THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 177 



Now this ancient patriarch of woods is supported by 

 a wooden column, which is truly the staff of old 



THE SYCAMORE OF TRONS. 



In the long valley of the Varder Rlieintlial, 

 which shelters the Rhine in its infancy, stands the 

 little town of Trons. Near the village, a venerable 

 tree covers with its vast crown of leaves, a small 

 chapel. In 1424, deputies of all the communities of 

 the valley assembled under its branches in order to 

 form the federation which resulted in the Republic 

 of Grisons. The fourth centennary of this memor- 

 able event was celebrated in 1824, and in memory of 

 the occasion, the little chapel was built, on the por- 

 tico of which was the following inscription : " You 

 are called to Liberty Where the Spirit of God is, 

 there is deliverance Our fathers hoped in Thee, oh ! 

 Lord, and Thou hast made them free." This tree 

 was long called the plane-tree of Trons, and it is un- 

 der this name that it is still known generally. It is, 

 however, not a plane-tree, but a true sycamore. 



At the elevation at which it grows, the plane- 

 trees finds no longer the conditions under which it 

 thrives. 



At 20 inches above the soil, it is 28 feet in cir- 

 cumference. 



In his journey to Nuremburg, Mr. Edouard 



Charton mentions a visit which he paid to the old 



linden-tree in that town, " planted," he says, " by 



the Empress Ivunigunde." Formerly, on the occasion 



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