AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
is marked into segments from the root to the crown; it is 
very productive; and the flavour isso high, that it is some- 
times called, by way of eminence, the Musk-Melon. 
The Melons of Persia have long borne a high charac- 
ter. ‘* Persia,’ says Malte Brun, writing after Chardin, 
Olivier, and Langles, “is consoled for the occasional fail- 
ure of her grain crop, by the fineness of her fruits. There 
are twenty sorts of Melons—the finest in Khorassan. In 
Persia, this fruit is extremely succulent, and contributes 
greatly to health: they are sometimes so large that three 
or four are a full load for a man.” 
The Persian Melons are extremely rich and sweet; and 
instead of the thick rind of the common Melons, they have 
a very thin and delicate skin, which makes a fruit of the 
same apparent size contain nearly twice as much edible 
matter. In addition to this, the Melons are beautiful, and 
they bear abundantly; and in the warm climate of Persia, 
the only attention which they ask from the cultivator, is 
to be regularly watered.—Lib. Ent. Know. 
ANECDOTE OF A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 
From a child I had “‘a passion” for the very name of 
a Newfoundland Dog. Their beauty and their strength, 
fidelity and sagacity, had been deeply impressed upon my 
imagination by many a story and surprising anecdote; and 
my determination to have one some day was kept alive 
by occasional glimpses of these beautiful animals in the 
streets of the city. Many were the obstacles to prevent 
my wish; but at length, in spite of dog laws and other 
difficulties, I could call a Newfoundland Dog my own. 
Poor fellow! that thy noble spirit should pine, and thy 
fine form be “ cabined, cribbed, confined,” in a little yard 
of eight by ten! But no matter—a smaller limit is enclo- 
sure ample for thee now! Peace to thy unmarked grave. 
My time was too much occupied with business to devote 
to the (doubtful) pleasure of properly educating my canine 
jewel, and he therefore improved but slowly in my keep- 
ing. He wasa substantial six months’ old pup when I got 
him, had been brought up in the country, and answered 
to a name that did not answer me; so I christened him 
anew, with something more poetical, though, I confess, 
that for a long time, (except when the sound of the new 
name was accompanied by the display of a piece of meat, ) 
his ear was so unmusical as to prefer his old and homely 
name. I taught him to fetch and carry, and to seek what- 
ever was intentionally hid for him; he showed some genius 
for discovery, but I have nothing wonderful to relate about 
him on this score. 
As soon as the mild weather would 
235 
allow us to call it spring, I took him with me to the Schuy!- 
kill, anxious for a display of his aquatic exercises. I threw 
in chips, but though he would bring them from the shore, 
none looked tempting enough to lure him into the water. 
I suppose his country habitation must have been entirely 
inland, and this was, I suppose, his first view of, as I had 
hoped, his other native element. But I was determined, 
in spite of his antipathy, that he should swim; so, after all 
manner of persuasion was exhausted, I used coercion, 
struggled and wrestled, and, solid as he was, turned him 
into the liquid fairly off the wharf! But such a swimmer! 
he did not move like a master of the element; no, if it had 
been flame he could not have struggled more earnestly or 
awkwardly to escape from it. So piteous a face, and nose 
directly up, and fore-feet out of water, paddling away for 
dear life! But at length he worked his passage to the 
shore, and bounded off, determined to avoid another bath 
for that day. And, indeed, whenever I afterward attempt- 
ed it, I had to secure him before we approached the water, 
and drag and carry him when it came in view. One day, 
after one of his unwilling immersions, he was frolicking 
round me at a respectful distance, as I was lying on the 
bank of the basin at Chesnut street and Schuylkill, when 
a gentleman approached with a Dog of the same species, 
threw a chip into the water, which was immediately 
plunged for by his Dog, who brought it out and returned, 
swimming round, delighting in the water. The moment 
my Dog observed him, he left his gambols and approach- 
ed, regarding the movements of the Dog in the water in- 
tently, during the time he remained. _ As soon as he left, 
he walked round to the side of the basin opposite to me, 
and deliberately, of his own accord, plunged in and swam 
round confidently and gracefully, nothing but his head 
above the water, and his chops resting on it. He had 
taken one good lesson in swimming by the observation of 
his fellow, and immediately put it in practice; and he 
always swam in the same manner afterward. H. 
PRESERVATION OF IRON FROM RUST. 
A mastic or covering for this purpose, proposed by M. 
Zeni, and sanctioned by the Societe d’Encouragement, is 
as follows: eighty parts of pounded brick, passed through 
a silk sieve, are mixed with twenty parts of litharge; the 
whole is then rubbed up by the muller with linseed oil, so 
as to form a thick paint, which may be diluted with spirits 
of turpentine; before it is applied the iron should be well 
cleaned. 
From an experience of two years, upon locks exposed 
