NOTE. In older English a relative in the nominative is often omitted: as,--“There’s two or three of us _have_ seen strange sights” (_Julius Cæsar_), that is, “There are two or three of us _who have_ seen,” etc. The same omission is often made in rapid or careless colloquial speech. It is approved in clauses with _there_ in such sentences as “He is one of the best men there are in the world” (§ 232).
+152.+ Certain questions of +gender+ call for particular attention.
1. _Which_ is commonly used in referring to the lower animals unless these are regarded as persons. This is true even when _he_ or _she_ is used of the same animals (§ 69).
This is the dog _which_ I mentioned. Isn’t _he_ a fine fellow?
We have one cow _which_ we prize highly. _She_ is a Jersey.
2. The possessive _whose_ may be used of any object that has life.
This is the man _whose_ watch was stolen.
This is the tree _whose_ leaves were destroyed. _It_ is quite dead.
3. In the case of things without animal life, _of which_ and _whose_ are both common. The tendency is to prefer _of which_ in prose, but _whose_ is often used because of its more agreeable sound. In poetry, _whose_ is especially frequent.
A broad river, the name _of which_ I have forgotten, forms the northern boundary of the province.
Jack was fishing with a bamboo rod, to the end _of which_ he had tied a short piece of ordinary twine.
She was gazing into the pool, _whose_ calm surface reflected her features like a mirror. [“The surface _of which_” would not sound so well.]
NOTE. In older English, _which_ is often used for _who_ or _whom_: as,--“He _which_ hath your noble father slain, pursued my life” (_Hamlet_).
The compounds _whereof_, _wherefrom_, _wherewith_, etc., are equivalent to _of which_, _from which_, etc. (cf. § 124). Thus,--“Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing _wherewith_ his father blessed him” (_Genesis_ xxvii. 41).
+153.+ The clause introduced by a relative pronoun is an +adjective clause+, since it serves as an adjective modifier of the antecedent (§ 143). There are two different ways in which the antecedent may be thus modified.
1. The Italian, _who wore a flower in his coat_, smiled at me.
2. The Italian _who wore a flower in his coat_ smiled at me.