AMEN  , aHebrew word, of which the

root meaning is "stability," .generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding formula for prayers and hymns . Three distinct biblical usages may be noted . (a) Initial Amen, referring back to words of another speaker, e.g. r Kings i . 36; Rev. xxii . 20 . (b) Detached Amen, the complementary sentence being suppressed, e.g . Neh. v . 13.; Rev. v . 14 (cf . 1 Cor. xiv . 16) . (c) Final Amen, with no change of speaker, as in the subscription to the first three divisions of the Psalter and in the frequent doxologies of the New Testament Epistles .

The uses of amen (" verily ") in the Gospels

form a peculiar class; they are initial, but often lack any backward reference . Jesus used the word to affirm his own utterances, not those of another person, and this usage was adopted by the church . The liturgical use of the word in apostolic times is attested by the passage from i Cor. cited above, and Justin Martyr (c . A.D . 150) describes the congregation as responding " amen " to the benediction after the celebration of the Eucharist . Its introduction into the baptismal formula (in the Greek Church it is pronounced after the name of each person of the Trinity) is probably later . Among certain Gnostic sects Amen became the name of an angel, and in post-biblical Jewish works exaggerated statements are multiplied as to the right method and the bliss of pronouncing it . It is still used in the service of the synagogue, and the Mahommedans not only add it, after reciting the first Sura of the Koran, but also when writing letters, &c., and repeat it three times, often with the word Qimtir, as a kind of 'talisman . 804 . was made by fixing the ends of two long springy poles about 15 ft. long into each side of the pack saddles of two mules, one in front of the other, so as to support a bed for the patient between them; the length and resiliency of the poles prevented jolting of the wounded man, and the mules wereable to carry him long distances over any kind of ground . The ordinary mule or camel litter provides for a wounded man (lying down) being carried on a sort of stretcher on, either side of the animal, or in cacolets in which the less serious cases are slung in seats (one on each side of the animal), sitting up . In Great Britain, the material and equipment required are stored in times of peace at the various headquarters stations and Mobil/ea- carefully examined twice a year; and on orders for doe. mobilization being issued, the doctors and various ranks of attendants, who have previously been told off to each unit, repair to the allotted station, draw the equipment and transport, and embark with the brigade to which they are attached .

The tendency of the

present day is towards reduction in bulk and concentration of strength of drugs, points which simplify the question of transport of ambulance material . As the fighting man can carry concentrated nourishment enough for thirty-six hours, in the form of an emergency ration, in a tin the size of an ordinary cigar=case, and enough sweetening material in the form of saccharine to last a fortnight in a bottle smaller than an ordinary watch, so the medical department can take their drugs in the form of compressed tabloids, each the correct dose, and each occupying about one-tenth of the space the drug ordinarily would; while the medical officers can carry hypodermic cases, not so large as an ordinary cigarette-case, containing a syringe and hundreds of doses of highly concentrated remedies . Again, the traction engines which now accompany an army can also supply electricity for X-ray work, electric-lighting, ice-making, &c . (J . R .