ellipsis, used as nouns; so used, the adjective when it denotes persons is taken in the plural sense, and is usually preceded by the, as “The poor deserve sympathy.” Adjectives are used comparatively, when we desire to indicate that one thing possesses a given quality in a higher degree than another. There are three degrees of comparison—the positive, the comparative and the superlative, as exemplified thus; sweet (positive), sweeter (comparative), and sweetest (superlative). Other examples are, tall, short, warm, cold, great, small, rare, fine, etc.—the comparative being expressed by adding er and the superlative by adding est to the positive. Degrees of quality are also expressed by prefixing to the positive the adverbs more and most, less and least—as cheerful, more cheerful, most cheerful; amiable, less amiable, least amiable. When two qualities in the same person or thing are compared, or when the adjective we want to use follows its noun, the following is the mode of usage: He is more wise than honest. In the English and German languages the usual place of the adjective when it is not in the predicate is before the noun. For examples of phrase-adjectives and other uses of the adjective see any good textbook on grammar.
Ad′jutant, a large stork found in tropical India, by the English given the soldier name because of its erect attitude and solemn manner of stalking about. Argala is the native name. It is of great size, sometimes six feet high and fourteen feet in expanse of wings. Its beak is very large; it sometimes catches crows and other birds on the wing, and is able to swallow a kitten, fowl or leg of mutton, but its usual food is offal, lizards, etc. It frequents the neighborhood of slaughter-houses and the burning-grounds of the Hindus. It is so useful as a scavenger that in some places in India it is protected by law. It is greenish-black above and white below. The head and neck are bare or provided with a few scattered hairs, the legs long and naked. At the lower part of the neck is a peculiar air-pouch which is also bare; it is inflated during flight. The beautiful marabou feathers used in trimming ladies’ hats come from the tail of the adjutant and also from the closely related marabou stork of Africa. The adjutant is said to utter a loud grunting croak or bellow.
Ad′ler, Felix, writer and lecturer, the son of a Hebrew rabbi, was born at Abzey, Germany, in 1851. His education has been chiefly American, but he is a Ph.D. of Berlin University. In 1874–6 he was professor of oriental languages and Hebrew at Cornell University. This post he resigned to lecture before the Ethical Culture Society. His lectures before this society on Sundays in New York are well known and attended. Dr. Adler was called in 1902 to be professor of social and political ethics in Columbia University. He is the author of Creed and Deed (1878) and The Moral Instruction of Children (1892).
Adolescence. The word adolescence is used to designate the period of transition from childhood to adult life. It is the period beginning just before puberty, and lasting till the age of maturity. It may be conveniently divided into two stages: (1) that of early adolescence or pubescence, beginning at the age of eleven or twelve in girls, and thirteen or fourteen in boys, and lasting till about the age of sixteen or eighteen, (2) that of late adolescence, from sixteen to twenty-one in girls and eighteen to twenty-five in boys.
There is, of course, continuity throughout the whole development of an individual, and lines of demarkation cannot be too rigidly drawn, or characteristics of special periods too strongly emphasized, particularly as the nature of development varies considerably with different persons; but there are certain well marked features of adolescence with which teachers and parents as well as adolescents themselves should be familiar.
After the somewhat slow period of growth of later childhood there is, at the beginning of pubescence, a sudden shooting up in height, closely followed by a rapid increase in weight. In both boys and girls the body now begins to assume the adult form, and the pronounced sex differences appear. In boys the beard begins to grow, and the voice changes and deepens, the rapid growth of the larynx making accurate control of the vocal organs for a time impossible. Boys often exhibit, and are sensitive to, awkwardness in the management of their overgrown bodies. Latent capacities and interests develop, the features change to show new characters, and hereditary influences become more pronounced.
