GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD 278 GENERATOR are over 200 generals of different grades on the retired list. GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD, an organization established for the purpose of distributing gifts made by John D. Rockefeller for educational purposes, and chartered by Congress in 1903. Over $50,000,000 have been given by Mr. Rockefeller to the Board. The Board generally makes its gifts to agencies and institutions already in ex- istence and does not undertake independ- ent educational work. The gifts of the Board are mainly devoted to the promo- tion of practical farming in Southern States; to the establishment of public high schools in Southern States; to the promotion of institutions of higher learning; and to schools for negroes. For all these purposes the Board has expended large sums, vphich, of course, were assigned only after a care- ful study of the needs and condi- tions of the recipients. The investiga- tions which preceded the gifts of the Board were perhaps of as great im- portance to the development of educa- tion in the United States as the gifts themselves. The Board consists of 17 members and maintains headquarters in New York City, In 1920 the president was W. Buttrick, and the secretary, A. Flexner. GENERAL STAFF, ordinarily a group of officers acting as an advisory board to the commander-in-chief of an army, each member of which is responsible for the detailed working out of the chief's orders in one particular field. The gen- eral staff of a commanding general may be compared to the cabinet of a premier in civil government. There is also a Great General Staff, not subservient to any commanding field officer, which plans the tactics and strategy of the whole national army. This system of military organization was first adopted in Germany. In the United States a General Staff Corps was first established by an act of Congress passed in 1903. Frequent amendments have since been made to the original act, notably in 1918, after the World War, when a thorough reorganization took place. The Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1920 was General Peyton C. March, who occupied this position during the war with the Central Powers. Under his authority there were four chiefs of divisions; Chief of the Executive Divi- sion, the War Plans Division, the Pur- chase of Supplies Division and the Army Operations Division. Each of these chiefs is directly responsible to the Chief of General Staff and Secretary of War. The General Staff as a whole, together with the Secretary of War, is r'^sponsi- ble for the working out of all the plans of campaign of the United States Army in the field. See Military Organization, United States. GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMI- NARY, the most important Protestant Episcopal seminary in the United States. It was established in 1817 in New York City by order of the General Convention, and began its work in 1819. From 1820 to 1822 the seminary was located in New Haven, but in the latter year was re-established in New York. For many years it suffered from the lack of the necessary financial backing. This con- dition, however, was remedied during the administration of Eugene A. Hoff- man, which began in 1878 and lasted until his death in 1902. Through his own large gifts, as well as a result of his ability to interest other wealthy men, the seminary was established on an independent basis. The regular course covers three years. A graduate course is also offered. The degrees of D. D. and B. D. are conferred. The seminary is controlled by a Board of Trustees. No tuition fees are charged and there are many prizes and scholar- ships available. In 1921 the number of students was 71, and the number of teachers, 15. The governing official was H. E. Fosbroke, D. D. GENERATOR, an apparatus for gen- erating carbonic acid g^s for charging soda-fountains, or bottles with aerated water. In chemistry, a term used to de- note the elements or compounds from which a more complex substance is ob- tained. Thus ethyl, alcohol, and acetic acid are the generators of acetic ether; and benzoic acid and glycocoll are the generators of hippuric acid. By the ac- tion of acids or alkalies these substances can be resolved into their generators, and, so the constitution of a complex body can be determined; thus, Lecithin, a constituent of the brain, has the for- mula C44HS0N ■ R r Og ; it has six generators, glycerin, phosphoric acid, stearic acid, glycol, inethyl alcohol, and ammonia; therefore it is found to be a distearate glycerophosphate of choline, and choline has been found to be a trimethyl oxy- ethyl ammonium hydrate (CH3)3N-CH» •OH-CHs-OH. In distilling, a retort in which volatile hydrocarbons are distilled from liquid or solid matters. In electricity, a Dynamo-electric Ma- chine (q. V.) In music, a ground note, fundamental bass, root, derivative. The principal sound or sounds by which others are produced, as the lower C for the treble of the harpsichord, which be-
