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enemy's line: a column of cavalry and men of the battalion. My mind.

was perceived attempting to separate the two corps, but our field-pieces kept them at bay; they then attempted to turn the left of the 81st, but general Cole's brigade shewing themselves at this critical moment, they inclined off further to their right, with the apparent view of turning our left, whenever an opportunity offered, but the 20th regiment, which had just been landed on the beach, threw themselves unperceived into a wood on the flank of this cavalry, opened their fire, and so dispersed them, that they never rallied again in that direction. While this attempt to turn our left flank so completely failed, his attempt to turn our right was rendered more completely abortive. The light infantry, 78th and 81st, were, as I formerly mentioned, about 1000 yards from the enemy, who were advancing at this time upon us in the most perfect order; the fourpounders, on the right of the 78th, fired about four rounds, one of which unhorsed an officer that appeared to command the regiment directly opposed to us, and whose superb saddle is now a regimental trophy, and to be sent to you by the quarter-master, who picked it up while we were otherwise employed. Having now ascertained that colonel Kemp meant to fire a volley and then charge, I judged that the 78th could be guided by no better principle, and I prepared it accordingly. No rapture of enthusiasm ever enjoyed by any mortal, could exceed my sensation at ob serving, not only the firmness and determination, but the universal disposition to order, and implicit obedience to the different directions that were necessary, by the oflicers

though much engaged, was therecy made calm and tranquil, and Icxfidently predicted the glory of the day. The obvious ardour of ind viduals, the enthusiasm of the wh inspired a decided confidence, we' it produced a proud contempt fo the foe they were about to comba Under these most happy circastances, little exertion became t cessary on my part to guide t machine, and accordingly, hav permitted the enemy to adran about 200 yards nearer, with o arms at the shoulder, both corp threw in a heavy fire, and insta afterwards advanced to the charg double quick time. As soon a• !?? smoke had completely disperse we could discern our enemy, whom we expected to come in can, tact, distant about one hundred a fifty yards, to be retiring the same speed that we advanc With a shout of victory, and quies. ening our pace, we still endeavo to close with them, but with success. About this time gener Acland, who followed in rear the 78th column, during the chatt observed to me that our flanks we exposed and unprotected, and sired a halt, when we found t 78th to be in advance of the wh army. The light infantry upon right, having had the good forts to close with the regiment in diately opposite them, were dela by the slaughter, nay, almost a hilation, of Buonaparte's favour corps. Our halt had occasione that of the enemy's regiment of posed to us, at a respectable tance, who appeared inclined t make another stand; but, upon th light infantry, and Sist com. up again upon our flanks,

pushed forwards, after giving them a close fire, with huzzas of victory, and forced the troops in our front to break and fly in every direction. The enemy's left being thus broke and routed, the right and central shewed a disposition to retire, which they soon after did in tolerable or der, covered by their cavalry; the 78th and light infantry, being the only corps permitted to pursue them, which was done for upwards of three miles, taking numbers of prisoners.

The enemy are said to have lost, before they entirely left the field, about 2,500 in killed, wounded, and taken prisoners, among whom was included general Compere, who commanded their left, and led their attack, and by his acknowledgment the French force exceeded 6000. Our total loss is under 300 killed and wounded, of which number the 78th lost one-third. Our small loss must be attributed to the promptitude and energy of the charge by the light infantry, 78th, and 81st, which so early confounded general Regnier and his whole army. The corps on the left of our army were but partially engaged, but by all accounts shewed excellent discipline in the manoeuvres that were necessary to check the enemy's advance on that flank.

The result of this signal victory places Lower Calabria not only in our immediate possession, but, as I understand, from the strength of the country, furnishes the apparent means, in strong posts and passes, of preserving it. Regnier is said to have collected the debris of his army about thirty miles distant, on the Adriatic. One thousand more prisoners and deserters have, however, joined us since the action, and his

present army are said to be so dispirited by the rough handling they have received, as to be not so manageable as they ought to be. It is singular, that it was the 42d regiment of the French line, that opposed and were put to flight by the 78th regiment; most of the corps have been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners.

The commander in chief himself, who witnessed the whole, addressed the 78th in the field, in the most flattering manner, on their distinguished bravery and discipline, (as he termed it) and said that he would petition his majesty for a badge of commemoration. I trust that our countrymen at home will be gratified to find that your Highlanders have supported their general military character in this part of the world. Major Stewart, from whom I had received essential assistance in the commencement of the action, received a severe wound in the arm; captains M‘Pherson and M'Gregor; lieutenant Mackay; ensigns Colin Mackenzie and M'Gregor, are also severely wounded, but none of them dangerously, and are now doing very well, and never quitted the field while the battle lasted. They, as well as all my officers, have my eternal thanks and gratitude for the valuable military qualities they exhibited, independent of personal bravery. Our colours bear very decided and honourable marks of the engagement, being torn and shot through with shell splinters, grape, and musketry.

I was wounded towards the conclusion of the action, by a rifle-ball, which grazed my left side, within a quarter of an inch of my heart; the shot nearly unhorsed me; a serjeant of the grenadiers supported

my

my fall. Coming to myself a few seconds after, and finding my breathing not affected, I remounted, and never have quitted the battalion since; my side is inflamed and bruised, but it is of no consequence whatever. The spur of my right heel was shot away a few minutes before, without doing me any mischief. The loss of the battalion, in killed and wounded, amounts to 92; I fear, by the doctor's report, that one half of the wounded are mortally. It is, however, astonishing how few we lost, considering the very heavy fire under which we were during the whole of the action. I shall subjoin a list of all the officers that were in the engagement, and of the killed and wounded, with their descriptions. We have had, since the action, very fatiguing marches, and severe weather, with out any covering but the canopy of heaven neither this, nor the effects of my wound, have, however, affected my health in the least degree, nor prevented me from assuming the active command of the battalion.

The experience of this action will contribute, in an eminent degree, to confirm a sense of the necessity and value of strict discipline in officers and men; and I may safely assert, that if the battalion may be

said to have gained reputation on this occasion, they are now much better prepared to add to their lau rels, than they were to obtain them in the first instance. The day after the action exhibited the effects of war in the most horrid colons: the number of killed and wounded on the enemy's side, who were found in the fields and in the woods, much exceeded what we had any conception of, whilst it made mani. fest the excellent direction of our fire.

The next opportunity I shall have the pleasure of communicating such other circumstances as have been here omitted; in the mean time, if you discover that the impression of our conduct, at head-quarters, is sufficiently favourable, I am anxious that you should put the question of our being made a light infantry corps, a distinction I have ever been anxious to obtain for the battalion. (Signed)

P. M'Cleod, lieutenant-colonel.

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NATURAL HISTORY

On the Direction of the Radicle and
Germen, during the Vegetation of
Seeds. By Thomas Andrew Knight,
Esq. F. R. S.
In a Letter to the
Right Honourable Sir Joseph
Banks, K. B. P. R. S.
(FROM THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANS-
ACTIONS FOR A. D. 1806.)

Read, Jan. 9, 1806.

My dear sir,

any facts they were able to adduce in support of it, nor much weakened by the arguments of their opponents; and, therefore, as the phænomena observable during the conversion of a seed into a plant, are amongst the most interesting that occur in vegetation, I commenced the experiments, an account of which I have now the honour to request you to lay before the royal

I can scarcely have escaped the society.

notice of the most inattentive observer of vegetation, that in what ever position a seed is placed to ger. minate, its radicle invariably makes an effort to descend towards the centre of the earth, whilst the elongated germen takes a precisely opposite direction; and it has been proved by Du Hamel, that if a seed, during its germination, be frequently inverted, the points, both of the radicle and germen, will return to the first direction. Some naturalists have supposed these opposite effects to be produced by gravitation; and it is not difficult to conceive that the same agent, by operating on bodies so differently organized as the radicle and germen of plants are, may occasion the one to descend and the other to ascend.

The hypothesis of these naturalists does not, however, appear to have been much strengthened by

3

I conceived that if gravitation were the cause of the descent of the radicle, and of the ascent of the germen, it must act either by its im mediate influence on the vegetable fibres and vessels, during their formation, or on the motion and con. sequent distribution of the true sap afforded by the cotyledons: and as gravitation could produce these ef fects only whilst the seed remained at rest, and in the same position relative to the attraction of the earth, I imagined that its operation would become suspended by constant and rapid change of the position of the germinating seed, and that it might be counteracted by the agency of centrifugal force.

Having a strong rill of water passing through my garden, I constructed a small wheel, similar to those used for grinding corn, adapting another wheel of different construction, and

formed

formed of very slender pieces of wood, to the same axis. Round the circumference of the latter, which was eleven inches in diameter, numerous seeds of the garden bean, which had been soaked in water to produce their greatest degree of expansion, were bound at short distances from each other. The radicles of these seeds were made to point in every direction, some towards the centre of the wheel, and others in the opposite direction, others as tangents to its curve; some pointing backwards, and others forwards, relative to its motion, and others pointing in opposite directions, in lines parallel with the axis of the wheels. The whole was in closed in a box, and secured by a lock, and a wire grate was placed to prevent the ingress of any body capable of impeding the motion of the wheels.

The water being then admitted, the wheels performed something more than 150 revolutions in a minute, and the position of the seed relative to the earth, was of course as often perfectly inverted, within the same period of time, by which I conceive that the influence of gravi tation must have been wholly suspended.

In a few days the seeds began to germinate, and as the truth of some of the opinions I had communicated to you, and of many others which I had long entertained, depended on the result of the experiment, I watched its progress with some anxiety, though not with much apprehension; and I had soon the pleasure to see that the radicles, in whatever direction they were protruded from the position of the seed, turned their points outwards from the circum

ference of the wheel, and in their subsequent growth receded nearly at right angles from its axis. The germens, on the contrary, took the opposite direction, and in a few days their points all met in the cen tre of the wheel. Three of these plants were suffered to remain on the wheel, and were secured to its spokes, to prevent their being shaken off by its motion. The stems of these plants soon extended beyond the centre of the wheel; but the same cause which first occasioned them to approach its axis, stil operating, their points returned, and met again at its centre.

The motion of the wheel being, in this experiment, vertical, the radice and germen of every seed occupied, during a minute portion of time in each revolution, precisely the same position they would have assumed had the seeds vegetated at rest; and as gravitation and centrifugal force also acted in lines parallel with the vertical motion, and surface of the wheel, I conceived that some slight objections might be urged against the conclusions I felt inclined to draw. I therefore added to the machinery I have described, another wheel, which moved horizontally over the vertical wheels; and to this. by means of multiplying wheels different powers, I was enabled to give many different degrees of locity. Round the circumference of the horizontal wheel, whose da meter was also eleven inches, seed of the bean were bound as in th experiment which I have already described, and it was then made to perform 250 revolutions in a minute. By the rapid motion of the water. wheel much water was thrown up wards on the horizontal wheel, part of which supplied the seeds upot

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