e is repeated, and precedes each. We say, _the_ (or _a_)
_secretary and the_ (or _a_) _treasurer_, when the two offices are held by
different persons.

This rule is much neglected.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XIV.

THE NUMERALS.

s. 470. The numeral _one_ is naturally single. All the rest are naturally
plural.

Nevertheless such expressions--_one two_ ( = _one collection of two_), _two
threes_ ( = _two collections of three_) are legitimate. These are so,
because the sense of the word is changed. We may talk of several _ones_
just as we may talk of several _aces_; and of _one two_ just as of _one
pair_.

Expressions like _the thousand-and-first_ are incorrect. They mean neither
one thing nor another: 1001st being expressed by _the thousand-and-first_,
and 1000th + 1st being expressed by _the thousandth and the first_.

Here it may be noticed that, although I never found it to do so, the word
_odd_ is capable of taking an ordinal form. The _thousand-and-odd-th_ is as
good an expression as the _thousand-and-eight-th_.

The construction of phrases like the _thousand-and-first_ is the same
construction as we find in the _king of Saxony's army_.

s. 471. It is by no means a matter of indifference whether we say the _two
first_ or the _first two_.

The captains of two different classes at school should be called the _two
first boys_. The first and second boys of the same class should be called
the _first two boys_. I believe that when this rule is attended to, more is
due to the printer than to the author: such, at least, is the case with
myself.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XV.

ON VERBS IN GENERAL.

s. 472. For the purposes of syntax it is necessary to divide verbs into the
five following divisions: transitive, intransitive, auxiliary, substantive,
and impersonal.

_Transitive verbs._--In transitive verbs the action is never a simple
action. It always affects some object or other,--_I move my limbs_; _I
strike my enemy_. The presence of a transitive verb implies also the
presence of a noun; which noun is the name of the object affected. A
transitive verb, unaccompanied by a noun, either expressed or understood,
is a contradiction in terms. The absence of the nouns, in and of itself,
makes it intransitive. _I move_ means, simply, _I am in a state of moving_.
_I strike_ means, simply, _I am in the act of striking_. Verbs like _move_
and _strike_ are natural