476 Retrospective Criticism. 



volume of oxygen than that existing in the atmosphere is unrespirable and 

 destroys hfe. He also alluded to the undisputed fact, that water is a compound 

 of the elements of fire, and that, during the action of burning, it is actually 

 produced ; with many more chemical phenomena of equal importance. 



Art. V. Retrospective Criticism. 



Errata. — In Vol. XII. p. 445., in the Botanical and Horticultural Tour 

 in Lombard^, there occur several errors of the press, which I should be 

 much obliged to you to correct. In page 445. line 24., for " La Casino," read 

 " La Cusani ;" in lines 28. and 30., for " Casani," read " Cusani ; " in line 29., 

 for " 200," read " 300." In page 446. line 12., for "scopra," read " scopre ;" in 

 line 36., for " Ni strepito," read " Ne strepito ;" in line 38., for " Ancor turbo," 

 read " Ancor turbo ; " in line 42., for " scorza de faggi," read " de' faggi ;" in 

 line 43., for " Segnio," read " Segno." In page 447. line 4., for " Sien volto," 

 read "Tien volto;" in line 10., for " Piranesi," read " Piermarini ; " in 

 lines 18, 19, and 20., for " Villaresi," read " Villorese ; " in line 23., for 

 " Pelagi," read " Palagi." In page 448. line 21., for " Cabrisi," read 

 " Cabrini;" in line 23., for " Bartolotti," read " Bertolotti." In page 449. 

 line 8., for " via spuona," read " vix spinosa." — G. Mayietti. Monza, 

 January'^. 1837. 



Grafting Oranges on the Pomegranate. — The American Consul at Malta 

 will write to you to confirm the fact I mentioned in my paper on the 

 influence of the stock on the graft, that oranges are ingrafted on the pome- 

 granate, to give the flesh a red hue. The practice is common in Sicily and 

 Malta. —X Mease. Philadelphia, .Inly 28. 1837. 



Grafting the Plum on the Fig, Sfc. (Vol. XII. p. 52.) — There are axioms in 

 horticulture, which have been inculcated by the poets of antiquity, by which 

 it was established, that the graft will grow on any tree chosen, provided the 

 bark of the stock resembles that of the graft; and I remember having read 

 in a work written on horticulture by Abu-Zacaria, an Arabic Spaniard, of 

 grafting the vine on the plum, the peach on the willow, the rose on the 

 pomegranate, and the almond on the vine : but what made me laugh the most 

 heartily was, that, when the vine is grafted on the broom, the grapes are 

 bitter. You know that we were for a long time governed by the Spaniards ; 

 and, in leaving their superstions behind them, it is natural to suppose that 

 they also left these admirable maxims in horticulture. There is little doubt but 

 that what I am about to relate to you is a superstition left by the Spaniards. 

 You know that, in Italy, the greater number of the houses in the country- 

 front the south, and are generally covered with vines and other kinds of fruit 

 trees, which (as may naturally be supposed) are of the best kinds. Mice 

 and rats abound more near the houses than in the fields ; because they find 

 food there without much trouble ; and, as soon as the fruit begins to ripen, 

 they do exactly as I would do myself; that is, they eat as much as they can of 

 it. To prevent this mischief, the peasants prune their vines or other fruit trees 

 oa the vigil of the Annunciation, that is, the 24th of March ; hoping by so doing 

 to obtain a curse on these poor animals from the Virgin, and a blessing on 

 the vine, and by this means to preserve its fruit. Do you think that, because 

 the vines are pruned on the vigil of the Madonna, the mice refrain from 

 tasting them ? Yet the good peasants (though not all of them, as there are 

 some v/ho laugh at it) believe in this practice, and continue it, attributing a 

 failure in the crop to their sins ! Among the gardeners, there are some, and 

 those not few in number, who persist in doing what their fathers did before 

 them, who still believe that the moon has a great deal of influence on 

 vegetation ; and who still stand with a watch in their hand waiting for the 

 time of the full moon in March to sow the seeds of the violet ; but there 

 are, I believe, no longer any who believe that, if the pith be taken out of a 

 branch of a fruitful tree, that branch will produce fruit without seed. — 

 G. Manetti. January 4, 1837 



