attitude being 5 feet. The beak is of enormous size and strength; the head is large, and the neck proportionally muscular. The adjutant is a native of the warmer parts of India, and is very useful in removing noxious animals and carrion, which it devours with great voracity. In its wild state it usually lives in companies, and chiefly frequents the mouths of rivers; it may be readily domesticated, but is very apt to display its voracity by purloining articles of food. From this bird, and from an allied species in Senegal, the beautiful marabou feathers are obtained.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL, an officer of the military staff who is one of the assistants of the commanding officer in the field. His chief work is concerned with the issuing and executing of orders and carrying on the paper details and routine. In the army of the United States there is also a department known as the Adjutant-General's Department, presided over by a general officer with the rank of brigadier-general and the title of adjutant-general. In time of war the adjutant-general is one of the important officers in the service. He has charge of recruiting, the collecting of military information, and the preparation and custody of records. The States also have at the head of their militia organizations an officer known as the adjutant-general. See MILITARY ORGANIZATION, UNITED STATES.
ADLER, CYRUS, an American educator and theologian; born in Van Buren, Ark., in 1863. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1883. After post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, he became librarian of the Smithsonian Institution in 1892, serving until 1905. He was curator of historic archæology and historical religions in the United States National Museum from 1889 to 1908. In the latter year he became president of Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning. He was president of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and from 1890 president of this institution, and served as special commissioner to Turkey. Egypt, and other countries. He wrote many articles on Semitic philology and allied subjects, was one of the editors of the "Jewish Encyclopedia," and chairman of the Board of Editors of the "New Jewish Translation of the Bible."
ADLER, FELIX, an American lecturer and scholar; born at Alzey, Germany, 1851. The son of an eminent Jewish rabbi, he emigrated when young to the United States, where, and at Berlin and Heidelberg, he was educated. After being for some time professor at Cornell University, he founded in New York (1876) the Society of Ethical Culture, of which he is lecturer. Similar societies have been established elsewhere in the United States and in other countries. He is an effective writer and speaker. Since 1902 he has been professor of political and social ethics at Columbia University. During 1908-1909 he was the Roosevelt exchange professor at the University of Berlin. He is chairman of the National Child Labor Commission. He has published a number of books on religion and social and political ethics.
ADMINISTRATION, in law, the management of the personal estate of anyone dying intestate, or without an executor. If the deceased leaves real estate, the estate devolves upon heirs related by blood; if personal property is left and no executors named, administrators are appointed by some court. In the United States a surrogate or judge of probate appoints the administrator, and grants letters of administration as authority. The word is also applied to the official terms of the President of the United States, and the Governors of States, and to their official advisers.
ADMIRAL, the title of the highest rank of naval officer. The term is derived from the Arabic amîr, or emîr. In Great Britain, there were formerly three grades of admirals, commanding subdivisions, known as the red, the white, and the blue, from the colors of their flags, but this distinction is now abolished. In the Brtish navy, admirals are classified as admirals, vice-admirals, and rear-admirals, ranking respectively with generals, lieutenant-generals, and major-generals. These distinctions were adopted in the United States navy during the Civil War; the rank of rear-admiral being established in 1862, vice-admiral, in 1864, and admiral, in 1866, all created for Farragut. The first 9 rear-admirals rank with major-generals and the second 9 with brigadier-generals. Their pay on the retired list is 75 per cent. of active service pay. The flag of an admiral is rectangular blue with four white stars, flown at the main; that of a vice-admiral is the same shaped flag with three stars flown at the fore; that of the rear-admiral has two stars, flown from the mizzen.
ADMIRALTY, that department of the British Government which, subject to the control of Parliament, has the supreme direction of naval affairs. The high
