_.[372] In phrases of this form, the rule is well observed; but in
some peculiar ways of numbering things, it is commonly disregarded; for
certain nouns are taken in a plural sense without assuming the plural
termination. Thus people talk of many _stone_ of cheese,--many _sail_ of
vessels,--many _stand_ of arms,--many _head_ of cattle,--many _dozen_ of
eggs,--many _brace_ of partridges,--many _pair_ of shoes. So we read in
the Bible of "two hundred _pennyworth_ of bread," and "twelve _manner_ of
fruits." In all such phraseology, there is, in regard to the _form_ of the
latter word, an evident disagreement of the adjective with its immediate
noun; but sometimes, (where the preposition _of_ does not occur,)
expressions that seem somewhat like these, may be elliptical: as when
historians tell of _many thousand foot_ (soldiers), or _many hundred horse_
(troops). To denote a collective number, a singular adjective may precede a
plural one; as, "_One_ hundred men,"--"_Every_ six weeks." And to denote
plurality, the adjective many may, in like manner, precede _an_ or _a_ with
a singular noun; as, "The Odyssey entertains us with _many a wonderful
adventure_, and _many a landscape_ of nature."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 436."
There _starts up many_ a writer."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 306.

"Full _many a flower is born_ to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."--_Gray_.

OBS. 10.--Though _this_ and _that_ cannot relate to plurals, many writers
do not hesitate to place them before singulars taken conjointly, which are
equivalent to plurals; as, "_This power and will_ do necessarily produce
that which man is empowered to do."--_Sale's Koran_, i, 229. "_That
sobriety and self-denial_ which are essential to the support of
virtue."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 218. "_This modesty and decency_ were
looked upon by them as a law of nature."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 45. Here
the plural forms, _these_ and _those_, cannot be substituted; but the
singular may be repeated, if the repetition be thought necessary. Yet, when
these same pronominal adjectives are placed _after_ the nouns to suggest
the things again, they must be made plural; as, "_Modesty and decency_ were
thus carefully guarded, for _these_ were looked upon as being enjoined by
the law of nature."

OBS. 11.--In prose, the use of adjectives for adverbs is improper; but, in
poetry, an adjective relating to the noun or pronoun, is sometimes
elegantly used in stead o