new units, as regards all ranks, without encroaching
upon the reserves needed for the existing units.

At the same time, thanks to the depots in the interior of the country,
the effectives at the front have been maintained at full strength. The
sources of supply for this purpose were the remainder of the eleven
classes of the reserves, the younger classes of the territorial army,
and the new class of 1914. A large number of the men wounded in the
earlier engagements of the war have been able to return to the front.
They have been incorporated in the new drafts, providing these with a
useful stiffening of war-tried men.

With regard to the supplies of men upon which the army can draw to
repair the wastage at the front, we learn that there are practically
half as many men in the depots as at the front, in other words about
1,250,000. Further supplies of men are provided by the class of 1915 and
the revision of the various categories of men of military age previously
exempted on grounds of health or for other reasons from the duty of
bearing arms. As a result of this measure nearly half a million men have
been claimed for the army, almost all of whom, after rigorous physical
tests, have been declared fit for military service.

DRILLED BY CONVALESCENTS.

In the depots in which the new soldiers are being trained the services
of many officers and non-commissioned officers discharged as
convalescents after being wounded are utilized in order to give a
practical turn to the instruction. There are still many voluntary
enlistments, and with all these resources of men the army can count upon
reinforcements soon to be available which will considerably augment its
offensive power.

The quality of the troops has improved perceptibly since the beginning
of the war. The men have become hardened and used to war, and their
health--largely owing to the excellence of the commissariat--is
extremely satisfactory. In spite of the severity of the Winter hardly
any cases of disease of the respiratory organs have occurred, and the
sanitary returns of the army show an appreciable improvement on those of
the preceding Winter.

With regard to the reserves, experience has verified the dictum of the
Serbian and Bulgarian Generals in the war of 1913, namely, that "two
months in the field are necessary in order to get at the full value of
reserves." Our infantry is now accustomed to the rapid and thorough
"organization" of the defensive. In A