THE LINDEN 95 



one of the finest streets in Berlin, are of world-wide 

 fame, though not equal to the avenue, a mile and a 

 quarter long, at Herrenhausen, near Hanover, planted 

 m 1726 ; but one of the most beautiful of Linden 

 avenues is that of Trinity College, Oxford, where the 

 bare boughs in winter form a perfect Gothic arcade, 

 like the roof-timbers of some cathedral aisle. One 

 of the charms of such an avenue is the wreath of 

 " adventitious " or supernumerary shoots that encircles 

 the base of the trunk a wreath of coral branchlets 

 as they sparkle in the faint sunlight of spring, a wreath 

 of verdure in summer, and a wreath of gold in autumn. 

 There are fine Lindens also at Syon House, Isleworth, 

 and at Ken Wood, Hampstead ; but, from its position 

 on the brow of a hill, surrounded by scenery of ex- 

 quisite loveliness, and from the size of its trees, one 

 of the finest avenues in the world must be that at 

 Dromana, co. Waterford. 



The sap of the Linden can be fermented into an 

 agreeable wine ; its wood makes a fine charcoal, and 

 is used for musical instruments ; while the bark is in 

 Germany used in the manufacture of cordage. Apart, 

 however, from its beauty, the main uses of the Linden 

 are the application of its tough but flexible inner bark 

 to the making of Russia matting, and that of its fine- 

 grained wood to carving. Its value for the latter pur- 

 pose has been supremely demonstrated by the mar- 

 vellous work of Grinling Gibbons, whose use of wood 

 makes one think of it as a plastic substance, most of 

 his carving being in this material. Chatsworth, Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, Windsor Castle and the choir 

 of St. Paul's, possess the finest examples of his art. 



