CANTONMENT. When troops are distributed in small parties amongst the houses of a town or village, they are said to be in cantonments, which are also called quarters or billets. For merly, when in the field, armies lived as a rule in camp (q.v.) or, when the provision of canvas shelter was impossible, in bivouac. With the growth of national armies, however, it be came unusual, in Europe at any rate, for troops on active service to hamper themselves with a great quantity of tentage. Hence cantonments or bivouacs, or a combination of the two, took the place of the old long rectilinear lines of tents that marked the resting-place and generally, too, the order of battle of an 18th century army. The difficulty of controlling the troop when scattered in private houses in parties of six or seven, is the prin cipal objection to this system of cantonment. But since Na poleon introduced the "war of masses," the only alternative to cantoning the troops is bivouacking, which if prolonged for several nights is more injurious to the well-being of the troops than the slight relaxation of discipline necessitated by the can tonment system, when the latter is well arranged and policed. The troops nearest the enemy, however, which have to be main tained in a state of constant readiness for battle, cannot as a rule afford the time either for dispersing into quarters or for rallying on an alarm, and they are usually required to bivouac. In the World War, the prolonged siege warfare, with its system of frequent reliefs, and the vast number of troops always in rest areas, both facilitated and necessitated the use of tented camps to supplement cantonments. In India the term "canton ment" means more generally a military station or standing camp. The troops live, not in private houses, but in barracks, huts, forts or occasionally camps. The large cantonments are situated in the neighbourhood of the North-Western frontier, of the large cities and of the capitals of important native states.