VOLUNTEER. 221 VOMITING. about 900,000 men. Over two-tliirds of the Northern vuUintccrs were Anieritan born, and ill the South pnictieally all were such. Tlic ^ip:iMi.sh-Aincriean War of 1898 was fought by reyulars and volunteers, the I'resiilent issuing the first call on Apiil 2.'id of that year for vol- unteers to the a<,'{,'rej;ate number of 12.'>,()()0, ap- portioned as far as pri'eticablc anion;,' the States and Territories of the I'nion. The period of en- listment was for two years, unless sooner dis- charged; and a marked feature jf the call was the individual enlistment of every volunteer, in- dependent of any militia connection. Late in May a second call for 7u,000 additional volunteers was made, the men being obtained by open enlistments instead of through the Na- tional Guard, as had largely been the case pre- viously. In Germany young men are allowed to serve as one-year volunteers provided they pass a. scien- tific examination, or produce a certificate of ma- turity issued by one of the specially authorized educational institutions. Certificates of maturity certify the holder's qualification for one of the upper classes of a high-school or college. After enlistment he has the option of serving in any corps open to such volunteers, or. if he so desires, with the pharmacists of the sanitary corps. If the volunteer is a medical student desiring to enter the sanitary corps, lie is required to serve six months under arms, and after graduation six additional months as a non-commissioned ofiicer, or under-scj-geant. Such volunteers are then elected military surgeons and pass into the re- serve. Other volunteers, irrespective of their civil calling or profession, and so far as they are quali- fied by general education and military efficiency, are trained and destined for commissioned officers of the reserve or Landwehr. At the expiration of their term of service they undergo examinations in subjects both theoretical and practical, and are posted to the reserve, as reserve officers asjiirants. and render active service in two exer- cises of eight weeks each. To secure such an ap- pointment aspirants must have a civilian occu- pation or profession, in no way derogatory to the rank of a commissioned officer. They must also be elected by their comrades. Although allow- ance is made for a few volunteers to be supported at public expense, the great majority serve at their own charge, which is estimated as approxi- mately l.'JOO marks in the infantiy and 2000 in the niounted branches. See Militia ; Armies ; section on Army under United States. VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS. See FiRK I'miTKCTiox, Ml.nicipal. VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA. An organi- zation for nTigious work in America formed in New York City in 1S96. At that time Balling- ton Booth (q.v. ). Commander of the American Province of the Salvation Army, and his wife, not approving certain of the orders of General Booth for conducting operations in America, withdrew from the Army. and. with a few other officers, organized the Volunteers. The general aims and methods are the same as those of the Salvation Army, but certain modifications were introduced supposed to be better adapted to conditions in America. The organization of the T'nited States Army is taken as the model, and the Commander-in-Chief is elected by the soldiers for nine years; he is assisted and advised by a Grand Field Council composed of those commis- sioned officers of and above the rank of major. The Volunteers observe the sacraments of bap- tism and communion, and seek afiiliation with the churches. The organization in 100.3 included 6 regiments or districts, viniler the direction of as many sec- tional officers and their wives, embracing 14 chartered companies, besides nearly 100 self- supporting posts or societies, with outpo.sts. These societies, in 1902, raised $80,819 for their maintenance and work, and attracted 3,920,893 to their indoor and outdoor meetings; while .30,- .522 families were visited by their officers. Homes for the destitute and for workingmen are main- tained in many of the larger cities, where 2.52,- 700 jjcople were lodged during 1902, and 344,4.50 persons were furnislied nieals at a nominal cost. There are houses of mercy for young women at Newark, N. J., and Boston, Mass., where 2760 beds were furnished. In the homes for unpro- tected and neglected chihlren, 420 were provided for. In coimeetion with the Volunteers' Prison Work leagues have been formed in 10 State prisons, endiracing 14.000 prisoners leading re- formed lives, correspondence has been carried on with about -22,000 men. and homes designated as 'Hope Halls' have been estalilished at Chicago and at Flushing, N. Y. The Volunteers' Gazette is published weekly in New York. VOL'VOX. A genus of fresh-water alga: be- longing to the group Chloropliyee;e. It forms spherical 'colonies.' which are composed of many thcnisands of cells, often liave a diameter of 0..5 mm. or more, and are visible to the naked eye. They have a, rotatory movement, i)rodueed by numerous cilia on the periphery. There is a • marked ])rotoplasmie continuity between all the cells of the colony. Propagation is both sex- ual and asexual. See Alg.e; Chlorophyce.i;; CcENOBI.. VOLZ, folts, Hermaxx (1847—). A German sculptor, born at Karlsruhe. He was first a stu- dent of architecture in that city, but afterwards took instruction in sculpture from Steinhiiuser and completed his education abroad. His first noteworthy production was a soldiers' monument for Karlsruhe (1874-77), which brought him commissions for similar monu- ments in Hanover (1884) and Mannheim. In ISSO he was appointed professor in the Karls- rtihe Academy. His more important works in- clude a statute of Scheffel (1893), and a figure of Gcrmania at Karlsruhe; an equestrian statue of William I. at Essen; itc Geihel monument at Liibeck (1889) ; and a fine group entitled Com- bat Between a Man and a Tiger" (1886). VOMER (Lat.. plowshare). In human anatomy, a bone which forms part of the middle partition of the nose, and the lower edge of which (its into grooves between the apposed sur- faces of the palatine processes of the upper jaw and palatc-boncs. It consists in reality of two fused bones, springing side by side from the roof of the niciuih. See Skeleton. VOMITING (from vomit, from Lat. vomit us, p.p. of vnmere, to vomit ; connected with Gk. i/ietv, emein, Skt. ram, to vomit). The emptying of the stomach by way of the mouth through its own spasmodic contraction. In a conscious person
