Just as in the lifetime of the individual adjustive actions which were originally intelligent may by frequent repetition become automatic, so in the lifetime of species actions originally intelligent may by frequent repetition and heredity so write their effects on the nervous system that the latter is prepared, even before individual experience, to perform adjustive actions mechanically which in previous generations were performed intelligently.
"Luck or Cunning?"
Samuel Butler
By reason of having two operative bars, B, C, that which can be most readily moved may be operated to admit the piece or to adjust the bars to suit the length of the work, while that having the finer adjustive motion, as C, may be used for the final measuring only, thus preserving it from use, and therefore from wear as much as possible; or coarser measurements may be made with one bar, and more minute ones with the other.
"Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II"
Joshua Rose
The visiting woman stared with a motion of adjustive bewilderment, as one might before a sudden change of wind, then she looked, as a shadowy motion disturbed the even light of the room and little Ellen passed the window.
"The Portion of Labor"
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman