Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/319

Rh M I L M I L 301 placed under the lieutenant of the county, empowered in this respect by a commission from the crown. This prerogative of the sovereign, which had been in some instances a matter of controversy, was declared by statute shortly after the Restoration. By the same statute the militia of each county was placed under the lieutenant, who was vested with the appointment of officers, but with a reserva tion to the crown in the way of commissioning and dismissal. The cost of the annual training for fourteen days fell upon the local authority. Offences against discipline were dealt with by the civil magistrates, but with a power to the officers of fining and of imprisoning in default. Upon this footing the militia of England remained for nearly a century, with the general approval of the community. It was recognized as an instrument for defence and for the preservation of internal order, while it was especially popular from the circumstance that from its constitution and organization the crown could not use it as a means of violating the constitution or abridging the liberty of the subject. It was con trolled and regulated in the county ; it was officered by the land owners and their relatives, its ranks were filled by men not depend ing for their subsistence or advancement upon the favour of the crown; its numbers and maintenance were beyond the royal control; its government was by statute. While the supreme command was distinctly vested in the crown, every practical security was thus taken against its use by the crown for any object not constitutional or legitimate. It was regarded as, and was, in fact, the army of the state as distinguished from the standing army, which was very much the army of the king personally. The latter consisted of hired soldiers, and was more than once recruited by a conscription, con fined, however, to persons of the vagrant class not having a lawful employment, while the former was mainly composed of those having a fixed abode and status. The militia thus enjoyed for many years as compared with the regular forces a social as well as a consti tutional superiority. About the middle of the last century the militia was reconstituted, with certain modifications, not involving a sacrifice of the principle of its local government, but strengthening somewhat the supervising influence of the, crown. Thus the king directly appointed the permanent staff, and was given a veto upon the appointment and promotion of the officers, who were to have a property qualification. A quota was fixed for each county, to be raised by ballot of those between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, each parish having the option of supplying volunteers at its own cost, and each man balloted being permitted in lien of serving to pay 10 to provide a substitute. When called out for service the pay was to be the same as that of the regulars, and while embodied or assembled for annual training the officers and men were placed under the Mutiny Act and Articles of War, with, however, a proviso that in time of training no punishment was to extend to &quot;life or limb.&quot; The crown was given the power to call out the militia in case of apprehended invasion or of rebellion, and associate it with the regular army, but only upon the condition of previously in forming parliament if then sitting, and if it were not sitting of calling parliament together for the purpose. A further and im portant security was established to prevent an unconstitutional use of the militia by the crown: the estimate for its training was framed each year, not by an executive minister of the sovereign, but by the House of Commons itself. Upon the initiative of a committee of the House, an Act was passed providing for the pay and clothing of the militia for the year. Upon this footing substantially the militia of England remained for many years, the Irish and Scotch militias being meantime brought under the same conditions by various enactments. The force was embodied on several occasions during the last and in the early years of the present century, and it contributed largely to the army engaged in the Peninsula. From 1803 to 1813 just 100,000 men, or two-fifths of those raised for the army, came from the militia. In this way, however, it lost its distinctive character as a defensive force. During the peace which followed the final fall of Napoleon the militia was suffered to fall into decay; and up to 1852 it had only a nominal existence in the shape of an effete permanent staff with no duties to perform. In 1853 the militia was revived just in time to enable it to fulfil most valuable functions. In the war with Russia it was embodied and did garrison duty not only in the United Kingdom but in the Mediterranean garrisons, thus enabling the authorities to send most of the available regular troops to the scene of hostilities. It further contributed many officers and some 30,000 men to the line. It still gives annually about 8000 recruits to the regulars. During the Indian mutiny it filled scarcely less useful functions when again called out. It has since then been regularly assembled for annual training; and when it is brigaded with the regular forces at Aldershot and other camps of instruction its military aptitude and proficiency have generally elicited the surprised admiration of pro fessional soldiers. In 1871 an important constitutional change was made. It was part of the new army system inaugurated in that year that the control of the militia should be removed from the lord lieutenant of the county and vested wholly in the crown. It has now virtually ceased to exist as a distinct body, and is a part of the regular forces with a limitation as to the time and area and other conditions of service. There is no longer a regiment of militia. The body that would formerly be thus described is now a collection of militiamen of a regiment largely composed of regulars. The votes for the maintenance of the militia are now part of the army estimates. The officers of the militia and the line are eligible for duty with either force, and may sit upon courts martial indis criminately. This practical amalgamation of the old constitutional force with the standing army may appear theoretically open to the objection that it is thereby placed under the direct control of the sovereign. But the day has passed when such an objection could have any value. The fact of the whole army being placed in all respects under the direct control of a minister responsible not only to the crown but to parliament is enough to dissipate any constitu tional apprehensions under this head. The only colonial militia that forms an effective force is that of Canada, which is organized as an efficient local army. The Government of the Dominion includes a minister of militia and defence. The force is placed under the command of a general officer, assisted by an adjutant-general, belonging to the regular army and appointed by the qxieen. The training of the officers is a matter of special care, there being a military college at Kingston, several of the governing body and professors of which are officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers, as well as schools of gunnery and musketry. For military purposes the Dominion is mapped out in twelve districts. The militia is divided into the active and the reserve, and the male inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and sixty, with the usual exceptions, are liable to military service, the extent of which varies with the age of each man, the larger amount of duty falling upon the younger. The active militia comprises 12 regiments of cavalry, 17 field and 31 garrison batteries of artillery besides a mountain battery, 4 com panies of engineers, 2 mounted rifle corps, 97 battalions of from 5 to 10 companies each and 16 independent companies of infantry. The uniform is for the most part like that of the regular army, and the organization and general efficiency of the whole body have been very favourably reported upon. Although the obligations of the Canadian militia are purely local, a large number on a late occasion offered themselves for general service; and, in the event of a war on a large scale, it is believed that the force would con tribute a valuable addition to the fighting strength of the imperial army. (J. C. O D.) MILK is the fluid secreted by the mammary glands of the division of vertebrate animals called Mammalia. These glands are in a rudimentary form in the Monotremes. In Ornithorhynchus there is no nipple, but the mouth and tongue are closely applied over the area on which the ducts open, and the fluid is withdrawn by suction on the part of the young and compression of the gland by the mother. In Echidna the ducts of the gland open into a small pouch, foreshadowing the larger pouches of marsupials. In Marsupials the glands are more compact, and have a greater number of lobules. They are found behind the marsupial depressions or those of the pouch ; they are not fewer than two on each side nor more than thirteen, six on each side and one midway. The ducts, long and slender during lacta tion, open on a nipple which is covered by a reflexion of the skin at the back of the pouch, thus forming a kind of hood or sheath. The nipple is protruded beyond the hood during lactation, and is much elongated. The number of these nipples bears a relation to the number of young at a birth; thus the kangaroo, with one at a birth, has four nipples (two, generally the anterior pair, being in use), whilst the Virginian opossum, which produces six or more at a birth, has thirteen nipples. Rodents show a corre sponding provision for the nourishment of the young in the number of nipples. A seeming exception is the common guinea-pig, which frequently has eight, ten, or twelve young at intervals of two or three months, and yet the mother has only two teats to serve them, turn and turn about; the original stock of the domestic species breeds, however, only once annually, and has but one to two young, so the domestic variety is a curious anomaly due to the artificial circumstances of its life. In the porcupines there are two nipples, one midway between the fore and hind leg, and the other midway between this and the base of the fore leg. In the coypu, a creature often carrying its young on its back whilst it swims across rivers, the teats project from the flanks near the shoulders, and are of consideiable length,