Grafting.
The quince, used as a stock, has the property of stunting the growth of pears, of forcing them to produce bearing branches, instead of sterile ones, and of accelerating the maturity of the fruit.
Sirocco Wind.
The depressing effects of the corroding wind of a hot Sirocco can only be conceived by those who have suffered from them; the unwonted dulness with which it overcasts even the most active mind; the deep-drawn sighs it will elicit; and if there be one melancholy feeling which presses on the heart more heavily than another, it is the ample developement which it enjoys during the prevalence of this enervating breeze. It seldom, however, blows with force; it is rather an exhalation than a wind. It scarcely moves the leaves around the traveller, but it sinks heavily and damply in his heart. A stranger is at first unaware of the cause of the mental misery he endures; his temper sours as his spirits sink; every person, and every circumstance, annoys him; it affects even his dreams; sleep itself is not a refuge from querulous peevishness, and every motion is an irritating exertion.
Polar Expedition.
The government of the United States has appointed an expedition, under Capt. Reynolds, to explore the northern coasts. A Captain Cunningham is mentioned to have traversed the country from St. Louis in the Missouri, to St. Diego, St. Pedro, in California.
Lithography.
From an article which has appeared in a late number of the "Biblioteca Italiana," it appears that Sermefelder was not the original discoverer of the art of Lithography, but Simon Schmidt, a professor at the Cadet Hospital at Munich.
Small Pox.
Within the last twelve months, only 503 deaths have occurred from small pox within the Bills of Mortality; whereas, in the preceding year 1299 persons are recorded as having fallen victims to that loathsome disease.