_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._