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LEFT ISONANDBA 208 ISONZO cleavage plane remain the same. These substitutions are, however, confined within certain limits. ISONANDBA, in botany, a genus of Sapotacese. Isonandria obovata, an ever- green tree, growing in Tenasserim, yields a kind of gutta-percha, and /. ffiitta, the gutta-percha itself. ISONZO, BATTLES OF. The river Isonzo rises in the Austrian Alps, near Luknia Pass, flows southward, along a devious course, for less than a hundred miles, then empties into the Gulf of Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic. The river runs almost parallel with the old frontier between Italy and Austria, in what was, before the war, Austrian territory. Above Salsana the river runs through a deep ravine; then, below that, comes a level stretch in front of Gorizia, after which the hills rise and sweep down to the seacoast. It was along this lower reach of the river, for a distance of about twenty miles, that the heaviest fighting of the Austrian-Italian front occurred, after Italy entered into the war, in 1915. Hostilities having begun on May 24, 1915, General Cadorna deployed the whole of the Italian Third Army along the right bank of the Isonzo, between Tolmino and Monfalcone, and carried out a vigorous offensive, to gain a foot- ing on the left bank, and so clear the way to Trieste. On May 26 Italian troops crossed the river at five points, Caporetto, Pluva, Castelnuovo, Gradisca, and Monfalcone, in spite of the exten- sive defense works built by the Austrians. The city of Gorizia, however, was too heavily fortified to be captured, and was accordingly besieged. During November and December, 1915, the Italians made a series of most desper- ate attempts to storm the bridgehead at Gorizia and establish themselves on the Doberdo Plateau, rising from 350 to 650 feet above the river. Against Monte San Michele the Italian concen- trated 1,500 guns. But the Austrian de- fenses proved too strong, and this first major battle on the Isonzo proved a vic- tory for the Austrians. During the following winter (1915- 1916) the Italians were satisfied to mark time, but during the Spring of 1916 sev- eral engagements took place with very little advantage to either side. Most of the Italian attacks were directed against Gorizia, or its commanding positions. On Aug. 4, 1916, the Italians again became active. After three days of con- tinuous infantry attacks, the Austrians began to give way, and enough advance was made by the Italians to enable them to bring their big guns into such posi- tions that they could open a heavy fire on the city itself and its defensive works. On Aug. 9 the Italians forced their way across the bridge at Gorizia and occupied the city. The city was taken, but the Austrians remained en-' trenched in the hills to the eastward, whence they could not be dislodged, and now it was the Austrian guns that bom- barded the city. On May 12, 1917, another offensive was begun by the Italians, taking in the whole Austrian-Italian front, as v/ell as the Isonzo. For days violent artillery firing continued, during which Gorizia, was almost pounded into ruins by the Austrian guns. For ten days intermit- tent attacks and counter-attacks were made by both sides, the fighting being sometimes hand to hand. After an interval of comparative quiet, lasting a week, the battle broke out again with renev/ed fury, but by the end of May the Italians had not gained much ground, and the fighting gradually died down to the usual trench warfare. The Italians still held Gorizia, but this was an advantage more picturesque than real, for the Austrians held heights sur- rounding and commanding the city. At this time, in the summer of 1917, the front began some miles S. W. of Tolmino, run for a little more than five miles along the W. bank of the Isonzo, crossed it W. of the village of Decla, ran along the E. bank for another five miles, then, opposite a bend in the river, turned south for still another five miles to San Marco, running at a distance of about a mile and a half E. of Gorizia, and then twisted south for some fifteen miles, crossing in its course the valley of the Vipacco river, down to the Gulf of Trieste, where it ended about two miles S. E. of Monfalcone. On Aug. 19, 1917, the Italians began another strong offtensive. During the following week Monte San Gabriele was the center of the battle, changing hands again and again. Finally, on Sept. 11, the Italians definitely gained possession, but were obliged to hold this important point against severe pressure from the Austrians, until, near the middle of the month, a period of comparative calm suc- ceeded. On the whole, the Italians had made considerable gains along their whole front, as well as on the Isonzo, but the heaviest fighting had been here. From now on followed a period com- paratively uneventful, until Oct. 20, 1917, when intense activity again began, but this time it was not the Italians who