in the ranunculus; but they also often adhere by their edges, I into a sort of cup, as in the cherry. Botanists used to consider the former as composed of many leaves, and the latter as composed of but one leaf, cut at the edge into a certain number of lobes. In the corolla the petals are either all separate, as in the rose, or they adhere by their edges into a cup or bell, as in the different heaths, Campanula, and the like; while the first was called many-petaled, the second were called one-petaled, it being thought, as in the case of the calyx, that it was a single petal of a special kind, cut into lobes at the margin. Similar adhesions take place between the stamens. In the rose they are all distinct from each other; in the geranium they slightly adhere at the base (fig. e); in the mallow they adhere into a tube, except near the upper extremity, where they are not united, and have their ordinary appearance (fig.f); in other plants they grow together into a solid tube in which no trace of separation can be discovered, as in the genus Guarea (fig. g). Finally, in the pistillum there are certain parts called carpella, each of which is a hollow body terminated by a style and stigma. These carpella are hollow, because they are formed of a flat organ doubled up so that its edges come in contact, and adhere to each other. Sometimes only one carpellum is present in a flower, as in the cherry (fig. h); sometimes several, as in the rose (fig. i). The adhesions in the latter case cause many of the differences we observe in the structure of fruits; for instance, an apple is composed of five such carpella, adhering to each other and to the calyx; an orange is composed of many such carpella, each of its lobes being one. In the nigella, the styles of the carpella are all distinct (fig. k), but in the lily and the myrtle (fig. 1), the styles of the carpella adhere so completely that there seems to be but one. In the apple, the calyx seems to grow from the top of the fruit; this is caused by the carpella having at a very early period adhered to the inside of the calyx, which afterwards grows with their growth, and, finally, leaves its extremities in a withered state near the top of the carpella: in the cherry, on the contrary, no adhesion ever takes place between the carpellum and the calyx; and, consequently, when the fruit is ripe, there is no trace of the latter upon its upper end. In the raspberry, the fruit is enabled to slip like a thimble from off the receptacle, because the carpella all adhere by their sides. For further information upon this subject consult De Candolle's Théorie Elémentaire de la Botanique, 2d edition. Lindley's Introduction to Botany. Dunal, Sur la Nature et les Rapports de quelques-uns des Organes de la Fleur. De Candolle's Organographie Végétable, &c. ADIANTUM, a genus of dorsiferous ferns, so called by the Greeks, because the leaves are of such a nature that water will not readily moisten them. The plant described by Hippocrates and his successors under this name, appears to have been the A. Capillus Veneris, or the maiden- hair fern-a rare European species, occasionally met with on moist rocks, and old damp walls, even in this country. From other genera of the same tribe it is known by its size, or masses of reproductive particles, being situated upon the margin of the leaves, and carried over by a thin curved scale which separates from the leaf by its inner edge. The number of species is very considerable, probably not far from 80 or 90, and, as is the case in all extensive genera of ferns, comprehend every degree of division of the leaves, from perfect simplicity to what botanists call supradecomposition. All those in which the leaves are much divided, are remarkable for the very delicate elastic stalks on which the broad leaflets are attached; it is to this circumstance that the name of maiden's-hair has been given to the European species. The genus is scattered over all the world from Europe to New Zealand, but is not found in any high latitudes in either hemisphere; by far the greater part of the species inhabit damp tropical woods. A. Capillus Veneris, is a dark green stemless plant, found in damp, sharp, rocky places, by the side of watercourses, and on the edge of wells, where the air is keen and dry. Its leaves, which are from six to fifteen inches high, have a blackish-purple, highly-polished stalk, divided into a great number of very slender ramifications, from the extremities of which proceed the thin, delicate, wedge-shaped leaflets, which are notched irregularly upon their upper edge, and have the most graceful appearance imaginable when growing a little above the eye, and gently agitated by the wind. Wonderful medicinal properties were once ascribed to this species, but they have long since been dis- ADIPOCIRE. A substance so named from adeps fat. and cera wax, because it possesses the properties partly of fat and partly of wax; it is a body of a peculiar nature, being intermediate between fat and wax, and bearing a close resemblance to spermaceti. This name was given by M. Fourcroy in 1786, to the substance in question, which he discovered on examining a piece of human liver that had remained for ten years exposed to the air in the laboratory of M. Poultier de la Salle. In the same year Foureroy had the opportunity of observing an accumulation of adipocire on a scale of prodigious extent, under circumstances of a peculiar nature, which are highly curious. There was in Paris an immense burial-ground, called La Cimetière des Innocens. This place had been the receptacle of the dead for a considerable part of the population of Paris for several centuries. On account of some improvements in the neighbourhood it was determined to remove this cemetery. The number of burials in this place had amounted to some thousands annually. The bodies were deposited in pits or trenches about thirty feet deep; each pit was capable of holding from twelve to fifteen thousand bodies; and as the pits became full they were covered with a few feet of earth. The extent of the whole area was about seven thousand square yards, and this space became at last occupied by a mass which consisted almost entirely of animal matter, rising several feet above the natural level of the soil. Scientific men were specially charged by the government to direct the precautions requisite for securing the health of the workmen in removing this immense mass of putrefying animal matter; among whom were Fourcroy and Thouret, the latter of whom has given a most interesting account of the circumstances attending the opening of the ground, and the former an analysis of the new and singular object that presented itself for investigation. The most remarkable change was found in the bodies that had been heaped together in the trenches. The first of these trenches opened in the presence of Foureroy, had been closed for fifteen years The coffins were in good preservation; the covers being removed, the bodies were observed at the bottom, leaving a considerable distance between their surface and the cover, and flattened, as if they had suffered a strong compression; the linen which had covered them was slightly adherent to the bodies; beneath the linen was found nothing but irregular masses of a soft ductile matter of a grey-white colour, resembling common white cheese, the resemblance being more striking from the print which the threads of the linen had made upon its surface. The bones, which were surrounded by this matter, had no solidity, but were readily broken by sudden pressure. The head was environed with this peculiar matter; the face was no longer distinguishable; the mouth was disorganized; no trace remained of the viscera of the thorax and abdomen, which were all confused together, and converted into this fatty matter; and this was also invariably the case with the brain. None of this matter was found in bodies isolated from each other, but only in those accumulated in the common graves. From various observations it was found that this fatty matter was capable of enduring in these burying-places for thirty or forty years, but that ultimately it became corroded and was dissipated. This substance, thus presented for examination under such remarkable circumstances, is considered by M. Fourcroy as an ammoniacal soap, formed of a peculiar oil combined with ammonia. Its properties are, that it melts at about 130° Fahrenheit; by a strong heat it is decomposed with the solution of ammonia. Alcohol acts but slightly upon it at common temperatures, but when boiling dissolves about one-fourth of its weight, the greater part of which separates on cooling in small acicular crystals. Lime, potash, and soda decompose adipocire with the solution of ammonia. It is decomposed by nitric acid with the production of nitric oxide, and by sulphuric acid with the development of charcoal. M. Chevreul (Recherches sur les Corps gras) finds that adipocire consists of a large quantity of margaric acid, and a small quantity of oleic acid, combined with a little ammonia, potash, and lime. Different opinions have been entertained as to the nature of the operation by which adipocire is produced. From the experiments of Dr. Gibbes (Phil. Trans. 1794), it would appear that muscular flesh, when buried in moist earth, is, by a peculiar kind of decomposition, scarcely to be considered as putrefaction, converted into adipocire; and this change he found was expedited by exposure to running water. M. Gay-Lussac has stated it as the opinion both of himself and M. Chevreul, that the apparent conversion of flesh into adipocire is merely a deception; and is nothing more than the wasting of the muscular fibres, while the fat remains. The experiments on which this conclusion are founded (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. iv. 71) are these:fibrin of blood was kept in water, renewed once every two or three days for three months; it all wasted way, and no fat whatever remained. Muscle of beef and liver being treated in the same way, some fatty matter remained. Dr. Thomson states that a body which had lain in a moss in Scotland for more than a century, was examined a few years since, and found to be entirely converted into a hard saponaceous matter; a portion cut from the thigh was chiefly adipocire; and the quantity of fatty matter was much too large to suppose it to have pre-existed in the living body. To this may be added another similar case observed by Sir E. Home and Mr. Brande, and published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1813. By the action of dilute nitric acid upon lean flesh, Dr. Gibbes obtained a substance which he considered as exactly similar to the adipocire produced in the mode already described. Dr. Bostock (Nicholson's Journal, 8vo., vol. iv. p. 135) also formed adipocire by the agency of nitric acid; it is, however, most probable that the result of the action of the acid is essentially different from the true adipocire. A'DIPOSE SUBSTANCE, adeps, fat. ADIPOSE TISSUE, Tela adiposa, Latin; Tissu graisseux, Fr. Adipose substance, or fat, is an animal oil, which resembles, in its essential properties, the vegetable oils. It is wholly inorganic, though contained in an organized tissue. It varies in its consistence, or rather in the temperature at which it becomes solid. In general, it forms a pretty firm solid, constituting suet, which, when divested of the membrane in which it is contained, is called tallow; but there are animals in which, at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, it always remains fluid, as in the cetacea. At the temperature of the human body, it is fluid. It is therefore conceived, that during life it must exist in a fluid or semi-fluid state; though, when observed in the living body, as when incisions are made through the adipose membrane, either in the human subject or in animals, it appears as a soft, yielding, compressible substance, with a slight degree of translucence. There is reason, however, to conclude that this degree of firmness, as well as the general appearance which it exhibits in the living subject, is wholly derived from the organized membrane in which it is contained. Human fat, when separated from the tissue in which it is deposited, is of a whitish-yellow colour, and the colouring matter, being soluble in water, is capable of being removed by washing. It is white and transparent in proportion to the youthfulness of the subject, the yellow colour increasing with age. When purified, it is perfectly white, inodorous, and of a mild, insipid taste. It is lighter than water, and burns with rapidity. By exposure to air and light it becomes rancid, and gives off a volatile acid, which has a strong odour. It is one of the few animal substances which does not contain azote; its ultimate elements are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Bérard has succeeded in producing, artificially, a substance very analogous to animal fat. On mixing together one measure of carbonic acid, ten measures of carburetted hydrogen, and twenty of hydrogen, and transmitting the mixture through a red-hot tube, several white crystals were obtained, which were insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, and fusible by heat into an oily fluid. Until recently, it was conceived that fat is a simple principle, constituting one of the elements of the animal organization: but M. Chevreul, who has examined this substance with extraordinary diligence, has demonstrated that it is not a simple principle; but that it consists of two substances which are capable of being separated from each other, and obtained in a distinct form. Of these substances, one, at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, is solid; the other fluid. To the solid substance he gives the name of stearine, from oréap, fat or suet, and to the fluid substance elaine, from exatov, oil. Stearine, the solid portion of fat, is a substance colourless, tasteless, nearly inodorous, soluble in alcohol, separable from this solution in the form of small, silky needles, and preserving its solidity at a temperature of 99° Fahrenheit. Elaïne, the oily principle of fat, is fluid at the temperature of 60° Fahrenheit; it is of a yellow colour, without odour, lighter than water, its specific gravity being 0.913, and easily soluble in alcohol. The difference in the fluidity, or the melting point of the fat of different animals, depends on the proportions in which these two substances are combined; in the more solid the stearine, in the less consistent the elaïne, being in excess. The chemical processes by which these substances are obtained are simple. Adeps, tallow, or fixed oil, is dissolvable in very pure, hot alcohol; the stearine separates from the solution by crystallization, assuming the form, as has been already stated, of fine silky needles, while the elaïne is procured by the evaporation of the spirit. There is a still simpler process. Fixed oil is congealed by a low temperature; the mass is then pressed between folds of bibulous paper; the elaïne soaks into the bibulous paper, and the stearine remains in a separate form; when the bibulous paper is pressed under water, the oily matter which escapes is pure elaïne. The changes that take place when the constituent principles of fat combine with an alkali, as potash, will be explained in the article SOAP. Animal fat is contained in a distinct membrane, termed the adipose tissue. The adipose is formed of the CELLULAR TISSUE, but the arrangement of the fibres is widely different in the former and the latter. The fibres of the adipose tissue are larger and tougher than those of the cellular, and form a much coarser web. According to the most eminent anatomists, the structure of the adipose tissue consists of rounded packets, separated from each other by furrows; each packet is composed of small spheroidal particles; each particle is again divisible into still smaller grains, which present the appearance of vesicles, or minute bags or sacs, and it is in these bags that the fat is contained. The knife of the anatomist cannot indeed demonstrate the membranous walls of these adipose vesicles; but, though too fine and delicate to be distinguished by the eye, there is reason to conclude that the adipose tissue forms sacs which are completely closed, and that it is so arranged as to render each vesicle a distinct bag, having no communication whatever with any other vesicle. For, if a portion of the adipose tissue, recently taken from the body, be placed in warm water, of a temperature greater than is sufficient to melt the fat, not a drop of oil will escape, provided the temperature of the water be not sufficient to injure the membrane; but if incisions be made through the tissue, the oil instantly begins to issue from it; showing that the walls of the oil bags are divided, and that consequently the oil flows out. Again, though fat be fluid at the temperature of the human body, yet the adipose masses preserve a constant and definite form, which could not be the case unless the oil were inclosed in a solid sufficiently dense and resisting to maintain that form. Lastly, in however large a quantity the fat may be accumulated in any part of the body, it cannot by any degree of pressure be made to pass from one part to another; while the facility with which the cellular membrane permits the transmission of fluids through its cells from one extremity of the body to the other, is one of the most striking characters of that tissue. Neither in the fullest distension of the cellular VOL. I.-R tissue with fluid does a single particle ever penetrate the adipose vesicles; they never contain anything but their own proper substance. There is reason to believe that the fat is immediately formed out of the blood, without any glandular apparatus for secreting it, by the capillary arteries of the adipose vesicles. In the furrow between each packet is placed the branch of an artery and vein. These vessels divide and subdivide to an extreme degree of minuteness, penetrating and terminating in the vesicles of which the packet is composed. In these vesicles the ultimate or capillary arteries, by a process, the nature of which is wholly unknown, separate adipose matter from the blood which is flowing in them, and deposit it in the vesicles. By chemical analysis, the materials of fat, like those of all the other secretions, are found to be contained in the blood; but in what mode the fat is separated from the blood we are wholly ignorant. It is probable, however, that the blood receives the oily principle of fat from the chyle, which is the nutritive matter formed by the process of digestion, in which it is ascertained to be present in large quantity. As diffused over the body, the adipose membrane consists of masses which vary considerably in their magnitude and shape. In some places they are rounded, in others pearshaped, and in the median line of the abdomen, egg-shaped. The distribution of the membrane is exceedingly unequal. There is, in general, a considerable layer immediately beneath the skin; and especially between the skin and the abdominal muscles, where it occasionally accumulates in enormous masses. Between the folds of the membranes which form the OMENTUM and MESENTERY, there is usually a large quantity; also around the heart and the kidneys; on the face, and especially on the cheeks, and in the orbits of the eyes; in the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet; the pulp of the fingers and toes, the flexures of the joints, the fibres of muscles, and the sheath of vessels. In most of these organs it never entirely disappears, whatever be the degree of leanness to which the body may be reduced; while in the cranium, the brain, the eye, the ear, the nose, and several other organs, there is none, whatever be the degree of corpulency. The function which the adipose substance performs in the animal economy is not very apparent. Being a bad conductor of caloric, it cannot have much influence (though the fat immediately beneath the skin may have some) in maintaining the heat of the body, since the chief portion of it is situated deep in the system, and is placed around the internal viscera. Yet, it certainly accomplishes more than one purpose of no slight importance. 1. In the first place, it is probable that its accumulation in the system serves as a reservoir of inflammable matter for the generation of animal heat, and that it often actually maintains a process of combustion no less than the oil of the lamp. The phenomena of life present nothing more curious and interesting than the provisions which are made for the production and support of animal heat, as will be fully shown hereafter. (See HEAT, ANIMAL.) Animal heat is generated by the union of the carbon of the blood with the oxygen of the air, and the consequent formation of carbonic acid, the evolution of heat invariably attending the formation of this acid. By the process of digestion chyle is formed; chyle contains a large portion of carbon: this carbon is poured into the great venous trunks. of the system, and, in a mode which will be explained hereafter, is immediately carried to the ungs by the great vessel that springs from the right heart. In the lung it is consumed, in the formation of carbonic acid gas, for the production of animal heat; and the large supply required for the continual maintenance of this process is, under ordinary circumstances, afforded by the chyle. But suppose this supply to fail; then immediately the absorbent vessels take up, from its various receptacles, the adipose matter accumulated in the system, and convey it to the veins; the veins transmit it to the lung, and thus the lung is supplied with the necessary quantity of carbon for the generation of carbonic acid, and the consequent production of animal heat. 2. In the second place, it serves a most important use in obviating the effects of excessive nutrition. When too much food is taken, or when the secretions and excretions are suppressed, grievous evils would arise, and often death would ensue, if there were no provision for the removal of this superfluous matter. One of the most important of these provisions is the deposition of fat, by which the system is lightened of a burthen; and the circulating system especially is relieved of a fulness and tension of its vessels, which might induce in them a fatal state of action. The secretion of fat from the blood, and the deposition of it in its various receptacles, is thus one of the safety valves of the constitution. The generation of it under circumstances favourable to its formation, that is, under circumstances which put the system in danger, either from the quantity or the quality of the blood, is extremely rapid. In man, no other solid is ever formed as quickly as this sometimes is; but in some animals, in certain states of the atmosphere, a prodigious accumulation of it is said to take place in the course of a few hours. Bichat states that during a fog of twenty-four hours continuance, thrushes, wheat-ears, ortolans, and red-breasts, are sometimes observed to become so fat that they are unable to fly from the sportsman. A certain quantity of fat is a sign and an effect of health; an excessive accumulation of it is a sign and a cause of disease. The quantity actually generated is influenced by a great variety of circumstances. 1. By age. At the two extremes of human life the quantity is always small. Before birth, it is less than at any other period. During the first half of foetal existence, there is no appearance of it whatever. About the fifth month it begins to appear in isolated grains under the skin. At the period of birth, it is sometimes accumulated in considerable quantity; but even then, it is in distinct masses in no part of the body excepting beneath the skin; in the internal organs, and in every other part of the body, it is found only in small and separate grains. As the period of maturity passes into that of declining age, it is sometimes very abundant; but as old age advances, the quantity invariably diminishes; and in extreme old age it is very minute: this is one of the chief causes of the thinness so characteristic of this stage of existence. It is remarkable, too, that the situation of the fat in the aged is exactly the reverse of that in the infant. In the infant, as we have seen, there is scarcely any of this substance in the interior of the body, but almost all of it is accumulated immediately beneath the skin; and this is the cause of the plumpness and roundness of the external surface of the infant: in the old, on the contrary, whatever portion of fat remains in the system is almost all deposited in the very substance of the organs, while there is scarcely any on the external surface. 2. The quantity of fat is materially influenced by sex. In general, it is more abundant in the female than in the male. 3. By constitution. There are persons who never become fat at any period of life, however sound the health, however good the appetite, however favourable the circumstances for the formation of this substance. And this habit is often hereditary, being received from the parent and transmitted to the offspring for many successive generations. 4. By diet. Nutritious and abundant diet, consisting especially of animal food and malt liquors, conduces to its formation in large quantities; while high seasoned, spiced, or acid aliments, together with the immoderate use of spirituous liquors, check its production. 5. By the condition of the function of assimilation. If the power of assimilation (that is, the power of converting chyle into blood) be diminished, while the appetite remains unimpaired, a large quantity of chyle is flowing in the circulating stream which cannot be transformed into proper nutriment: this unassimilated, and therefore useless and pernicious chyle, is deposited in the adipose tissue, in the form of fat, and in this manner the circulation is relieved of its load. An excessive accumulation of fat in persons otherwise in sound health should therefore always excite attention; it is often the earliest indication of a diminution of the vital energy, and not, as is often supposed, a sign of vigorous health. 6. By the state of the secretions and excretions. Suppression of the ordinary secretions and excretions leads, in a way which can now be readily understood, to a corresponding and a compensating deposition of fat; while a preternatural increase of the natural evacuations, as in cholera, diarrhea, diabetes, &c., and a preternatural increase of the discharge from the mucous surfaces, especially from those of the lungs and intestines, will prevent the deposition, and even cause the absorption of the adipose substance. 7. Active and long-continued physical exercise. Walking, running, riding, whatever species of exertion promotes the secretions and excretions, prevents the deposition of fat, as is exemplified in boxers, jockeys, and all who go through a regular system of training, of which vigorous exercise always forms a part. 8. Long-continued and intense mental exercise. Persons whose minds are acute, active, and vigorous, are seldom fat. There is no more certain or powerful means of becoming and keeping thin than hard and continuous mental labour. Among the conditions observable in all the remarkable instances on record of persons who have changed rapidly from a state of enormous obesity to a state of moderate thinness, vigorous mental exertion is one. Persons oppressed with an accumulation of fat, and accustomed to lead an indolent and luxurious life, when placed under circumstances which require great mental exertion, are invariably found to lose many pounds of their weight in a short time, and to undergo a sensible change in their general aspect; and this is owing chiefly to the absorption of the adipose substance. 9. But the accumulation of fat is influenced still more by the character than by the mere activity of the mental state. Cheerfulness and serenity of mind are highly conducive to the deposition of fat, while anxiety of mind not only suspends all further deposition, but causes an active absorption of it. The immediate cause of a sudden change from fatness to leanness is the absorption of the adipose substance. Thinness, too, is usually and justly thought to be the general accompaniment of a sour, fretful, and irritable temper. 10. Excessive sleep, together with the absence of physical and intellectual exertion, and still more, of mental anxiety, is highly conducive to the accumulation of fat. 11. Organic diseases, especially those which impede the formation of chyis, or which impede the conversion of it into blood, diminish the secretion of fat; hence persons who labour under organic diseases of the stomach and of the small intestines are invariably thin, and generally emaciated. This is also the case with those who are afflicted with diseases of the respiratory organs, such as the deposition of tuberculous matter in the lungs, by which the air-cells are choked up, and the air is prevented from coming into contact with the venous blood, and with the chyle contained in it. As the tubercles enlarge, the respiratory portion of the lung diminishes, and part after part of the organ being thus successively obliterated, the emaciation at length becomes extreme. 12. But even long-continued disorder of the system, without any organic disease, generally occasions wasting of the body, from the absorption of the adipose substance; because, in this state of the system, the processes of waste are more active than those of supply. 13. Long and intense heat, whether natural, as during hot summers, or artificial, as the heated temperature produced about furnaces, hot-houses, &c. and, lastly, long-continued abstinence, tend to diminish the quantity of fat. The Sometimes the accumulation of fat is enormous. average weight of the human body, when well nourished, and of a medium size, is about 160 pounds, or between eleven and twelve stone; yet instances are on record of its attaining, by the deposition of fat, the weight of from thirty-five to forty stone. Dr. Cheyne mentions a case in which the weight was 448 pounds, equal to thirty-two stone. In the Philosophical Transactions are recorded two cases, in one of which the weight was 480 pounds, and in the other 500 pounds. The Breslau Collections contain two other cases, in one of which the weight was 580, and in the other 600 pounds. The inconveniences produced in the system by these enormous accumulations of fat, and the means to be adopted for preventing and removing them (for they can be prevented, and even removed, with absolute certainty, provided the health be in other respects sound), will be treated of under the term OBESITY. ADIT. [See MINING.] A'DJECTIVE, in Grammar, the name of one of the parts of speech, or one of those great classes into which, for the sake of convenience, grammarians have distributed the words of a language. The term adjective, which is of Latin formation, signifies something that adds to precision in describing the nature of any object of which we are speaking. An adjective, in our language, is most commonly prefixed to the name of some thing, in order to mark some quality by which it is distinguished from other things belonging to the same class; thus, a bad man, a good man, a fat man, a troublesome man, &c.; a black horse, a white horse, &c. Here the terms man and horse are the most general or abstract (see ABSTRACTION) terms by which we can express the idea of man or horse; but, by prefixing to them such adjectives as bad, good, &c., we limit, in some degree, the class of which we are speaking. Thus, when we speak of a white man, we exclude the consideration of black men, or men of any other colour. In like manner, when we say an English man, we limit the signification still further; and in this way we may descend to a Cheshire man, a Chester man, until we come to individuals indicated by a common name, such as Thomson, Smith, &c. By the aid of other words prefixed, such as John, William, &c., we at last come to some certain individual. It appears, then, that in the expressions John Page, William Smith, &c., John and William may have the names of adjectives as well as the words black, white, &c. And this leads us to observe that frequently nouns or names of things can be used like adjectives; thus we can say, a silver ring, a gold stick, salt water, sea water. Many words in English are, in fact, used both as nouns and adjectives. In the expression John's book,' John's may be considered as an adjective for the reasons just given. Some grammarians have wished to introduce the term adnoun instead of adjective, but though the word adjective is not a very good name, adnoun is no better. There are two ways in which an adjective can stand in a proposition: we can say the horse is bad, or a bad horse.' In the first example, horse is called the 'subject,' is the copula, or connecting link, and 'bad' is the 'predicate' or qualifying term. According to the true idiom of our language, an adjective can stand at the end of any simple proposition, as, he walks slow, he rides quick, he speaks loud. It is true that usage is now beginning to be opposed to this mode of expression, and the adverb in -ly is gaining ground; yet there are cases where it is not possible to use the termination in -ly without making the spoken language at least very stiff and formal. Some words are used both as adjectives and adverbs. Many adjectives are simple roots, such as good, bad, hot, &c., while others are formed by adding an affix or suffix to aud-ible luc-id autumn-al period-ical station-ary transit-ory Belgi-an humor-ous verb-ose sulphur-ic angul-ar duc-tile There are other terminations of less importance, such as ether-eal, advent-itious, &c., which agree with the examples already given, as to the last syllable, but differ in having an additional syllable or syllables between the first part of the word and the termination. ADJUSTMENT, in marine insurance, is the settling and ascertaining the exact amount of indemnity which the party insured is entitled to receive under the policy, after all proper allowances and deductions have been made; and fixing the proportion of that indemnity which each underwriter is liable to bear. The contract of insurance is an agreement to indemnify the insured against such losses as he may sustain by the occurrence of any of the events which are expressly, or by implication of law, contained in the policy. Thus, when a ship is lost, or any of those contingencies arise against which the insurance provides, the owner of the ship or of the goods insured, as the case may be, or an authorized agent, reports the circumstance to the insurers or underwriters. In London, this notice is given by an insertion in a book kept at Lloyd's Coffee-House in the subscription-rooms, where the greater part of marine insurances are effected. Before any adjustment is made, the underwriters require to be informed of all particulars, that they may be satisfied the loss has occurred through_circumstances against which the insurance was effected. In ordinary cases the task of ascertaining these facts, and of examining the correctness of the demand made by the assured, rests with the underwriter who has first subscribed the policy. In complicated cases of partial, or average losses, the papers are usually referred to some disinterested party, who makes a profession of such references, to calculate and adjust the per centage rate of loss. Where the ship is wholly lost, of course little difficulty occurs in this part of the inquiry; but in cases of partial losses, where the insured has not exercised his right of aban donment (see ABANDONMENT), very minute and careful examination often becomes necessary. The quantity of damage being ascertained, the amount which each underwriter has made himself liable to by subscribing the policy is settled; and this being done, it is usual for one of the underwriters, or their agent, to indorse on the policy, adjusted a partial loss on this policy of so much per cent. To this indorsement the signature of each underwriter must be affixed, and this process is called the adjustment of the loss. After an adjustment has been made, it is not usual in mercantile practice for the underwriter to require any further proof, but at once to pay the loss; and it has been said that the reason for which adjustments have been introduced into the business of maritime insurance is, that upon the underwriter signing an adjustment, and thereby declaring his liability, and admitting that the whole transaction is adjusted, time should be given him to pay the money. As a question of law, however, it is undecided how far the adjustment is conclusive and binding upon the underwriters; the better opinion appears to be that the adjustment is merely presumptive evidence against an insurer, and has only the effect of transferring the burden of proof from the assured to the underwriters: that is, where an adjustment has taken place, and the liability to pay the loss is disputed, the adjustment alone, without further proof, will be sufficient to entitle the insured to recover in an action on the policy, unless the under writer shows facts which may have the effect of relieving him from liability. It is much to be lamented that a question of such importance in commercial transactions should not have received a solemn decision.-[See Selwyn's Nisi Prius, title Insurance; Park, on the Law of Marine Insurance, and a note to Campbell's Nisi Prius Reports, vol. i., p. 276.] ADJUTANT, a military officer, attached to every battalion of a regiment. The office does not confer a separate rank, but is usually given to one of the subaltern officers. The duties of an adjutant are to superintend (under the major of the regiment, and the adjutant-general of the army) all matters relating to the ordinary routine of discipline in the regiment; to receive and promulgate to the battalion all general, garrison, and regimental orders, signing them in the orderly-book on the part of the commanding-officer; to select detachments from the different companies, when ordered; to regulate the placing of guards, distribution of ammunition, &c. ADJUTANT-GENERAL, a staff-officer, one of those next in rank to the commander-in-chief. He is to the army what the adjutant is to a regiment; he superintends the details of all the dispositions ordered by the commander-inchief, communicates general orders to the different brigades, and receives and registers the reports of the state of each, as to numbers, discipline, equipments, &c. Though in a large army, the adjutant-general is usually a general officer, yet this rank is not necessary; and in smaller detachments acting independently, the duties are frequently entrusted to an officer of lower rank. ADJUTANT-GENERAL. Among the Jesuits, this title was given to certain fathers who resided with the general of the order. It was their duty to furnish him with information as to what was going on in the different countries of Europe, which was effected by means of emissaries employed for that purpose. Each country had one of these officers at tached to it. ADJUTANT, or GIGANTIC CRANE, (Ciconia argala, TEMMINCK, Mycteria argala, VIEILLOT.) A singular bird, not uncommon in travelling menageries, being easily tamed, and hardy, though a native of the warmer parts of India and found near Calcutta. Its size may be inferred from the fact of its wings, from tip to tip, measuring about fourteen or fifteen feet when stretched out; from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the claws it is seven feet and a half, while it is five feet high when standing erect. Its upper parts are ash-grey, the feathers there being stiff and hard; the under parts are white, and there the plumes are long; the head and neck are without feathers, but the red callous skin there is furnished with hairs; a long slightly downy conical bag or pouch, like a large sausage. (to use the comparison of Baron Cuvier) hangs from the middle of the neck. The beak is very large, thick at the base, and the gape is very wide. Though this does not rank in systematic classifications as a bird of prey, being properly placed with wading birds (Grallatores, ILLIGER), it is one of the most voracious and carnivorous birds known. The structure of its digestive organs corresponds with this. voracious habit; though what comparative anatomists term the solvent or gastric glands are differently formed from those of any other bird. Their usual position in other birds is round the upper por tion of the stomach; but in the adjutant they form two circular figures, about an inch and a half in diameter on the fore and back part of it, each gland being composed of five or six cells, and these opening into one common pipe (ductus). The gizzard and digastric muscle are nearly of the same strength with those of the crow, the gizzard being lined with a similar horny membrane. The adjutant is not only capable of digesting bones, but it seems to be fond of them, swallowing every bone which it can get down its gullet,-a circumstance which has led to its being called the bone-eater, or bone-taker. It has been stated by Sir Everard Home, that there was found in the craw or stomach of a gigantic crane a land tortoise ten inches long, and a large male black cat entire. [Ives Voyage, p. 184. Phil. Trans. 1813, p. 77.] Its great voracity, however, is extremely useful in the countries which it inhabits, as it collects vermin from every quarter, such as snakes, lizards, frogs, and other reptiles, devouring such immense numbers of these as to prevent them from annoying the inhabitants, who, on that account, hold the bird in as great estimation as the Hollanders do the stork. [Adjutant, Ardea Gigantea. From a specimen in the Zoological Gardens.] Mr. Smeathman furnished Dr. Latham with an interesting account of the adjutants from personal observations in India. They are,' says Dr L., 'met in companies; and when seen at a distance, near the mouths of rivers, coming towards an observer, which they often do with their wings extended, may well be taken for canoes upon the surface of a smooth sea-when on the sand-banks, for men and women picking up shell-fish or other things on the beach. One of these, a young bird about five feet high, was brought up tame, and presented to the chief of the Bananas, where Mr. Smeathman lived; and, being accustomed to be fed in the great hall, soon became familiar, duly attending that place at dinner-time, placing itself behind its master's chair frequently before the guests entered. The servants were obliged to watch narrowly and to defend the provisions with switches; but, notwithstanding, it would frequently seize something or other, and once purloined a whole boiled fowl, which it swallowed in an instant. Its courage is not equal to its voracity, for a child of eight or ten years old soon puts it to flight with a switch, though at first it seems to stand on its defence, by threatening with its enormous bill widely extended, and roaring with a loud |