of issuing orders, conducting the correspondence of the department, and keeping the record.  The Inspector-General inspects and reports upon the condition of the army at all points, and the accounts of the disbursing officers.  The Quartermaster-General has charge of the clothing, quarters, and supplies, except food supplies, which form the province of the Commissary-General.  The Surgeon-General has charge of the medical department, of the Army Medical Museum, and a special library.  The Chief of Engineers has charge of the construction of fortifications, etc.  The Judge-Advocate-General reviews the proceedings of courts-martial, and advises the Secretary on points of law.  There are also a Paymaster-General, a Chief of Ordnance, and a Chief Signal Officer.  The Chief Signal Officer has charge of the system of communicating with distant points by means of various systems of signals, the most noteworthy of which is that of the heliograph, by which information is conveyed by the use of sun-reflecting mirrors.  Communication has been established between points 125 miles distant by means of a heliograph with a reflecting surface of but twenty square inches.

The War Department answers more nearly than any other to the Department of Public Works found in other governments.  All public improvements, the construction of docks, bridges, and the improvement of rivers and harbors, are under the supervision of army engineers.  All arctic explorations and the explorations of our western territory, have been conducted by army officers under the direction of the Secretary of War.

The publication of war records is being made by a special board in the War Department.  Thirty-five volumes have been published.  It is estimated that there will be one hundred and nineteen volumes when the work is completed.  The Secretary of War also has charge of the Military Academy at West Point, of certain national parks, and homes for disabled soldiers.

The army is commanded by a lieutenant-general under whom are three major-generals and six brigadier-generals.  It consists of about 26,000 men distributed in the three divisions of the Missouri, the Atlantic, and the Pacific, of which the first contains four departments, the second, one, and the third, three.  Congress appropriates and expends through the War Department $400,000 yearly on the National Guard for its armament and equipment.  The aggregate of this reserve army regularly organized and uniformed is 106,500 men.  The Secretary also details army officers to furnish military instruction at various colleges.

The principal questions to-day concerning the War Department are the advisability of strengthening our coast defences, and the lessening of the desertions in the army, which amount yearly to from ten to fifteen per cent, of the total strength of the army.