introduced into their warships a corps of artillery, gunners who had no naval training whatever. The Marine Artillery of the British Navy may also be mentioned. In both one can detect the germ of a return to the old idea of strict specialisation. The Russian Artillery Corps, however, ceased to exist as a distinct body several years ago, and there are some indications of a similar ending to the British Marine Artillery.
At the same time there is a tendency in all navies to merge the executive and engineering branches. Consequently the present position may be put down to an attempt to return to the Drake conception of 'every man able to fight the ship and work it too.' As already noted this conception was destroyed through the chance arrival of steam as a motive power.
'Engineer' is of course a term that to-day has the same effective meaning that 'seaman' had in the days of Drake, saving always that the engineer has in the present transition stage no concern with the steering and manœuvring of the ship. In the future—given evolution upon the lines at present projected—he probably will, and presumably also in the process of time he will take over control of guns and torpedoes, the present military branch being merged into him, and he into them. That would be the Drake idea returned to.
In the old days the military branch was in a great measure dispensed with by being put on shore. At
