INFANTRY INFANT SCHOOLS 273 AUSTRIAN INFANTRY. TROOPS. PEACE FOOTISO. WAR FOOTING. Ball. Men. Half. Men. 400 40 148,320 21,451 s.;;ifi 2,947 9,244 480 41 lii 126 485,440 58,753 16,215 133,974 150,220 In the field. ]^ eur8 . -*H5Sj; Total SB SO 612 190,277 758 849,602 The battalion is commanded by a major or lieutenant colonel; its strength on a peace footing is 14 officers and 372 men. A com- pany has 3 officers and 95 non-commissioned officers and men. On a war footing a battalion has 18 officers and 734 men a company has 4 officers and 236 non-commissioned officers and men, 4 pioneers, and 3 bearers of wounded. The Austrian infantry is to be armed with the Werndl patent rifle, of which 400,000 had been issued in 1873. The proportion" of artillery to the in- fantry is 3^ guns to 1,000 men. The uniform was formerly white; it is now bluish gray, with belts of untanned leather; close-fitting blue pantaloons, terminating in a hoot. The tactics are undergoing a partial change, and will be made to conform with some modifi- cations to the German method. The infantry of the other powers of Europe is all modelled more or less upon the systems already de- scribed. The French army is undergoing a complete reorganization. The defeat of the French in the war of 1870 was due rather to bad generalship, faulty administration, and lack of preparation, than to any specific defect in the infantry. In France military service is obliga- tory upon every man except under certain defi- nite conditions. The system of education is not so complete as in Germany. The English army is kept up by a system of volunteer re- cruiting; but there is a militia liable to service in time of war, in which all subjects from 18 to 60 years of age are enrolled. The regular infantry in Great Britain numbers about 60,- 000 men; in India about 45,958 men; in the other colonies 18,000 men. The term of ser- vice is 12 years. They are armed with the Henry-Martin breech-loading rifle. The infan- try of the smaller states, in organization, tac- tics, weapons, &c., resembles that of the great powers. Of course it partakes of the charac- teristics of the different nations, and is efficient in proportion to the intelligence and discipline of the individual soldier. (See ARMY.) Mount- ed infantry was largely employed during the civil war by the United States, and rendered important service. Under the command of Wilson in the west, it reached a degree of effi- ciency never before known; it possessed all the mobility of cavalry with the steadiness and dash of the best light infantry. It marched and manoeuvred with cavalry, but fought habit- ually on foot, in a single line of skirmishers, with greater or less space between the files as the circumstances of the ground and position of the enemy required: The successful use of mounted infantry gave rise to a necessity for the assimilation of the cavalry and infantry tactics, so that the commands, instruction, and manoeuvres might be as much alike as possible. The new tactics prepared under the direction of Gen. Upton have just been issued to the army (1874), and seem to fully embody all that is required for handling large masses of cavalry or mounted infantry. In future wars the armies should have a much larger number of such troops, in order to secure the mobility or marching power of the horses, combined with the fighting power of the best infantry. That nation which first appreciates and applies this lesson on a large scale may confidently count upon results in actual warfare quite in proportion to the expense of the undertaking. (See CAVALRY.) INFANT SCHOOLS. Pestalozzi was the first teacher of modern times who systematized in- fant instruction, and in the early part of the present century his system, improved and de- veloped by later writers, reached its culmi- nating point. Infant schools were established throughout Great Britain and the continent of Europe, and in every considerable town in the United States; hut it was found after a few years' experience that these schools were doing more injury than good, and they have been generally abandoned. In 1837 an eminent German educator, Friedrich Froebel, intro- duced a new method of infant training, which is producing better results, and which obviates the difficulties and evils of the Pestalozzian system. He gave it the name of the Kinder- garten (children's garden). This consists of a series of large, well ventilated, well lighted, and pleasant rooms, opening upon a garden, in which, besides the play ground for all, and a large garden plot, there are small plots for each child old enough to cultivate them. In the large garden are flowers, useful vegetables, and trees, and birds are encouraged to make it a home. The children may be from the age of two months to 14 years. They pass from three to five hours a day at the gardens. The infants are accompanied by their mothers or nurses, or, in default of these, are placed in charge of the teachers, young well educated women who enter into the work from a sincere love for it and for children. Froebel was very particular in the selection of teachers, deeming it indis- pensable to the success of the institution. Not more than 25 children should bo under the care of a single teacher, and the elder children are of great assistance in carrying out the system. No corporal punishment is allowed ; exclusion from a game, or from the gardens for a day or more, is the only punishment found necessary. Froebel devised many games and exercises for his course of instruction, and, as a part of the necessary apparatus, prepared his six gifts, which are used in all the kindergartens. In the use of each of these an explanatory song,
