In other cases, an animal has been selected because it is specially appropriate. For instance, the Sherwood Foresters, soldiers who recall Robin Hood and the good old-fashioned chase, display an ambling stag, whilst regiments associated with long service in India have adopted an elephant or tiger. But the most appropriate badge of all is that worn by the Royal Army Medical Corps. In this instance, we have a snake coiled around a rod. The snake, as every reader knows, was the particular mascot carried by Æsculapius, the god of healing, whilst the same reptile was used by Moses in the Wilderness to free the Children of Israel from the ailments which proved so troublesome to them. The fleeting horse, borne by the King's Own Hussars, the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and the Royal Fusiliers, is the white horse of Hanover, and was incorporated in the crests to remind us of services rendered against the Jacobites. The Paschal lamb on the "Queen's" was the badge of Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II. The sphinx, as every one knows, indicates special services in Egypt. * * * * * The mottoes incorporated in certain of the regimental crests are not without interest. The following, with their English equivalents, are worth noting:-- Pro rege et patria--For King and country. Quis separabit?--Who shall separate? Quo fata vocant--Whither fate calls. Spectemur agendo--Let us be judged by our actions. Nemo me impune lacessit--No one provokes me with impunity. Nec aspera terrent--Difficulties do not terrify us. Mente et manu--With mind and hand. Pristinæ virtutis memores--The memory of former valour. Viret in æternum--Flourishes for ever. Quo fas et gloria ducunt--Where right and glory lead. Vel exuviæ triumphant--Arms surely triumphant. Semper fidelis--Always faithful. Virtutis namurcensis præmium--The reward of valour at Namur. Omnia audax--To dare all. Nisi Dominus frustra--Without God, it is vain. Virtutis fortuna comes--Fortune the friend of valour. Primus in Indis--First in the Indies. Gwell angau na chyurlydd--Rather death than shame. Aucto splendore resurgo--I rise with increased splendour. Celer et audax--Swift and bold. Cuidich'n Righ--Assist the King. Faugh-a-ballach--Clear the way. In arduis fidelis--In danger, faithful. [Illustration: SOME REGIMENTAL BUTTONS.] CHAPTER IV MILITARY UNIFORMS The growth of uniforms--The effect of the decline in armour on uniforms--The part played by Elizabeth--Uniforms in the time of the Civil War--In Charles II's reign--James II--The first two Georges--Uniforms in the Peninsular War--The close-fitting uniforms of George IV--The changes which were brought about in William IV's time--Later changes--Peculiarities of the military dress of to-day