THE LONGEVITY OF TREES. 89 



latter, indeed, speak of trees as old as the creation ; 1 but they 

 have unfortunately neglected to mention the evidence upon 

 which their opinions were founded. Restricting ourselves, 

 therefore, to trees which still survive, or which have existed 

 within recent times, we commence our enumeration with one 

 which is rather remarkable for its historical associations than 

 for any extraordinary longevity ; namely, the celebrated Syc- 

 amore Maple (Acer Pseudo-Platanus), which stands near 

 the entrance of the village of Trons, in the Grisons, the cra- 

 dle of liberty among the Rhetian Alps. Under the once 

 spreading branches of this now hollow and cloven trunk, the 

 Gray League — so called, either from the gray beards, or the 

 home-spun clothing, of the peasants who there met the nobles 

 favorable to their cause — was solemnly ratified in March, 

 1424. Upon the supposition that it was only a century old 

 when the meeting, to which its celebrity is owing, took place, 

 — and a younger tree would hardly have been selected for the 

 purpose, — it has now attained the age of five hundred and 

 twenty years. It can scarcely be younger, it may be much 

 older than this. In some of the earlier accounts, this tree is 

 said to be a Linden. Indeed, it is so called in the inscription 

 upon the walls of the adjacent little chapel. They were bet- 

 ter patriots than botanists in those days ; for the investiga- 

 tions of Colonel Bontemps leave no doubt as to the identity 

 of the tree. 2 



The Linden itself, however, is associated with some inter- 

 esting points of Swiss history ; it also affords some instances 

 of remarkable longevity, which the lightness and softness of 

 its wood would by no means lead us to expect. The Linden 

 in the town of Freiburg, which was planted in 1476, to com- 

 memorate the bloody battle of Morat, though now beginning 

 to decay, has already proved a more durable memorial than 

 the famous ossuary on the battlefield, 



1 Josephus relates, that he saw near Hebron a Terebinthus which had 

 existed ever since the creation (Lib. V., c. 31) ; and Pliny speaks of 

 Oaks in the Hercynian forest, which he deems coeval with the world. 

 (Hist. Nat., Lib. xvi., c. 2.) 



2 " Bibliotheqne Univ. de GeneVe," Aout, 1831. 



