Chapter 132

ON THE SYNTAX OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, AND THE PRONOUNS OF THE THIRD PERSON.

§ 444. As _his_ and _her_ are genitive cases (and not adjectives), there is no need of explaining such combinations as _his mother_, _her father_, inasmuch as no concord of gender is expected. The expressions are respectively equivalent to

_mater ejus_, not _mater sua_; _pater ejus_, -- _pater suus_.

§ 445. It has been stated that _its_ is a secondary genitive, and it may be added, that it is of late origin in the language. The Anglo-Saxon form was _his_, the genitive of _he_ for the neuter and masculine equally. Hence, when, in the old writers, we meet _his_, where we expect _its_, we must not suppose that any personification takes place, but simply that the old genitive common to the two genders is used in preference to the modern one limited to the neuter, and irregularly formed.

The following instances are the latest specimens of its use:

"The apoplexy is, as I take it, a kind of lethargy. I have read the cause of _his_ effects in Galen; _it_ is a kind of deafness."--_2 Henry IV._ i. 2.

"If the salt have lost _his_ savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? _It_ is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast _it_ out."--_Luke_ xiv. 35.

"Some affirm that every plant has _his_ particular fly or caterpillar, which it breeds and feeds."--WALTON'S _Angler_.

"This rule is not so general, but that _it_ admitteth of _his_ exceptions."--CAREW.

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