GRACE NOTES 



GRAFTING 



Marocco. At No. 13 William Hone 

 opened Ths Grasshopper coffee 

 house. Some scenes of Thomas 

 Heywood's comedy, The Wise 

 Women of Hogsdon, are laid in this 

 street. 



Grace Notes. In music, a note 

 not essential to the harmony, 

 added to give piquancy to melodies. 

 Such notes are usually written 

 smaller than the ordinary notes. 

 See Acciaccatura ; Appoggiatura ; 

 Mordent; Shake; Trill; Turn. 



Graces. In classical mythology, 

 the three deities of grace and 

 beauty, called Charites by the 

 Greeks and Gratiae by the Ro- 

 mans. See Charites. 



Gracia. North-western suburb 

 of Barcelona, Spain. It has tram- 

 way communication with the Plaza 

 de la Paz, near the docks. There 

 are manufactures of linen and 

 cotton. See Barcelona. 



Grackle OR GRAKLE (Lat. gra- 

 culus, jackdaw). Name given to 

 the hill mynah of Malay and India. 

 These birds belong to the starling 

 family, and have glossy black 

 plumage with yellow wattles on the 

 sides of the head. They live en- 

 tirely on fruit, and are remarkably 

 clever talkers and mimics. 



Gradient (Lat. gradus, a step). 

 Term usually applied to a road or 

 railway for the degree of ascent or 

 descent. The extent or amount of 

 inclination may be denoted in 

 several ways. Thus a gradient of 

 two degrees 52 minutes is equal to 

 a gradient of 5 p. c., or a gradient of 

 1 in 20, and is equivalent to a rise 

 or fall of 1 ft. for every 20 ft. of 

 horizontal distance. The gradient 

 of a river or flow of water is known 

 as its fall. The ruling gradient of a 

 road or railway is the steepest gra- 

 dient generally encountered except 

 where additional assistance for 

 hauling is provided. On roads the 

 ruling gradient is about 1 in 30 ex- 

 cept for very short distances. On 

 railways it varies according to the 

 general nature of the country tra- 

 versed, the class of traffic, and the 

 type of locomotive employed. See 

 Railways; Roads. 



Gradisca. Town and district of 

 Italy, formerly of Austria-Hungary. 

 The town is 6 m. S.W. of Gorizia 

 on the Isonzo river. It has an old 

 castle now used as a prison, and 

 its fortifications have been replaced 

 by fine promenades. Its population 

 of nearly 2,000 are Italians, and 

 during the Great War it became a 

 leading objective of the Italian 

 armies, forming part of " Italia ir- 

 redenta." Its capture by General 

 Cadorna, June 9, 1915, completed 

 the Italian control of the Lower 

 Isonzo. Recaptured by the Aus- 

 trians when the Italians retreated 

 to the Piave it fell once more into 



Italian hands during the final de- 

 feat of the Austrians in 1918. Pop. 

 34,150. See Isonzo, Battles of the. 



Gradishsk. Town of the 

 Ukraine, Russia, in the govt. of 

 Poltava. It stands near the 

 Dnieper, 20 m. N.E. of Krement- 

 chug. At the great fair in May 

 much trade is done in grain, horses, 

 cattle, hemp, tar, flax and butter. 

 There is a large sugar-refinery in 

 the neighbourhood. Pop. 10,000. 



Gradual OR GRAYL (Lat. gradus, 

 a step). Ancient liturgical chant or 

 antiphon. Also called the respon- 

 sory, it is sung at High Mass after 

 the reading of the Epistle. Called 

 the gradual from being formerly 

 sung on the altar steps or while the 

 deacon ascended the steps of the 

 ambo (q.v. ) or reading desk to sing 

 or read the Gospel, it is called the 

 responsory because it answers the 

 Epistle or because it is sung anti- 

 phonally. It is followed by the 

 Hallelujah or, in penitential sea- 

 sons, by the Tract. The book 

 containing these pieces of music, to 

 which Haydn, Mozart, Cherubini 

 and others contributed, was known 

 as the Gradale or Graduale, a term 

 later extended to include other 

 portions of the service, 



Gradual Psalms. Title given 

 to Psalms cxx-cxxxiv. The early 

 Fathers regarded them as marking 

 the steps by which the soul ascends 

 to God. In the Roman Breviary 

 they are divided into three sets of 

 five each. Formerly said before 

 matins every day in Lent, the obli- 

 gation of reciting them in choir was 

 abolished by Pius X. The term 

 Song of Degrees, applied in the 

 A.V. to a number of these Psalms, 

 is altered in the R.V. to Song of 

 Ascents. Of the many theories of 

 the title the most generally accepted 

 is the explanation that these 

 Psalms were sung during the " go- 

 ings up " or pilgrimages of the 

 Jews to Jerusalem for the great 

 annual feasts. They are usually 

 attributed to the early part of the 

 post-exilic period. 



Grafenberg. Village of Czecho- 

 slovakia, formerly in Austrian 

 Silesia. It stands among the 

 Sudetic Mts., 37 m. N.W. of 

 Troppau. It is chiefly known for 

 its water-cure, the first hydro- 

 pathic having been established here 

 by Priessnitz in 1826. Pop. 1,100. 



Graffiti. Italian word meaning 

 ancient scribbling. Written or 

 drawn upon walls, rocks, potsherds 

 and other surfaces, graffiti were 

 scratched with sharp implements, 

 drawn in charcoal or chalks, or 

 painted. Universal in range, from 

 neolithic drawings on cave-walls at 

 Gezer and rocks in the Nile valley, 

 to scratchings by 2nd century 

 Chinese pilgrims on Shantung 



tombs, and viking runes at Maesli- 

 owe, they survive in modern school- 

 boy and tourist scrawls. In ancient 

 Egypt they occur on pyramid walls 

 at Medum and on potsherds ; many 

 thousands are recordedf romThebes. 

 At Pompeii they included sporting 

 tips, election notices and amatory 

 effusions. On Silchester potsherds 

 they show the Romano-British 

 populace habitually using Latin. 

 Numerous in ancient Rome, a cari- 

 cature of the Crucifixion was found 

 on the Palatine in Rome in 1857 ; 

 Marucchi found in the St. Sebastian 

 catacomb, in 1915, 4th century 

 graffiti confirming its traditional 

 association with the remains of SS. 

 Peter and Paul. See Art, Primi- 

 tive ; Inscriptions. 



Graft. Term in common use in 

 the U.S.A. and Canada to signify 

 the use of public positions for 

 private gain, such as the gathering 

 in of perquisites, or of illegal com- 

 missions, or the official acquisition 

 of knowledge that can be used 

 profitably in private business. 

 Regarded as a part of the " spoils 

 of office," this corruption has been 

 extended by the change of public 

 officials with every change of the 

 party in power. 



Grafting. Method of transfer- 

 ring a branch or bud of a choice 

 variety of tree to a vigorous foster- 

 parent, so that the bud or branch 

 may be benefited. This bud is 

 technically known as a " scion," 

 the stem to which it is transferred 

 as the " stock." Many different 

 sorts of plants and trees can be 

 grafted, but the operation is 

 generally confined to roses and 

 fruit trees. The most suitable time 

 for grafting is in the springtime, 

 when the sap is rising in the wood. 



The chief object of the operation 

 is to increase the supply of a 

 desirable variety of fruit or flower 

 which cannot easily be multiplied 

 by seed. Various forms of grafting 

 are known as " cleft," " tongue," 

 and " slip," which are really dis- 

 tinctions without much difference, 

 the important thing being to ascer- 

 tain that the scion, or graft, is 

 firmly embedded upon the stock, 

 and protected from the weather by 

 a covering of clay or wax. 



A shoot of the scion should be cut 

 down to a point with a sharp knife, 

 and an aperture of suitable capa- 

 city prepared in the stock. It is the 

 blending of the sap, or juices 

 brought about by the junction of 

 stock and scion, that contributes to 

 a successful graft. There should be 

 a good bud just above the cut at 

 each end. The interior edges of the 

 bark should be made to touch and 

 remain in contact', for which pur- 

 pose it is particularly necessary to 

 use a sharp knife. Crown grafting is 



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