Articles of War. See Military Law.
Articula´ta, the third great section of the animal kingdom according to the arrangement of Cuvier, applied to invertebrates such as insects and worms, in which the body displays a jointed structure. The name is now obsolete. See Arthropoda.
Articula´tion, in anatomy a joint; the joining or juncture of the bones. This is of three kinds: (1) Diarthrōsis, or a movable connection, such as the ball-and-socket joint; (2) Synarthrōsis, immovable connection, as by suture, or junction by serrated margins; (3) Symphysis, or union by means of another substance, by a cartilage, tendon, or ligament.
Artificial Limbs. Artificial limbs of a primitive kind have been in use from very early times; but, as the material of which they were made was perishable, few specimens have been preserved. In the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London there is a good specimen of a Roman artificial leg which is believed to date back to the third century B.C. This leg is made of wood, covered with thin bronze; it has an iron sole-plate, and was fastened on by means of a waist-belt.
In Irish legend we are told of Nuada, who led the tribe of the Dananns back to Ireland, having an artificial hand made of silver; from this he received the name of Argetlam or Silver-handed. In mediæval times Goetz von Berlichingen, who lost his right hand at the siege of Landshut (1505), had a hand made of iron to supply its place.
Great improvements have been made in the manufacture of artificial limbs during the last
fifty years. After the Franco-Prussian war the French Government adopted an artificial arm and hand known as the 'Beaufort' and issued it to the soldiers who required it. This hand had a movable thumb controlled by a cord passing up the arm and fastened to a loop band over the opposite shoulder. An Englishman named Heather Bigg invented a hand with a movable thumb which was worked by a piston and controlled by a rubber ball fastened under the arm-pit. These designs have been improved upon from time to time, and an artificial hand can now be made which is capable of opening and closing at will, and of lifting and holding light articles.
Artificial legs vary in design, from the simple pin leg to ingenious contrivances such as the 'Anglesey' leg, which is made of seasoned willow wood with steel ankles and knee-joints. This 'Anglesey' leg is the standard best-quality limb in Great Britain. The German artificial-limb makers use leather instead of wood. These leather legs fit comfortably, but are too heavy, as they have to be supported by steel bands.
Artillery, all ordnance such as guns and howitzers as opposed to small arms and machine-guns. The term is also used for the troops who serve these arms.
Generally speaking, artillery is divided into field, heavy, and siege artillery. For details of organization see Army. The earliest form of artillery was a metal tube which was placed in a convenient position on the ground. The charge of gunpowder was ignited by placing a match to a hole bored at the closed end, and the resulting explosion forced the projectile—a stone—more or less in the required direction. Later on this primitive weapon was provided with wheels. In another form one man fired it while a second man supported it on his shoulder. In the later Middle Ages guns of various calibres were known by the names of birds of prey or reptiles; among such were falcons and falconets, culverins and demi-culverins. The fourteenth century saw the development of artillery for siege purposes—chiefly by the Germans—and in the next century it began to be employed in open warfare; while in 1537 the present Honourable Artillery Company was formed in London to encourage the use of all 'weapons of volley'. These weapons of volley were not even confined to fire-arms, but included bows and cross-bows. The earliest English troops raised as artillery personel were called the Regiment of Firelocks. Of late years artillery science has made almost inconceivable progress, thanks to which, inter alia, it is no longer necessary for the target to be visible from the gun-position. This fact, combined with the use of smokeless powder, makes the locating of hostile batteries exceedingly difficult. All field artillery, by which is meant guns and howitzers, which accompany mobile troops are designed on the quick-firing principle, by which the inevitable recoil at the moment of firing is absorbed by an arrangement known as the recoil-carriage, thus preventing any movement of the gun-carriage proper, and avoiding unnecessary labour for the gun-detachments, while at the same time allowing the men composing it to remain under cover of the shield with which the guns are provided. With the quick-firing gun, propellent and projectile are combined in one cartridge similar to that in use with small arms; with the howitzer they are separated. This difference is due to the fact that whereas guns are designed for a flat trajectory with a deep zone of fire-effect, howitzers are intended for high-angle fire with an almost vertical fall of shrapnel-bullets. This effect is produced by varying the charge for different ranges. A field battery consists of 6 guns or howitzers and 12 ammunition-wagons. Both guns and wagons are of the limbered type, i.e. in two detachable parts, and the weight behind the team of an English gun is approximately 2 tons.