Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/194

* DESERTION. 158 DESERT VEGETATION. the statutes impose penalties and forfeitures. A soldier wlio has de.-.ertea, and whose lu-riod ol serviee has ehipsed prior to his apprehension, is handed over to the military aulhonlies lor trial and senlenee by a military eourt-martial. In the British Armv desertion is a common offense, althouj;!. in the majority of instaiues t he soldier deserts to join another regiment unmcdi- atelv, in whieh ease should he confess, or be discovered, he is tried by a district court-martial on the charge of fraudulent enlistment I'oriner- Iv the charge was 'desertion and fraudulent enlistment.' and up to ISTO the rule vas to brand a deserter bv tattooinj; him with the letter U. oi B C (bad" character). The punishnunt for a iirst offense is usually from three months to two years' imprisonment in a military prison, and for succeeding i.Ucnses not more than live years may be inllicted. In Germany and Continental Europe jreneralh. desertion in time of peace is dithcult, and consequently infrequent, owing to the com- Dulsorv service system which prevails. Desertion in time of war is treated by all countries alike, death being the usual punishment. Desertion from the naval services of Kiiro]H'an nations is also treated with varying terms of imprisonment or the death penalty, according to the nature and circumstances of the olVelise. In the United States Xavy, absence without leave with a manifest intention not. to re- turn." is always regarded as d'scrtio,,. Absence without leave, with the probabilit.y that the ..crsoii does not intend to desert, is at first ivarded as slraqqlinp. and at the expiration of" ten davs, if still absent, as desertion. In either ease the commanding ollieer decides the point of intention and causes the per- son's name to be entered in the ships log- book and marked on the paymaster s books as a ihxertn- foiimiandin'.' olliccrs are authorized to' offer a reward not exceeding .$20 f"r f'^re- eoNcrv of a deserter, and one not exceeding ?10 for the recovery of a straggler. Tn addition to the reward, there are paid such expenses at- lendiiK' lluir lodirment. subsistence, and travel- in- as" have been fairly incurred. Any reward paid for the apprehension and necessary c^^penscs of a stra-'-'ler is charged to his account. The wages duea deserter are forfeited to the I n.ted «;tates- if in debt to the Government at the time of his desertion, his effects are sold and the pro- ceeds applied to liquidate it. The letter R marked against a person's name on the s^ups books signifies desertion, and no .application for its removal is entertained unless the ^"'•"ent is furnishe.1 with sufficient evidence that there was no intention to desert. Commanding olTicers of vessels at any Vnited States naval station are not allowed to receive on board stragglers or deserters from other vessels, unless nrdered so to do bv the Bureau of Navigation, which has charge of" the recruiting of the navy. In case of shipwreck or any other eireumstanee. except capture by an enemv. whereby any person be- lon"in.' to a vessel in the navy becomes unavoid- ably separated from his command, it is his duty to proceed at once to the m^arest ship, squadron, or Uation. and report himself to the officer in com- mand Should he not do so he is regarded as a de- serter and no claim for wages is allowed unless he ran prove that he was prevented by eircumslanees beyond his control. The punisl,nunt of death. or such other punishment as a courlinatial mav adjudge, can be inllicted on any person in the naval service who in time of war deserts or en tiees others to desert. In the merchant scrvu-,. absence without leave for forty eight hours is re warded as conclusive evidence of desertion. DESERTION. As ap|>licd to marital rela- tions the willful willidrawal of one .if the married i>artics from the other, or the vol- untary refusal of one to renew a susi.eiided cohabitation without justification either in the nonconsenl of the other party or the wrongful conduct of that party. In most of the states in this country desertion, when willful and accompanied by lack of support on the part of the husband, is" made by law a cause of di- vorce. The statutes of the several States dcliiu- what may be considered desertion in each, and usnallv declare the length of time after which desertion will be deemed a good cause lor .livoice. This time varies from one year to live. It has becit ruled that the intenti.mal abandoning tor the statutory period by a husband of the matri- monial com'panionship and intercourse would suilice to base a petition for divorce upon, even though during that time he had regularly cou- tribuled toward the support of the wife. A di-- Unction must be made between desertion aiul mere absence-, the fonner word always implu = the non-assent of the person left an.l the vio a- lion bv the deserter of some legal or moral dutj. In cases of simple absence from the State the common law presumes the death of the lu-rson •iftcr the lapse of seven years, and in some States k shorter period than this is fixed by statute. Such absence mav. like desertion, usually be made a "round for suit for divorce: but if the full pertod of absence has elapsed, a .second marriage could not. under any circumstances, be made ti.e cause of a proscculi.m for bigamy. In Knglaiul under the present law the wife may demand a decree of ju.li.-ial separation, coupled wit i an order for alimonv. on account of willlul deser- tion by the husha'nd for two years without cause. Consult the authorities referred to under liis- UANM) AND WiFK. See A.IANUONMKNT : CollAmTA- tion: CoNJiGAi. Kkuits: DivoitiE: lit suanh AND Wife. DESERT VEGETATION. Tlanls whose nat- ural habitats arc in d.scrts. They form one of the three great climatic groujis of xerophytes, and show "the typical xerophytie adaptations which need but brief statement here. Nlost of the adaptations secure reduced transpiration— e" many plants show rediucl leayes--or the leaves ni'av even be wholly absent, as in some cacti- the deciduous habit is pronounced and reaches its highest expression in annuals, where the whole plant, so to speak, is shed during the dry .season: anatomical structures, such as thick eirtieles. coats of hair and also wax, protected stomata, etc., are highly developed. Adaptations which .secure increased absorption are ol en found— e.g. root systems are highly devdopcd-- and absorptive hairs sometimes occur. 1 ossil.ly the most characteristic of all desert adapta ions are storage organ-: succulent leaves and stems are particularly common, and there are many plants with lleshv un.lerground stems (bulbs, tubers etc ). The conditions thai determine the nature of the vegetation are largely associated with the small amount of atmospheric moisture