138 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



elds. Subsequent discoveries have added numbers of speci- 

 mens to the list of carboniferous reptiles, as well as many 

 insects of grasshopper and locust affinities. These have been 

 beautifully preserved in the fine-grained clay ironstone nodules 

 of Saarbriick, near Treves. Beetles and white^ ants have also 

 been found. These insects are usually associated with the 

 leaves of ferns, and other such plants, clinging to which 

 they probably died, and were encrusted in the deposition then 

 going on. 



Clay -ironstone is one of the valuable products of the coal 

 measures. It seems that the iron which reddened the sandstone 

 of the Devonian period appeared in larger quantity in this 

 epoch, and collecting in nodules, like the flints of the creta- 

 ceous age, forms every now and then bands of a valuable 

 deposit. These nodules collect round some nucleus, generally 

 the shells of the modiola, just as the flints form themselves 

 round the sponges. 



The main source of the English iron is this deposit in the 

 coal measures. Large quantities of it are exhumed near Brad- 

 ford, the celebrated Lowmoor iron being produced from it. It 

 is an impure carbonate of metal. 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. XLYI. 



ADJECTIVES (continued). 



THE following adjectives are usually given as irregular: 

 namely 



Pos. Bad 



Far 

 Good 



Little 



Comp. worse 

 farther 

 better 

 less or lesser 



Sup. worst, 

 farthest, 

 best, 

 least. 



Much more most. 



Here some explanations are necessary. Worse properly is not 

 the comparative of bad, but of an adjective in the positive con- 

 dition which has long ceased to exist. So lad itself has no com- 

 parative and no superlative in the present state of the language. 

 Worst is nearly a regular form from ^vorse. The same remarks 

 may be applied to good, letter, lest. The full form in each case 

 is made up by the aid of two distinct words. Better is the com- 

 parative of the Anglo-Saxon let, as worse, worst are from the 

 Anglo-Saxon vyrs. These are instances not so much of irregular 

 as defective comparisons. Little, less, least seem to be abbre- 

 viated forms of little, littler, littlest ; littlest became least, and 

 least gave rise to less. Lesser, a corruption of less, seems to 

 have arisen from the general form of er as a comparative sign, 

 combined with the disinclination to a monosyllabic adjective. 

 Most is a contracted form of the regular superlative from more, 

 as more, morest, most; and more itself is a regular though 

 shortened form from much, in the Anglo-Saxon, mwnig. In far, 

 farther, farthest (Anglo-Saxon /eor, fyrre, fyrrest) the th, as 

 Latham remarks, seems euphonic, that is, inserted for the sake 

 of ease in pronunciation. Far is now more common as an adverb 

 than as an adjective. 



The word most becomes a terminational suffix to denote the 

 superlative degree in these words, namely, foremost, hindmost, 

 inmost, lowermost, outermost, undermost, uppermost. Here we 

 have compound adjectives in the superlative, consisting, for in- 

 stance, of the superlative most and the preposition under 

 Compare under with outer and upper. Outer is an adjective 

 from out, as 



"He brought me into the utter (or outer) court" (Ezek. xlvi. 21). 

 Outer (whence utter) has its counterpart in inner ; thus, out 

 outer (utter), outmost (utmost), in, inner, inmost. What, then 

 is the origin of the preposition imder ? May it not be on anc 

 nether, that is, on the lower side ; on netlier = under ; whence th< 

 superlative undermost. So upper is a comparative from the olc 

 positive up ; up, upper (as in " upper-leather" in ashoe comparec 

 with the sole or under-leather), upmost. 



Most is often used without any direct reference to comparison 

 in order to denote a very high degree of the quality ; as 

 " Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears 



Had left the flushing in her galled eyes." Shdlcespeare. 



The inflected superlative is used in a similar sense : 

 " Unbidden guests are often welcomest." Shakespeare. 



Adjectives compounded with a noun defining their signification 

 do not admit of comparison ; as, Hood-warm, coal-black, milk- 

 white, pea-green, sky-llue. 



Nor do those admit of comparison which signify the stuff or 

 ubstance of which anything is made, as golden, silver, brazen; 

 tor those which denote the country to which persons belong, 

 as British, Irish, French. 



Equally without comparison are all adjectives which indicate 

 , fixed or definite idea, quality, or quantity, as square, triangular, 

 ound, circular, straight, upright, perpendicular, daily, annual, 

 nennial. 



Moreover, adjectives which denote the highest state or con- 

 dition of a quality or thing are without comparison. Thus 

 ou cannot compare boundless ; for if an object is boundless, it 

 cannot be more or less boundless. Accordingly, all words in less 

 are incapable of comparison. Such are the adjectives extreme, 

 'nil, immense, infinite, perfect, principal, right, wrong, supreme, 

 oreferable, universal. Sometimes, however, a latitude (not to be 

 mitated) is taken in some of these words. Thus " more perfect' ' 

 s said when "less imperfect" is meant, or "more nearly 

 approaching perfection." Equally incorrect is " more certain;" 

 ' less uncertain" is what is intended. 



NUMERAL ADJECTIVES. 



One class of adjectives has connected with it the epithet 

 'Numeral," because it contains the numbers. When we say 

 ;< five persons," we obviously in five make use of an adjec- 

 tive, for the word five qualifies the word persons. Numeral 

 adjectives are either cardinal or ordinal : the cardinal, one, 

 bwo, three, four, etc., are those which form the series of our 

 numbers, being called "cardinal," because they are the chief; 

 thus, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude are called the 

 cardinal virtues ; that is, leading or most important, the prin- 

 cipal virtues, as being those on the exercise of which the exist- 

 ence of others depends. The ordinal (Latin, ordo, rank, order), 

 such as the first, the second, the tenth, are those which denote 

 the place in a series which the numbers severally hold. 



The terms twice, thrice, etc., are units of a series which consists 

 of what is called Numeral Adverbs. The numeral adverbs once, 

 twice, thrice, denote the number of times a thing is to be taken ; 

 thus, twice two (or two tivos) make four. The list is very defec- 

 tive, for after thrice we say four times, five 'times, etc., as, nine 

 times nine make eighty-one. 



Prom the ordinal numbers first, second, third, etc., are formed 

 by the addition of ly, so many adverbs, as eighthly, ninthly. 

 Instead of these a periphrasis may be used, as in the first place, 

 in the sixth place. These adverbs denote the sequence of topics 

 or heads in a discourse or speech. 



The ordinals stand either before or after their nouns. Thus 

 we say, " The third book," but speaking of a series of monarchs 

 we place the adjective after the noun, as George the Fourth. We 

 say ike first of January, but we cannot, while our present queen 

 is alive, speak of Victoria the First, because until there is a 

 Victoria the Second, we are not sure that any series has been 

 begun. With days of the month we say either the twelfth (12th) 

 of May, or May the twelfth; the former is the more usual in 

 ordinary affairs. 



There is yet another series of numeral adjectives, the multi- 

 plicative, as single, double, treble, quadruple, quintuple, centuple. 

 These are immediately from the Latin. Another series of 

 similar import are of Teutonic origin, namely, twofold, three' 

 fold, fivefold, etc. 



The comparison hitherto made involving more than is implied 

 in the positive may be called the comparison of superiority. But 

 all comparison involves the idea of less as well as the idea of 

 more. The comparison which involves the idea of less may be 

 called the comparison of inferiority. For the comparison of 

 inferiority there are no inflexional terminations; it is formed 

 exclusively by less and least, as 



Pos. Rich Comp. less rich Sup. least rich. 



Sly less sly least sly. 



Able less able least able. 



Some adjectives in their nature do not admit of comparison. 

 Such are those which end in ish, a termination like some, which 

 denotes a portion, ish denoting a small portion ; an, It is cold ; 

 yes, it is coldish ; that is, rather, or somewhat cold. 



PRONOUNS SIMPLE PRONOUNS. 



By its derivation a pronoun (pro, for, and noun, Latin nomen) 

 is a for~noun, that is, a word used in place of a noun. This 

 description may be accepted in a general way, yet will it scarcely 

 bear a close investigation. In "I love," I is said to be a pro- 



