversies, especially with his fellow professor Gomarus. These contests, with the continual attacks on his reputation, at length impaired his health and brought on a complicated disease, of which he died. See _Arminians_.

AR'MITAGE, Edward, English historical painter, born 1817, died 1896. He studied under Delaroche at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, was one of the ablest pupils of that painter, and in 1842 exhibited at the Salon (in the Louvre) a picture of _Prometheus Bound_. At the exhibition of cartoons for historical pictures in Westminster Hall (1843) he obtained a premium of L300 for his design of _Caesar's First Invasion of Britain_. Other similar premiums were gained by his _Spirit of Religion_ (1845), and _Battle of Meeanee_ (1847--L500). He now went to study at Rome, and exhibited at the Academy in 1848 his _Henry VIII and Katherine Parr_, and his _Trafalgar_ (_Death of Nelson_). He had pictures in most of the subsequent Academy exhibitions up nearly to the time of his death. In 1867 he was elected an associate, and in 1872 a full academician. He did much for the restoration of fresco painting in England. A large number of his pictures were biblical in subject, such as _Ahab and Jezebel_, _Esther's Banquet_, _The Remorse of Judas_, _Joseph and Mary_, _Herod's Birthday Feast_, &c. As professor of painting to the Royal Academy he delivered lectures on painting, which were published in 1883. In 1898 appeared a volume of his _Pictures and Drawings_.

ARMOR'ICA (from two Celtic words signifying 'upon the sea'), a name anciently applied to all north-western Gaul, afterwards limited to what is now Brittany. Hence _Armoric_ is one name for Breton or the language of the inhabitants of Brittany, a Celtic dialect closely allied to Welsh.

ARMOUR. See _Arms_.

ARMOURED CAR, a self-propelled car completely protected by bullet-proof armour-plating. Such a car is a stage in the development of mechanical warfare, i.e. warfare by means of a self-propelled, armed, and manned machine. The idea is a very ancient one, some form of protected vehicle having been in use among the Chinese in almost prehistoric times. The modern armoured car is constructed on a strongly-engined chassis, and is provided with a bullet-proof armour-plating both for engine and crew. This armour is continued low down over the wheels. The armament of such a car consists of two heavy machine-guns, firing through slits in the armour-plating of the body of the car.

ARMOUR-PLATES, iron or steel plates with which the sides of vessels of war are covered with the view of rendering them shot-proof. See _Iron-clad Vessels_.

ARMS, COAT OF, or ARMORIAL BEARINGS, a collective name for the devices borne on shields, on banners, &c., as marks of dignity and distinction, and, in the case of family and feudal arms, descending from father to son. They were first employed by the Crusaders, and became hereditary in families at the close of the twelfth century. They took their rise from the knights painting their banners or shields each with a figure or figures proper to himself, to enable him to be distinguished in battle when clad in armour. See _Heraldry_.

ARMS, COLLEGE OF. See _Herald_.

ARMS and ARMOUR. The former term is applied to weapons of offence, the latter to the various articles of defensive covering used in war and military exercises, especially before the introduction of gunpowder. Weapons of offence are divisible into two distinct sections--firearms, and arms used without gunpowder or other explosive substance. The first arms of offence would probably be wooden clubs, then would follow wooden weapons made more deadly by means of stone or bone, stone axes, slings, bows and arrows with heads of flint or bone, and afterwards various weapons of bronze. Subsequently a variety of arms of iron and steel was introduced, which comprised the sword, javelin, pike, spear or lance, dagger, axe, mace, chariot scythe, &c.; with a rude artillery consisting of catapults, ballistae, and battering-rams. From the descriptions of Homer we know that almost all the Grecian armour, defensive and offensive, in his time was of bronze; though iron was sometimes used. The lance, spear, and javelin were the principal weapons of this age among the Greeks. The bow is not often mentioned. Among ancient nations the Egyptians seem to have been most accustomed to the use of the bow, which was the principal weapon of the Egyptian infantry. Peculiar to the Egyptians was a defensive weapon intended to catch and break the sword of the enemy. With the Assyrians the bow was a favourite weapon; but with them lances, spears, and javelins were in more common use than with the Egyptians. Most of the large engines of war--chariots with scythes projecting at each side from the axle, catapults, and ballistae--seem to have been of Assyrian origin. During the historical age of Greece the characteristic weapon was a heavy spear from 21 to 24 feet in length. The sword used by the Greeks was short, and was worn on the right side. The Roman sword was from 22 to 24 inches in length, straight, two-edged, and obtusely pointed, and as by the Greeks was worn on the right side. It was used principally as a stabbing weapon. It was originally of bronze. The most characteristic weapon of the Roman legionary soldier, however, was the _pilum_, which was a kind of pike or javelin, some 6 feet or more in length. The pilum was sometimes used at close quarters, but more commonly it was thrown. The favourite weapons of the ancient Germanic races were the battle-axe, the lance or dart, and the sword. The weapons of the Anglo-Saxons were spears, axes, swords, knives, and maces or clubs. The Normans had similar weapons, and were well furnished with archers and cavalry. The cross-bow was a comparatively late invention introduced by the Normans. Gunpowder was not used in Europe to discharge projectiles till the beginning of the fourteenth century. Cannon are first mentioned in England in 1338, and there seems to be no doubt that they were used by the English at the siege of Cambrai in 1339. The projectiles first used for cannon were of stone. Hand fire-arms date from the fifteenth century. At first they required two men to serve them, and it was necessary to rest the muzzle on a stand in aiming and firing. The first improvement was the invention of the match-lock, about 1476; this was followed by the wheel-lock, and about the middle of the seventeenth century by the flint-lock, which was in universal use until it was superseded by the percussion-lock, the invention of a Scottish clergyman early in the nineteenth century. The needle-gun dates from 1838. The only important weapon not a fire-arm that has been invented since the introduction of gunpowder is the bayonet, which is believed to have been invented about 1650. See _Cannon_, _Musket_, _Rifle_, &c.

Some kind of defensive covering was probably of almost as early invention as weapons of offence. The principal pieces of defensive armour used by the ancients were shields, helmets, cuirasses, and greaves. In the earliest ages of Greece the shield is described as of immense size, but in the time of the Peloponnesian War (about 420 B.C.) it was much smaller. The Romans had two sorts of shields: the _scutum_, a large oblong rectangular highly-convex shield, carried by the legionaries; and the _parma_, a small round or oval flat shield, carried by the light-armed troops and the cavalry. In the declining days of Rome the shields became larger and more varied in form. The helmet was a characteristic piece of armour among the Assyrians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. Like all other body armour it was usually made of bronze. The helmet of the historical age of Greece was distinguished by its lofty crest. The Roman helmet in the time of the early emperors fitted close to the head, and had a neck-guard and hinged cheek-pieces fastened under the chin, and a small bar across the face for a visor. Both Greeks and Romans wore cuirasses, at one time of bronze, but afterwards of flexible materials. Greaves for the legs were worn by both, but among the Romans usually on one leg. The ancient Germans had large shields of plaited osier covered with leather; afterwards their shields were small, bound with iron, and studded with bosses. The Anglo-Saxons had round or oval shields of wood, covered with leather, and having a boss in the centre; and they had also corselets, or coats of mail, strengthened with iron rings. The Normans were well protected by mail; their shields were somewhat triangular in shape, their helmets conical. In Europe generally metal armour was used from the tenth to the eighteenth century, and at first consisted of a tunic made of iron rings firmly sewn flat upon strong cloth or leather. The rings were afterwards interlinked one with another so as to form a garment of themselves, called _chain-mail_. Another variety of this flexible armour was known as _banded-mail_. This consisted of rings sewn upon a fabric foundation, the whole being covered with leather. In addition to this, 'scale armour', which had been in use from the very earliest periods of history, was still in common fashion in the thirteenth century. By degrees the suit of mail was reinforced by the addition of pieces of plate on the breast, knees, elbows, and arms, and by the end of the fourteenth century the full suit of plate had been evolved, the mail being only worn as a skirt round the waist or as a coif attached to the helmet. The golden age of plate armour is the middle of the fifteenth century, when the design was light and graceful, and at the same time fully protective. In the sixteenth century, when 'shock tactics' of cavalry were the order of the day, the 'war harness' became heavier. This was particularly noticeable in the armour for the joust or tournament, in which sport the aim of the contestants was to score points and not to inflict injury. Many of these jousting armours weigh over 80 lb. The weapons in use through the whole of the plate-armour period were the lance, the sword, the axe or war-hammer, the long-bow, and the cross-bow. The introduction of fire-arms in the fourteenth century was one of the causes which led to the increase of weight in armour, for the armourer was continually improving and strengthening his products to make them proof against musket and pistol, and he generally succeeded, but by doing so increased the weight till it became insupportable. In the seventeenth century leg armour was abandoned, and by the end of the civil war the popular defence was the steel cap and breastplate. In the eighteenth century armour entirely disappeared, except for ceremonial, and was thought to be entirely obsolete till it was revived in the recent war in the form of the steel shrapnel-helmet, which was favoured by all the Allies and also by the enemy. The German troops occasionally used heavy body armour. Daggers and clubs, weapons likewise thought to be obsolete, were frequently used by all combatants, especially on raids.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Hutton, _The Sword of the Centuries_; H. S. Cowper, _The Art of Attack_; C. ffoulkes, _Armour and Weapons_; C. H. Ashdown, _British and Foreign Arms and Armour_; C. Hall, _Modern Weapons of War by Land_.

ARMSTRONG, John, Scottish poet and physician, born about 1709, died 1779. After studying medicine in Edinburgh he settled in London. In 1744 he published his chief work, the _Art of Preserving Health_, a didactic poem. This work raised his reputation to a height which his subsequent efforts scarcely sustained. In 1746 he became physician to a hospital for soldiers, and in 1760 he was appointed physician to the forces which went to Germany. After his return to London he published a collection of his _Miscellanies_, which contained, however, nothing valuable. He afterwards visited France and Italy, and published an account of his tour under the name of Lancelot Temple. His last production was a volume of _Medical Essays_.

ARMSTRONG, William George, Lord, engineer and mechanical inventor, born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 10th Nov., 1810. He was trained as a solicitor, and practised as such for some time. Among his early inventions were the hydro-electric machine, a powerful apparatus for producing frictional electricity, and the hydraulic crane. In 1847 the Elswick works, near Newcastle, were established for the manufacture of his cranes and other heavy iron machinery, and these works are now among the most extensive of their kind. Here the first rifled ordnance gun which bears his name was made in 1854. His improvements in the manufacture of guns and shells led to his being appointed engineer of rifled ordnance under Government, and he was knighted in 1858. This appointment came to an end in 1863, since which time his ordnance has taken a prominent place in the armaments of different countries. He was made a peer, as Baron Armstrong, in 1887. He died 27th Dec., 1900.

ARMSTRONG GUN, a kind of cannon, so called from its inventor. It has an inner tube or core of steel, rifled with numerous shallow grooves, the tube being surrounded by a jacket of spirally-coiled bars of wrought iron, so disposed as to bring the metal into the most favourable position for the strain to which it is to be exposed. His first guns were small, but larger ones were soon made, and afterwards those of the very highest calibre. The breech-loading principle was also adopted in them, and special provision to effect this satisfactorily was invented by him. The improved shells introduced by him were of the elongated and pointed type now so well known, the charge being inserted in a special chamber behind the bore.

ARMY, a collection of bodies of men armed, disciplined, and organized for war. The essence of a modern army is that it shall be composed of organized units each under its own commander, grouped in formations of ever-increasing size, and owing allegiance through these commanders to one supreme head. Discipline and organization are essential, or such a force becomes merely a collection of armed men.

In the early days of our history every able-bodied man was, to a greater or lesser extent, a possible fighting man, and all had arms of one kind or another. Consequently, when an army was required, landowners and county authorities were ordered to provide the troops necessary. Every free landowner between the ages of sixteen and sixty was liable to service, which was limited to two months in a year. This was the Saxon 'fyrd' system. Later it was improved on by the institution of 'Thane's Service', which made it incumbent on the more considerable landowners to appear fully armed and mounted, and to serve for the whole campaign. The horse, however, was only used as a means of locomotion: for fighting purposes their riders dismounted, as did the dragoons of the seventeenth century and the mounted infantry of still more modern times. The fyrd was an unorganized and undisciplined force and entirely ephemeral in its nature, so that we find the Danish kings of England casting about for some more permanent force, which came into existence under the title of the 'House Carles', or Royal Guard. With the Norman Conquest the fyrd was largely supplanted by the feudal system of knight's service, according to which the country was divided into knight's fees, each of which had to provide its quotum of men. The gradual appearance of the custom of avoiding service by payments of money--in time regulated under the name of scutage--led to the employment of paid mercenaries, who for some two centuries were almost invariably foreigners. In the twelfth century it was found that sufficient troops could not be provided under these two systems, so the fyrd was re-established as a National Militia by the Assize of Arms, and in the next century further steps were taken to protect it under the Statute of Winchester. In the fourteenth century the archer, with his longbow, became a very important part of the fighting forces of England, and an army of those days consisted of the heavily-armed and armoured knights and men-at-arms for shock action, and the unarmoured archers for 'volley action', to use a later term. With the gradual disappearance of the foreign mercenaries, it became the custom for the king to issue indents to certain influential subjects for the raising of paid troops. From this custom arose the free companies, which, in time, became nothing more or less than commercial undertakings. The indents were accepted, and the men enlisted primarily for what could be got out of the business of fighting, either in the shape of ransom or the sack of towns. Some attempt was also made at tactical organization, and an army of the period was divided into vanguard, battle, and rearguard. Artillery also was beginning to be developed in Germany for siege purposes. The sixteenth century saw the first formation of companies into regiments, though as yet of no fixed strength. Arms were also modernized, and by the end of the century muskets, 18-feet pikes, and swords, were the arms of infantry instead of the varied assortment of halberds, pikes, muskets, harquebuses, and longbows common at the beginning. Elizabeth introduced the press-gang as an aid to recruiting, and abolished the white coat of the soldier in favour of a long red or blue cassock. In the next century Cromwell's new model army became the first standing army of England, and, though it was disbanded by Act of Parliament at the Restoration, one of its regiments--Monk's--remained, and is now the Coldstream Guards. After this regiments were raised from time to time on one pretext or another, and the nucleus of a standing army became a _fait accompli_, though it was for a long time considered more as an appanage of the king than as a national institution. With the standing army came the first beginnings of civilian control, a Secretary-at-War being appointed in 1660. He had, however, no responsibility, and was subordinate to the commander-in-chief, and it was not till 1710 that he assumed his present responsibility to Parliament. During the eighteenth century the strength of the army rose or fell according to the state of the military barometer and the success or otherwise of the various recruiting expedients, among which was the first attempt at a short-service system in 1703. In 1871-2 the old numbering in regiments was abolished and a territorial designation substituted. According to this scheme, the first twenty-five regiments, all of which had already two battalions, were grouped together, the rest being joined arbitrarily to form new regiments under county designations. With these regiments were affiliated the militia and volunteer battalions, which have now been amalgamated into the Special Reserve and the Territorial Force.

For the requirements of the war of 1914-8 the Empire, as a whole, including India, raised and maintained a total of 8,654,467 men, of which the contribution of the United Kingdom was over 6,000,000. Casualties for the whole Empire were 3,060,616, of which the United Kingdom has for her share nearly 2,500,000, including 666,083 killed, 1,644,786 wounded, and 140,312 missing.

During 1918 the combatant strength of all arms of the British army in France fluctuated between 1,293,000 in March and 1,164,790 in November, while the rifle or infantry strength was from 616,000 to 416,748 during the same periods. From the date of the armistice to 31st Dec., 1919, the following number of demobilizations and discharges were effected:--

Demobilized.--Officers, 144,144; other ranks, 3,332,882.

Discharged as medically unfit.--Officers, 23,476; other ranks, 207,500.

Discharged from reserves.--Other ranks, 143,603.

The modern British army is governed by the Army Council (instituted 1904), presided over by the Secretary of State for War. This Council, which consists of five military and five civilian members, including the president, works through the War Office, of which the principal departments are in charge of one or other of the members of the Council. On the military side these departments are those of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the Adjutant-General to the Forces, the Quartermaster-General to the Forces, and the Master-General of the Ordnance. For administrative and training purposes the United Kingdom is divided into seven Commands and the London District. When necessary, Commands are further subdivided into Districts. The army, generally speaking, consists of (1) the Regular Army, (2) the Territorial Force, and (3) the Reserves. The service battalions, which formed such a large and important part of the army in the war, do not, properly speaking, form part of the permanent military forces, though the organization of the army as a whole is such that it is capable of expansion to any extent by the process of raising new battalions and affiliating them to existing regular or territorial units. The regular army comprises the Household Cavalry, Cavalry of the Line, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Brigade of Guards, and Infantry of the Line. In addition there are administrative troops and services such as the Royal Army Service Corps, the Royal Army Medical Corps, with its allied service Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, and others. Other corps brought into existence during the war, such as the Tank and Machine-gun Corps, have at present no permanent status. In the future, however, machine-gun companies will form an integral portion of each battalion of the regular army.

Under the conditions of the war the old national method of voluntary recruitment was found to be insufficient, and recourse was had to the principle of universal military service. Under the Military Service Acts the age limit was gradually raised till it finally included all men up to the age of fifty. Exceptions were made in the case of munition-workers, or those employed on work of national importance. Since the signature of the Treaty of Peace the army so raised was gradually demobilized till, by 31st March, 1920, it had decreased to 400,000, including 100,000 Indians paid by the Imperial Government. Concurrently with demobilization, voluntary enlistment was reintroduced, and the post-war army is once more a voluntary one, in which men serve under very much improved conditions as to pay and prospects. The period of service under this system is twelve years, of which seven normally are with the colours and five in the reserve: in certain cases modifications of these periods are allowed, and, in addition, a soldier may be allowed to extend his colour service to the full twelve years, or, in exceptional cases, to complete twenty-one years for pension. Discharge or transfer to the reserve is ordinarily granted on completion of the agreed period of service. Pay of all ranks was very materially improved in 1919. Whereas formerly a private soldier on enlistment received 1s. a day, he now receives 2s. 9d., and after two years' service 3s. 6d. To this last amount is added, under very reasonable conditions, a further daily sum of 6d. proficiency pay. A sergeant now gets 7s. a day instead of from 2s. 4d. to 3s. 4d., and a regimental sergeant-major 14s. instead of 5s. or 6s. Add to these rates of pay free rations, free housing, free medical attendance, and, in the future, doubtless free education, and it must be admitted that the present-day soldier is not badly paid. The rate of pay is a flat rate for all arms, special allowances being given where necessary.

The Household Cavalry comprises the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and the Horse Guards (Blues). In peace-time they serve only in London and Windsor. They alone retain the old cavalry rank of corporal of horse instead of sergeant. Cavalry of the line consists of dragoon guards, dragoons, hussars, and lancers. The dragoon guards are numbered separately from 1 to 7, while dragoons, hussars, and lancers run consecutively from 1 to 21. A regiment of cavalry is commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and consists of 25 officers and 497 other ranks. Each regiment is organized in three squadrons commanded by majors, while a squadron is divided into four troops, each under a subaltern officer, troops being further subdivided into sections under non-commissioned officers. Cavalry regiments, except hussars, carry guidons or standards for ceremonial purposes. These differ from the colours of infantry in that they are not consecrated and are carried by non-commissioned officers instead of by officers. Hussars carry no standards. There are six cavalry depots for recruiting and preliminary-training purposes, i.e. for lancers at Woolwich, hussars at Scarborough, Bristol, and Dublin, and dragoons at Newport (Mon.) and Dunbar. The Cavalry Special Reserve consists of the Irish Horse and King Edward's Horse, and during the war reserve cavalry regiments were maintained.

The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises batteries of horse artillery designated by letters of the alphabet, and batteries of field, siege, heavy, and mountain by numbers. A battery, with some exceptions in the case of the heaviest type, consists of six guns or howitzers, horse artillery having 13-pounder guns, and field artillery 18-pounder guns or 4.5-inch howitzers. Horse artillery is intended to act with cavalry, and is therefore provided with a rather lighter gun. It can go anywhere that cavalry can go, and all the gun detachments are mounted. Field artillery works with infantry, and the gun detachments either walk or are carried on the limbers, only the officers, certain non-commissioned officers, and specialists such as scouts, range-finders, and trumpeters being mounted.

A battery is commanded by a major, with a captain as second-in-command, and is organized in three sections of two guns each under a subaltern. These sections are again subdivided into subsections of one gun each under a sergeant. Each gun is drawn by six horses, the driver of the leading pair being responsible for direction and pace. A corporal in the Royal Artillery is known as a bombardier, and the rank and file as gunners or drivers, according to their special duties, though drivers are also trained to some extent as gunners.

Heavy and siege artillery have come into their own in the late war, and consist roughly of all armament heavier than that of field artillery. Sixty-pounders and 4.7-inch howitzers form heavy batteries, while guns of 6 inch and upwards drawn by mechanical transport or mounted on railway trucks are known as siege batteries. Mountain artillery, of which most of the batteries are in India, is armed with 2.95-inch screw guns capable of being dismantled and carried piecemeal on mules. Another form is found on the west coast of Africa, where carriers take the place of mules. These guns are brought into action very quickly, but their shell-power is small.

The corps of Royal Engineers is responsible for the construction and maintenance of barracks, fortifications, and other military works, and for the personnel required for search-lights and electrical communications of the coast and anti-aircraft defences. With few exceptions the personnel of the corps is recruited entirely from skilled tradesmen and artisans. For service in the field, Royal Engineer units known as field squadrons and field companies accompany the fighting troops, and carry a certain amount of bridging material and tools. More highly specialized units carry out such services as mining, heavy bridging, railway, survey, and sound-ranging work. An important feature of Royal Engineer work in war is the supply of materials and stores, for which purpose an elaborate organization is provided in addition to the units already noted.

The Brigade of Guards--the infantry of the household troops--comprises the five regiments of foot-guards. These are the Grenadier, the Coldstream, the Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh Guards of from one to three battalions each. Being household troops these regiments are subject to certain special regulations and have certain privileges. As a general rule they serve only in London, Windsor, or Aldershot, and only leave England for active service, though individual battalions have served in the past both in Cairo and Gibraltar.