the issue. The Germans attach special importance to instruction in
the tactical handling of artillery.
Italy.—The Italians make a speciality of horsemanship, their cavalry officers studying for two years at the cavalry school at Modena; later at the school at Pinerolo, and later still at the school at Tor di Quinto. They also attach much importance to mountain warfare.
France.—The formal training of the French officer does not appear to differ seriously from that of the British officer, with this exception, that as one-third or so of French officers are promoted from the non-commissioned ranks, a great feature of the educational system is the group of schools comprising the Saumur (cavalry), St Maixent (infantry) and Versailles (artillery and engineers), which are intended for under-officer candidates for commissions. The generality of the officers comes from the “special school” of St Cyr (infantry and cavalry) and the École Polytechnique (artillery and engineers). (R. J. G.)
United States.—The principal source from which officers are supplied to the army is the famous Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. The President may appoint forty cadets and generally chooses sons of army and navy officers. Each senator and each representative and delegate in Congress may appoint one. These appointments are not made annually, but as vacancies occur through graduation of cadets, or their discharge before graduation. The maximum number of cadets under the Twelfth Census is 533. The commanding officer of the academy has the title of superintendent and commandant. He is detailed from the army, and has the temporary rank of colonel. The corps of cadets is organized as a battalion, and is commanded by an officer detailed from the army, having the title of commandant of cadets. He has the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. An officer of engineers and of ordnance are detailed as instructors of practical military engineering and of ordnance and gunnery respectively. The heads of the departments of instruction have the title of professors. They are selected generally from officers of the army, and their positions are permanent. The officers above mentioned and the professors constitute the academic board. The military staff and assistant instructors are officers of the army. The course of instruction covers four years and is very thorough. Theoretical instruction comprises mathematics, French, Spanish, English, drawing, physics, astronomy, chemistry, ordnance and gunnery, art of war, civil and military engineering, law (international, constitutional and military), history and drill regulations of all arms. Practical instruction comprises the service drills in infantry, cavalry and artillery, surveying, reconnaissances, field engineering, construction of temporary bridges, simple astronomical observations, fencing, gymnastics and swimming. Cadets are a part of the army, and rank between second lieutenants and the highest grade of non-commissioned officers. They receive from the government a rate of pay sufficient to cover all necessary expenses at the academy. About 50% of those entering are able to complete the course. The graduating class each year numbers, on an average, about 60. A class, on graduating, is arranged in order according to merit, and its members are assigned as second lieutenants to corps and arm, according to the recommendation of the academic board. A few at the head of the class go into the corps of engineers; the next in order generally go into the artillery, and the rest of the class into the cavalry and infantry. The choice of graduates as to arm of service and regiments is consulted as far as practicable. Any enlisted man who has served honestly and faithfully not less than two years, who is between twenty-one and thirty years of age, unmarried, a citizen of the United States and of good moral character, may aspire to a commission. To obtain it he must pass an educational and physical examination before a board of five officers. This board must also inquire as to the character, capacity and record of the candidate. Many well-educated young men, unable to obtain appointments to West Point, enlist in the army for the express purpose of obtaining a commission. Vacancies in the grade of second lieutenant remaining, after the graduates of the Military Academy and qualified enlisted men have been appointed, are filled from civil life. To be eligible for appointment a candidate must be a citizen of the United States, unmarried, between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-seven years, and must be approved by an examining board of five officers as to habits, moral character, physical ability, education and general fitness for the service. In time of peace very few appointments from civil life are made, but in time of war there is a large number.
There are, in addition to the Engineer School at Washington, D.C. four service schools for officers. These are: the Coast Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Virginia; the General Service and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas; the Army Medical School at Washington. The commandants, staffs and instructors at these schools are officers specially selected. The garrison at Fort Monroe is composed of several companies of coast artillery. The lieutenants of these companies, who constitute the class, are relieved and replaced by others on 1st September of each year. The course of instruction comprises the following subjects: artillery, ballistics, engineering, steam and mechanics, electricity and mines, chemistry and explosives, military science, practical military exercises, photography, telegraphy and cordage (the use of ropes, the making of various kinds of knots and lashings, rigging shears, &c., for the handling of heavy guns). July and August of each year are ordinarily devoted to artillery target practice. The course at the General Service and Staff College is for one year in each School. The class of student officers is made up of one lieutenant from each regiment of infantry and cavalry, and such others as may be detailed. They are assigned to the organizations comprising the garrison, normally a regiment of infantry, a squadron (four troops) of cavalry and a battery of field artillery. The departments of instruction are: military art, engineering, law, infantry, cavalry, military hygiene. Much attention is paid to practical work in the minor operations of war, the troops of the garrison being utilized in connexion therewith. At the close of the final examinations of each class at Fort Monroe and Fort Leavenworth, those officers most distinguished for proficiency are reported to the adjutant-general of the army. Two from each class of the Artillery School, and not more than five from each class at the General Service and Staff College, are thereafter, so long as they remain in the service, noted in the annual army register as “honour graduates.” The work of the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley is mainly practical, and is carried on by the regular garrison, which usually, in time of peace, consists of two squadrons of cavalry and three field batteries. The government reservation at Fort Riley comprises about 40 sq. m. of varied terrain, so that opportunities are afforded, and taken advantage of, for all kinds of field operations. The Army Medical School is established at Washington. The faculty consists of four or more instructors selected from the senior officers of the medical department. The course of instruction covers a period of five months, beginning annually in November. The student officers are recently appointed medical officers, and such other medical officers, available for detail, as may desire to take the course. Instruction is by lecture and practical work, special attention being given to the following subjects: duties of medical officers in peace and war; hospital administration; military medicine, surgery and hygiene; microscopy and bacteriology; hospital corps drill and first aid to the wounded. (W. A. S.)
OFFICIAL (Late Lat. officialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from
officium, office, duty), in general any holder of office under the
state or a public body. In ecclesiastical law the word “official”
has a special technical sense as applied to the official exercising
a diocesan bishop’s jurisdiction as his representative and in
his name (see Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction). The title of
“official principal,” together with that of “vicar-general,” is in
England now merged in that of “chancellor” of a diocese (see
Chancellor).
OFFICINAL, a term applied in medicine to drugs, plants and herbs, which are sold in chemists’ and druggists’ shops, and to medical preparations of such drugs, &c., as are made in accordance with the prescriptions authorized by the pharmacopoeia. In the latter sense, modern usage tends to supersede “officinal” by “official.” The classical Lat. officina meant a workshop, manufactory, laboratory, and in medieval monastic Latin was applied to a general store-room (see Du Cange, Gloss., s.v.); it thus became applied to a shop where goods were sold rather than a place where things were made.
OGDEN, a city and the county-seat of Weber county, Utah, U.S.A., at the confluence of the Ogden and Weber rivers, and about 35 m. N. of Salt Lake City. Pop. (1890) 14,889; (1900) 16,313, of whom 3302 were foreign-born; (1906 estimate) 17,165. It is served by the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Oregon Short Line, and the Denver & Rio Grande railways. It is situated at an elevation of about 4300 ft. in the picturesque region of the Wasatch Range, Ogden Cañon and the Great Salt Lake. Ogden is in an agricultural and fruit-growing region, and gold and silver are mined in the vicinity. It has various manufactures, and the value of the factory product increased from $1,242,214 in 1900 to $2,997,057 in 1905, or 141·3%. Ogden, which is said to have been named in honour of John Ogden, a trapper, was laid out under the direction of Brigham Young in 1850, and was incorporated in the next year; in 1861 it received a new charter, but since 1898 it has been governed under a general law of the state.
OGDENSBURG, a city and port of entry of St Lawrence county, New York, U.S.A., on the St Lawrence river, at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, 140 m. N. by E. of Syracuse, New York. Pop. (1890) 11,662; (1900) 12,633, of whom 3222 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 15,933. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson River and the Rutland railways, and by several lake and river steamboat lines connecting with ports on the Great Lakes, the city being at the head of lake navigation
