The Prussian army during peace is divided into a corps of guards, permanently garrisoned in Berlin, Potsdam, and Charlottenburg; and into eight corps d'armée, one to each province. Each corps d'armée is composed of 4 Line infantry regiments 4 Landwehr do. do. (1st levy) 1 Chasseur battalion 4 Line cavalry regiments 4 Landwehr do. do. (1st levy) I Pioneer division 1 Combined reserve battalion The eight reserve infantry regiments, of which each corps d'armée has one, are principally garrisoned in Mayence, Luxemburg, Frankfort-on-theMaine, and on the Rhine. As the Prussian regiments during peace very rarely change their garrisons, which would, indeed, entail various difficulties, owing to their close connexion with the Landwehr, the dislocation into divisions and brigades may be regarded as permanent, but would probably be entirely altered on the troops taking the field. It will be very evident that the maintenance of such an immense army, derived from a numerically small amount of population, must be managed with the utmost degree of economy, if the government wishes to refrain from laying an unsupportable amount of taxation on the nation. This economy, however, is displayed in numerous very clever and satisfactory devices for instance, through the Landwehr system, Prussia is only called upon to pay one-half of her standing army; each year the arrival of the recruits is found never exactly to coincide with the departure of those on furlough; the volunteers enrolled for one year receive no pay; the Prussian army in garrison has no pay for the 31st of the month; and, lastly, retiring officers, instead of receiving pensions, obtain employment in the civil service. But the principal reward on which the Prussian government relies is the almost unlimited distribution of orders a system rendered necessary by promotion depending entirely on seniority; and distinguished services are rewarded by other methods than attaining a step. Orders, when wisely distributed, indubitably exercise a great influence on the spirit of an army; and, hence, we venture to close our account of the Prussian army with a cursory statement of the orders which the troops are enabled to gain, together with an account of their origin and design : 1. The ORDER of the BLACK EAGLE is the highest in Prussia; and this is seen in the decoration itself, as the Black Eagle forms the national arms It was founded on the 18th of January, 1701, by Frederick I., first King of Prussia, at his coronation. It is employed as a reward for all high military and civil dignitaries of the empire, in peace and in war. All the princes of the royal family are chevaliers of this order by birth. The number of chevaliers is limited to thirty, exclusive of princes of the royal blood and foreign potentates. No one can receive this order unless noble; and hence, a bourgeois must be ennobled by the king prior to his reception of it. The decoration consists of a silver plate, bearing on a yellow field the black eagle, surrounded by the motto, Suum cuique. The grand cordon is a wide orange ribbon, worn from the right shoulder to the left hip, and supporting a blue enamelled cross, the angles filled with black eagles. In exceptional cases, the decoration is ornamented with diamonds. The Chevaliers of the Black Eagle are at the same time, and ex officio, Chevaliers of the Red Eagle. There is no pension attached to this order. 2. The ORDER of the RED EAGLE was founded by the Margrave of Anspach and Baireuth, in 1705. On the margravate reverting to Prussia, in 1791, Frederick William II. declared this the second order in his empire. At that period it only consisted of one class; and the decoration was a silver star attached to the cordon of the order. In 1810, Frederick William III. divided it into three classes, to which he added a fourth in 1830. It is intended to reward distinguished military and civil services. The first class consists of a silver star with eight rays; in the centre, on a white field, being the red eagle, surrounded by the motto, Sinceré et constanter. Above this device are three gold oak-leaves. The grand cordon consists of a broad white ribbon with two orange stripes, to which is attached a white cross, the centre containing the red eagle, and the ring adorned with oak-leaves. The second class of the Red Eagle is subdivided into two categories; one "with the star," the other "without the star." The second class "with the star" is composed of a square cross of silver, containing a large white cross with the red eagle in the centre. In addition, a white cross is worn round the neck, attached to a white ribbon with two orange stripes. The second class "without the star" only wears the small cross round the neck. The third class wears a similar white cross on the chest of smaller dimensions, fastened to a ribbon of the same cross. The fourth class is distinguished by a cross of silver. When an officer gains the order of the Red Eagle on the battle-field, the cross he wears is ornamented with two crossed swords. There are no pensions attached to this order. Only officers can obtain it. 3. The ORDER Pour le Mérite was founded by Frederick the Great, on his accession to the throne, in lieu of the Order De la Générosité, instituted by his father, and was intended to reward military and civil services. It consists of a blue enamelled cross, in the angles of which are gilt eagles, and it is worn attached to a black ribbon with two silver stripes. Frederick William III. decreed, in 1810, that the Order Pour le Mérite should be exclusively reserved for the military: he also ordered that, in the case of very distinguished services, the order should receive a further decoration of oak-leaves. When an officer has obtained this order, in the first instance, without leaves, and then receives the higher distinction, he only wears the latter; but, in that case, the ribbon has three silver stripes instead of two. Frederick William IV., the present King of Prussia, resolved, on the 31st of May, 1842, to confer this order again on artists and literary men, in accordance with the intention of Frederick the Great. For this purpose a new and special class of the order was founded, under the title, "Class of Peace of the Order Pour le Mérite." The decoration consists of a blue enamelled cross, with a gilt eagle on a yellow field. The number of chevaliers of this class is invariably fixed at thirty for Prussia, and thirty for foreign countries. 4. The ORDER of the IRON CROSS was founded by Frederick William III., on the 10th of March, 1813, to reward the officers and soldiers who fought against France in the campaigns of 1813, 14, and 15. It comprises two classes, conferred on soldiers of all grades. The second class consists of an iron cross, bordered with silver, and worn on the left side of the chest, attached to a black ribbon with two white stripes. The front of the cross bears the initials F. W., with a crown, three oak-leaves, and the date 1813. The decoration of the first class is the same, but, instead of depending from a ribbon, it is attached to the coat. The holder of the first class is also entitled to the second. Up to 1841 there were no pensions attached to this decoration; but on the 3rd of August of that year, Frederick William IV. decreed, that in the first class, 12 officers, and 12 non-commissioned officers and privates, should receive an annual pension of 150 thalers; and, in the second class, 36 of each grade an annual pension of 50 thalers. 5. The ORDER of the IRON CROss, white ribbon, though not military, is so frequently confounded with the previous order, that we think it advisable to point out the distinction. It was created in 1813 by Frederick William III. to reward civil functionaries who distinguished themselves by their patriotism during the campaign of 1813, &c. The cross is the same as the second class of the preceding, but is attached to a white ribbon with two black stripes. 6. The GRAND CROSS of the IRON CROSS was instituted at the same time as the two last, and was only given to those commanders-in-chief who gained a battle, took an important town, or defended a fortress with success. It is precisely similar to the last, except that it is double as large. The orders 4, 5, and 6 will soon be extinct; and, indeed, the Grand Cross can no longer be found, as all the generals have died. 7. The military decoration founded by Frederick William III. in 1814 to reward the services of officers, is divided into two classes: the first consisting of a silver cross attached to a black and white ribbon ; the second class is given to non-commissioned officers and privates, and consists of a silver medal, bearing the inscription "For service done the State." 8. The MEDAL for the CAMPAIGNS of 1813, 14, and 15, was made of gun-metal, and given to all the troops engaged. It is of a round form, is attached to a yellow ribbon bordered with black and white, and bears the following inscriptions above and round a crown: "F. W., to the brave warriors of Prussia. God was with us; to Him be the honour!" 9. The GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL for officers was created June 18, 1825, by Frederick William III. for officers who had served twenty-five years. The cross is of silver gilt, bearing the initials of its founder. 10. The GOOD CONDUCT CLASP for non-commissioned officers and privates was founded at the same date, and varies in character according to the seniority of the recipient. After twenty-one years' service the clasp is yellow, and is fastened to a blue ribbon edged with yellow. After fifteen years' service it is silver, attached to a blue ribbon with white edging. After nine years' service the clasp is iron, fastened to a blue ribbon with black edge. The clasp is in all cases ornamented with the cypher of the founder, F. W. III. 11. The GOOD CONDUCT CLASP for the Landwehr, founded on the 16th of January, 1842, by Frederick William IV. for those officers and privates who performed their duties well in the first and second levies, consists of a blue ribbon, in which the initials of the founder are worked in yellow silk. 12. The ORDER of ST. JOHN is an offshoot of the once celebrated knights who held the islands of Malta, Cyprus, and Crete. In 1814, the knights of Brandenburg separated from the order, and elected a grand master; this separation lasted till the re-formation. In 1810, Frederick William III. abolished it, and instituted, in 1812, a new Prussian order of St. John, only in name bearing any affinity to its illustrious prototype. This new order is granted to such noble persons as the king wishes to personally reward; and several officers hold it. The decoration consists of a white enamelled cross, the angles occupied by black eagles. There is no special prerogative attached to this order, save the right of wearing the dress of the order-a red uniform with a white collar, embroidered in gold, and gold epaulettes. 13. The ORDER of the HOUSE of HOHENZOLLERN was founded on the 5th of December, 1841, by the reigning Prince of Hohenzollern Hechingen and Sigmaringen. When that prince resigned his states to Prussia, Frederick William IV. admitted this order into Prussia on the 23rd of August, 1851, granting the prince permission to present the order to whom he pleased, according to the new organisation. This order is now divided into two sections. The first is granted as a reward for special devotion to the royal family; the second is conferred as a reward for peculiar services in the education of youth and the propagation of pious sentiments. Each of these sections contains three classes grand commanders, commanders, and chevaliers. The decoration of the first section consists of a black and white enamelled gold cross, in the centre of which is a round shield, bearing the motto of the order, "From the rock to the sea," and in the centre the eagle of the royal arms on a white field, with the escutcheon of Hohenzollern on its breast. Between the arms of the cross is a gold greenenamelled crown, supported on the left by laurel-leaves, on the right by oak-leaves. Above the cross is the royal crown. The decoration of the second section consists of the eagle of the royal arms, of black enamel, bearing on its breast the escutcheon of Hohenzollern. The motto is in a blue garter surrounding the head of the eagle. There are no special prerogatives or pensions attached to this order. 14. The MEDAL of HOHENZOLLERN was founded in 1851, for all those officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates who retained their fidelity during the struggles of 1848 and 1849. It is made of gun-metal. It bears on the front the cross of the order of Hohenzollern, and on the reverse this inscription: "Frederick William IV., to his warriors faithful till death, 1848-1849." It is worn on the chest from the button-hole, fastened to the ribbon of the order of Hohenzollern. As for the foreign decorations, which are also very numerous in the Prussian army, the soldiers must obtain the royal authority to accept them, except in the case of Austrian and Russian orders, when they need only to make a simple declaration of the imperial decree conferring them. HUMAN LONGEVITY. ARISTOTLE was the first to point out the fact that the length of an animal's life was indicated by the extent of the term of gestation and of the growth of the young. Buffon showed how this could be reduced to a numerical expression. "Man," the French naturalist said, "grows in height up to 16 or 18 years of age, but the development of the whole body in thickness does not cease till he is 30. Dogs attain their whole length in less than a year, but it is only in the second year that they cease to increase generally in size. Man, who is 30 years growing, lives 90 or 100 years; dogs, that only grow 2 or 3 years, only live 10 or 12 years; and so it is with other animals." A distinguished physiologist, M. Flourens, the author of many wellknown works on the nervous system, and the Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, has lately published a work in which he assumes to himself the discovery of the true sign of the term of growth. The real problem, the physiological problem, was, he says, determined, but the exact expression of the term of growth was wanting, and, consequently, the estimate as to how many times the duration of that growth was comprised in the duration of life was uncertain. M. Flourens finds this index of the cessation of growth in the union of the bones with their epiphyses. To understand this, it is necessary to premise that ossification commences at the centre, and thence proceeds towards the surface; in flat bones the osseous tissue radiates between two membranes from a central point towards the periphery, in short bones from a centre towards the circumference, and in long bones from a central portion, diaphhysis, towards a secondary centre, epiphysis, situated at each extremity. An epiphysis is then a bone or bony excrescence, which in the long bones is separated from the other bone by intervening cartilage, but which intervening cartilage is ossified at a certain age. M. Flourens fixes the period at which this ossification terminates at, or about, 20 years of age. age of This point being given-that so long as the bones are not united to their epiphyses the animal grows-it remained to be seen at what this term took place in different animals, and what was the comparative duration of life. Now this union is accomplished in man at the age 20; in the camel, at 8; in the horse, at 5; in the ox, at 4; in the lion, at 4; in the dog, at 2; in the cat, at 18 months; in the rabbit, at 12; in the guinea-pig, at 7. Now man lives 90 or 100 years; the camel, 40; the horse, 25; the ox, 15 to 20; the lion about 20; the dog, 10 to 12; the cat, 9 to 10; the rabbit, 8; the guinea-pig, 6 or 7. Buffon, proceeding upon his idea of the duration of growth, calculated that man lives six or seven times the length of the time he is in growing; Flourens reduces this, from the above data, to about five times. Thus man is 20 years growing-he lives five times 20, that is 100 years; the camel is 8 years growing-it lives five times 8, that is 40 years; the horse is 5 years growing-it lives five times 5 years, that is 25 years; and so on with the others. July-VOL. CIV. NO. CCCCXV. T |