T A C 



which we may enumerate the following : viz. " Cylindri- 

 corum ct Annularium, Libri V. Elemcnta brevi hiftonca 

 Nairatione dc Ortu ct ProffrcfTu Mathcfeos," &c. printed at 

 Venice in 1737, with Whillon's additions; " Arithmetics: 

 Thcoria et Praxis ;" " Thcorcmata fclcfta ex Arehimede." 

 After his death, fevernl of liis treatifes were publilhed under 

 the title of " Andrex Tacqucti Antvcrpienfis Opera Mathe- 

 matica," containing" Aftronomix Lib. VIII.," " Gcome- 

 trix PradicK, Lib. III.," " Architeaurx Mllitaris, 

 Lib. I. :" diftinguifhed by their perfpicuity. Montucla. 

 Gen. Biog. 



TACSAI Raki, in Gw^rfl/>/jiy, a lake of Thibet, about 

 36 miles in circumference. N. lat. 32°. E. long. 88° 34'. 



TACSANLU, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in Natolia ; 

 23 miles N.N.W. of Kiutajah. 



TACSONIA, in Botany, JulT. 398, a name of Peruvian 

 origin, given by that author to fuch fpecies of Paffion- 

 flower, as have a tubular elongation of the bafe of their 

 calyx. See Passiflora. 



TACTICS, TKXTiK«, formed from rafu-, order ; the art 

 of difpofing forces in form of battle, and of performing the 

 military or naval motions and evolutions. The fcience of 

 taftics is either niUitary or naval. 



Tactics, Military, comprehcml great or general taiElics, 

 lagrande tadique of the French writers, which includes every 

 thing that relates to the order, difpofition, and formation of 

 armies, their encampment, and every other circumftance per- 

 taining to ftores, baggage, &c. ; and alfo particulai- or 

 fubordinate taftics, more immediately comprifing their 

 movements and evolutions. With the former every general 

 officer ought to be thorouglily acquainted ; whilft the latter 

 <hould be well underftood by inferior officers and foldiers, 

 and cannot be totally difregarded by thofe of the former 

 defcription. 



The Greeks were very fldlfiil in this part of the military 

 art ; having public profefTors of it, called tadici, who taught 

 and inllrufted their youth therein. We have an account of 

 the progrefs of this art among them in Thucydides, Xeno- 

 phon, and Polybius. jElian alfo hath a particular book on 

 this fubject ; and there is a great deal of it in Arrian, in his 

 Hiftor)- of Alex. M. and in Mauritius, and Leo Imperator. 

 From the Greeks this art was tranfmitted to the Romans, 

 among whom it arrived at its highefl perfeftion. Vegetius 

 has given us a compilation and abridgment of authors who 

 have written on this fubjeft ; and his work contributed in a 

 confiderable degree to the eftablifhment of military difcipline 

 in Europe ; for which we are greatly indebted to Maurice, 

 prince of Orange, Alexander Farnefe, duke of Parma, Co- 

 iigny, Henry IV. Guftavus Adolphus, &c. 



Voffius, De Scient. Mathemat. mentions twenty-four an- 

 cient authors on the fubjeft of taftics. 



It does not appear what was the field-exercife of the in- 

 fantry in our ancient armies. After the Revolution, our fyf- 

 tem of difcipline was chiefly taken from the Dutch, who, 

 under prince Maurice, were the befl regulated troops in 

 Europe. Previoufly to this, the Spaniards were reckoned 

 to have the beft difciplined infantry. The exercife was, at 

 the commencement of the laft century, and for many years 

 afterwards, encumbered with a number of ufelefs motions. 

 The manner in which the foldiers were armed, with their 

 heavy mufkets, bandoliers, &c. obliged them to make wide 

 motions, and to draw up with very extended ranks and files. 

 For an account of the exercife and evolutions of the in- 

 fantry and cavalry at tliis period, we refer to Grofe's 

 Military Antiquities, vol. i. Of late, great alterations 

 have taken place in the field-exercife and manoeu\Tes both 

 of the cavalry and the infantry. Moft of the dragoon regi- 



T A C 



ments have been made light ; and a new fword^exercife has 

 been adopted for the cavalry. The whole fyftem of the army 

 has been rendered uniform, by regulations ifTued from th« 

 adjutant-general's office. Within the laft 60 or 70 years, 

 the Britiln infantry has been gradually falling into the Pruf- 

 fian fyftem ; and the new regulations are almoft wholly 

 founded on the Pruffian inftitution. For the particulars, 

 the reader is referred to the " Rules and Regulations for 

 the Formation, Field-exercife, and Movements of his 

 Majefty's Forces," and the articles Manual Exercife and 

 Battalion. 



The fubjcft of this article has been already difcuffed 

 under the following heads ; -viz. Army, Battalion, 

 Battle, Order of Battle, Camp, Campaign, Cas- 

 trametation. Column, Engagement, Evolution, 

 Exercise, Line, Phalanx, in which order the Gauls 

 and other nations fought in the time of the Romans, and 

 which order ftill prevails, under fome difadvantages, through- 

 out Europe ; War, &c. &c. ; fo that we have here little 

 to add. 



We (hall here obferve, that the principal obje£l of the 

 Pruffian taftics under Frederick the Great was that of con- 

 centrating forces, and attacking the chief points of the 

 enemy, not at one time, but one after another ; whereas the 

 taftics which have been uniformly purfued by the French, 

 fince the commencement of their revolution, have been 

 founded on the principle of attacking all points with 

 divided forces at the fame time ; thus extending their force, 

 whilft that of the Pruffian was compreffed. 



Tactics, Naval or Maritime, comprehend the orders 

 and fignals which are direfted to be obferved by fleets pre- 

 paring for aftion or aftually engaged, together with the 

 manoeuvres and modes of attack that are then to be prac- 

 tifed, and alfo a knowledge of the rates of fhips, their vari- 

 ous appendages, and the mode of conftrufting them. Of 

 this branch of taftics, a copious account wiU be found under 

 feveral articles, particularly Battle, Engagement, Ex- 

 ercise, and Line of Battle, under which laft article we 

 have referred to Clerk's (not Clarke's) Efl'ay on Naval 

 Taftics, of which a fecond edition was publiflied in 1804, 

 which thofe who are defirous of information on the various 

 modes of attack to windward and leeward, and by cutting 

 the line, will confult ; but which does not admit of abridg- 

 ment within the limits that we are under the neceffity of 

 prefcribing to ourfelves. 



Tactics is alfo ufed for the art of inventing and making 

 ■machines for throwing of darts, arrows, ftones, fire-balls, 

 &c. by means of flings, bows, and counterpoifes. Vege- 

 tius, Hiero, &c. have written on thefe machines ; and we 

 have them defcribed and figured by Lipfius. 



TACTILE, or Tangible, in the Schools, fomething 

 that may fall under the fenfe of feeling. 



Though atoms be corporeal, yet are they not either tac- 

 tile or vifible, by reafon of their fmallnefs. 



The principal tangible qualities are, heat, cold, drynefs, 

 hardnefs, and humidity. See Heat, &c. 

 TACTION. See Feeling. 

 Taction, in Geometry. See Tangent. 

 TACTUS, the Touch, in jllid-unfery, is the exploration 

 of the ftate of the vagina and uterus, and of the lituation 

 of the foetus, and whatever elfe is contained in it. Hippo- 

 crates, in his Treatife on the Difeafes of Women, has been 

 very full and exaft in his direftions upon this fubjeft. 



Tactus, Tacl, in Mujic, before the ufe of bars, implied 

 nearly the fame thing as a bar : that ia, the time when the 

 hand or foot is beaten down in marking the meafure. Tato, 

 Ital., the fame. 



TACUA, 



