INFLECTION 



2991 



INGALLS 



omitted. When the verb is negative or passive, 

 the sign is retained; as He bade her not to enter; 

 She was bidden not to enter. 



Try and come early, for Try to come early. 

 The meaning intended is not try, but try to come, 

 as is made plain if we reverse the two verbs : 

 Come early and try. This is a very common 

 error with those who forget that try, endeavor, 

 and equivalent expressions like make an effort, 

 need the infinitive to complete their meaning, 

 and not another finite verb connected by and. 



The child was told to not stir from the spot, 

 for The child was told not to stir from the spot. 

 Here the splitting of the infinitive serves no use- 

 ful purpose and only indicates ignorance of the 

 rules of grammar or carelessness in applying 

 them. 



INFLECTION, inflek'shun. There is an ex- 

 pressive figure of speech wrapped up in the 

 word inflection, for it comes directly from a 

 Latin word meaning bending. Inflection is a 

 modification or change in the form of a word 

 by which it is bent to some use or meaning not 

 possessed by its simple, or uninflected, form. 

 In the sentence, "She will go sailing in her 

 uncle's yacht," the words mil go, sailing, her 

 and uncles are all inflected forms, being varia- 

 tions of go, sail, she and uncle. Only five of 

 the eight parts of speech are subject to in- 

 flection nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and 

 adverbs. 



Inflection is accomplished in three different 

 ways: First, by a change in the ending, as in 

 the case of sailing and uncle's in the sentence 

 quoted; second, by the use of an auxiliary, as 

 in the case of will go; third, by the use of an 

 entirely different word, as in the case of her. 

 The inflection of a noun or a pronoun is called 

 its declension. Nouns are inflected for num- 

 ber, gender and case, and pronouns for these 

 and for person as well. The inflection of 

 adjectives and adverbs is called comparison, 

 and that of a verb its conjugation. 



Related Subjects. These various inflections 

 are explained fully in the following articles in 

 these volumes : 



Case Gender 



Comparison Number 



Conjugation Person 

 Declension 



INFLORESCENCE, in flohr es ' ens, from a 

 Latin word meaning to blossom, is the name 

 given in botany to the arrangement of the 

 blooms on the flower-bearing part of the stem, 

 and first applied by Linnaeus, the Swedish 

 botanist. There are two principal types of 

 inflorescence, described as racemose (ras 1 c 

 mohs) and cymose (si'mose). In the former, 

 flowers are borne on tiny branchlets arising 



from the main stem ; and in the latter on small 

 branches of the stem which are longer and 

 more strongly developed than the central stalk. 

 See FLOWERS. 



INFLUENZA, in floo en' za, or GRIPPE, 

 grip, an infectious disease which swept over the 

 United States late in the nineteenth century. 

 Since that time acute colds of every sort have 

 been called, loosely, grippe. The real influ- 

 enza is due to a minute bacillus. It is very 

 similar to, but more severe than, an ordinary 

 cold. The symptoms of a typical attack are 

 headache, chills, fever, and an aching feeling 

 in the joints of the body. If properly treated 

 the patient usually recovers in a week or ten 

 days, but influenza often leaves its victim in 

 such a weakened condition that bronchitis, 

 pneumonia and similar ailments may develop if 

 he is not carefully guarded until his strength 

 returns. 



An attack of grippe can usually be conquered 

 at the beginning by means of certain decisive 

 measures and remedies. These include the ad- 

 ministration of laxatives to insure free bowel 

 action, hot mustard foot baths to induce per- 

 spiration, hot drinks, such as lemonade, and a 

 dose of quinine. Above all the patient must 

 have absolute rest in bed. If the attack is 

 somewhat severe it is well to have a physician 

 take charge of the case. A developing case 

 can often be cut short by the victim's going to 

 bed, taking a purgative and drinking water- 

 freely. 



When a community is invaded by an epi- 

 demic of influenza the well can help to avoid 

 the disease by keeping away as much as 

 possible from crowded halls and public con- 

 veyances. The use of antiseptic sprays for 

 the mouth, throat and nose is often an effec- 

 tive preventive measure, and it is also advis- 

 able to take especially good care of one's gen- 

 eral health. W.A.E. 



INFUSORIA, infuso'ria, the highest divi- 

 sion of one-celled animals (see PROTOZOA). 

 Originally the name was applied to all the 

 microscopic animals which were discovered in 

 injusions of vegetable matter, but scientists 

 now restrict the term to those protozoans which 

 possess, near the mouth opening, one or more 

 hairlike appendages, called cilia, that aid them 

 in capturing their food. All infusoria are water 

 animals, and they breed most rapidly in stag- 

 nant water exposed to the sunlight. See VORTI- 



CELLA. 



INGALLS, ing'galz, JOHN JAMES (1833- 

 1900), an American lawyer, orator and states- 



