GENEALOGY

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) The pedigree of each family. A series of several persons, descended from a common progenitor, is called a line. A direct line is either ascending (father, grandfather, .: in the civil law particular names were given to seven degrees in this line), or descending (son, grandson, .). The collateral lines comprehend the several lines which unite in a common pre genitor; and are either equal or unequal, according as the number of degrees in the lines is the same or different. The collateral relations on the father's side are termed in the civil law cognati, on the mother's agnati. GENERAL, in the Army, is, next to field marshal, the highest military title adopted b^ the European states. Like most military designations, it owes its origin to the French, who, about the middle of the 15th century, conferred the title of lieutenant-general on the individual to whom the monarch (by virtue of his birth the commander or general of the national forces) entrusted the superintendence of the army. The title of general is conferred either on the commander-in-chief of the forces of a nation, or on the commander of an army or grand division; it is also given to the officers next in rank to the general, who, besides performing functions peculiar to their own offices, frequently act as the substitutes of their superior, with the designation of lieutenant-general and major-general. GENERAL ASSEMBLY [s. 501]