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posed of an “erectile tissue,” which, under the activity 
induced by the sun’s rays, becomes distended and congested, 
as it were; so that a temporary rigidity is assumed, which 
passes off again when the cause ceases to act. 
Dr. Hinton described aremarkable natural grafting which 
he had lately seen in a young black walnut tree (Juglans 
nigra) in the grounds of St. Stephen’s College, at Annandale, 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. The grafting has occurred some three 
feet above the first bifurcation of the trunk, between the 
primitive easterly branch, and a branch crossing over to it, 
and passing it, from the primitive westerly one. The fusion 
in the bark is perfect; and the grafting is shown to be com- 
plete, by the fact that the limb is one-third larger upon leav- 
ing the easterly branch, than where it meets and joins it; it 
thus appears that nourishment is received from the main 
easterly branch. 
December Ist, 1873. Business Meeting. 
The President in the chair; eight persons present. 
After the transaction of routine business;—Dr. H. C. 
Bolton read a paper entitled: 
“Contribution to the History of Sulphur Matches.”* 
After alluding to the general opinion that sulphur 
matches, in their primitive form, are quite a modern inyen- 
tion, he showed that such an impression was in accordance 
with the scanty information on the subject found in our great 
dictionaries and encyclopedias, as most scientific works are 
content with the statement that “ friction matches came into 
general use about the year 1832.” By casually lighting on 
a passage referring to matches in a work published in 1604, 
Dr. Bolton was prompted to trace back their history, and 
obtained the following results. Hoefer, the French historian 
of chemistry, mentions that George Agricola make allusion 
* This article has appeared in full in the American Chemist, for 
December, 1873. 
