Rising at a height of 1545 feet above sea-level, at the base of the statue of a nymph erected on the spot by the city of Paris, the Seine is at first such an insignificant streamlet that it is often dry in summer as far as to Chatillon (722 feet). At Bar (531 feet) its waters feed the Haute-Seine Canal, so that there is uninterrupted navigation from this point to the sea (395 miles). At Troyes it has descended to 331 feet. It next passes Méry, and at Marcilly receives the Aube (right), from which point it becomes navigable; here it is deflected in a south-westerly direction by the heights of La Brie, the base of which it skirts past Nogent and Montereau, at the latter point receiving the Yonne, its most important left-hand tributary. It then resumes its general north-westerly direction, receiving the Loing (left) at Moret, then passing Melun (121 feet), being joined at Corbeil by the Essonne (left), and after its junction with the Marne (right), a tributary longer than itself by 31 miles, reaches Paris. From this point to the sea its channel has been so deepened by recent works that vessels of 9 to 10 feet draught can reach the capital. The river then winds through a pleasant champaign country past St Cloud, St Denis, Argenteuil, St Germain, Conflans (where it is joined from the right by the Oise, 56 feet above the sea), Poissy, Mantes, Les Andelys, and Poses, where the tide first begins to be perceptible. It next receives the Eure (left), and passes Pont de l’Arche, Elbeuf, and Rouen, where the sea navigation commences. The river has been dyked to Rouen so as to admit vessels of 20 feet draught, and large areas have thus been reclaimed for cultivation. At every tide there is a “bore” (barre or mascaret), ranging usually from 8 to 10 feet. Between Rouen and the sea there are numerous windings, as in the neighbourhood of Paris; after Caudebec and Quilleboeuf (where the Rille is received from the left) the estuary begins, set with extensive sandbanks, between which flows a narrow navigable channel. At Tancarville (right) is the commencement of a canal to enable river boats for Havre to avoid the sea passage. The river finally falls into the English Channel between Honfleur on the left and Havre on the right. The Marne brings to the Seine the waters of the Ornain, the Ourcq, and the Morin; the Oise those of the Aisne; the Yonne those of the Armançon. The low elevation of the bounding hills has rendered it comparatively easy to connect the Seine and its affluents with adjoining river basins by means of canals. The Oise and Somme are connected by the Picardy or Crozat Canal, which in turn is continued to the Scheldt by means of the St Quentin Canal and the Oise, and to the Sambre by that of Oise and Sambre. Between the Aisne and the Meuse is the Ardennes Canal, and the Aisne and the Marne are united by a canal which passes Rheims. The Marne has similar communication with the Meuse and the Rhine, the Yonne with the Saône (by the Burgundy Canal) and with the Loire (by that of Nivernais). The Seine itself is connected with the Loire by the Loing Canal dividing at Montargis into two branches,—those of Orleans and Briare.

SEINE, the department of France which has Paris as its chief town, was formed in 1790 of part of the province of Île-de-France. It lies between 48° 44' and 48° 58' N. lat. and 2° 10' and 2° 34' E. long. and is entirely surrounded by the department of Seine-et-Oise, from which it is separated at certain parts by the Seine, the Marne, and the Bièvre. The area of the department is only 118,306

acres, and of this surface a seventh or a sixth is occupied by Paris; the suburban villages also are close together and very populous. In actual population (2,799,329 in 1881) as well as in density (23·7 persons per acre) it holds the first place. Flowing from south-east to north-west through the department, the Seine forms three links: on the right it receives above Paris the Marne, and below Paris the Rouillon, and on the left hand the Bièvre within the precincts of the city. The left bank of the Seine is in general higher than the right and consists of the Villejuif and Chatillon plateaus separated by the Bièvre; the highest point (568 feet) is above Chatillon and the lowest (105) at the exit of the Seine. Below Paris the river flows between the plain of Gennevilliers and Nanterre (commanded by Mont Valérien) on the left and the plain of St Denis on the right. On the right side, to the east of Paris, are the heights of Avron and Vincennes commanding the course of the Marne. Communication is further facilitated by various canals (see Paris).

Market gardens occupy about 3700 acres within and without the city, and by means of irrigation and manuring are made to yield from ten to eleven crops per annum (see Paris). Some districts are specially celebrated,—Montreuil for its peaches, Fontenay-aux-Roses for its strawberries and roses, and other places for flowers and nurseries. The department produced in 1883 326,326 bushels of wheat, 4042 of meslin, 75,003 of rye, 3415 of barley, 337,837 of oats, 1,656,009 of potatoes, 14,650 of pulse, and 15,400 tons of beetroot. Altogether, 60,000 persons are engaged in agriculture. The live stock in 1881 comprised 95,796 horses (70,296 in Paris), 4174 cattle, 280 calves, 8159 sheep, 3626 pigs, and 660 goats. Vineyards, producing 366,748 gallons of wine annually, cover 2460 acres. The principal woods (Boulogne and Vincennes) belong to Paris. It is partly owing to the number of quarries in the district that Paris owes its origin: Chatillon and Montrouge in the south yield freestone, and Bagneux and Clamait in the south and Montreuil and Romainville in the east possess the richest plaster quarries in France. Within the circuit of Paris are certain old quarries now forming the catacombs. Most of the industrial establishments in the department are situated in Paris or at St Denis. Pantin (17,857 inhabitants in 1881) on the Ourcq Canal is the seat of a national factory of tobacco, and also of glass-works, and Aubervilliers (19,437) on the St Denis Canal is the seat of great chemical works. Along the Seine, below Paris, Boulogne (25,615) is partly occupied by laundry establishments; Puteaux (15,586) manufactures woollen goods, and has dyeworks, printing works, cloth-dressing works, and engineering works of considerable importance; Clichy (24,320) manufactures crystal and has a large gaswork, &c. Above Paris, Ivry (18,442) has iron-works and engineering works; Choisy-le-Roi (6978) has factories for the making of porcelain, glass, soda, chemicals, morocco, and waxcloth; Montreuil (18,693), near Vincennes, makes patent leather, porcelain, &c. The department is of course traversed by all the railway lines which converge in Paris, and also contains the inner circuit railway and part of the outer circuit,—making a total of 122 miles of railway, to which are to be added numerous tramways, 72 miles of national roads, and 458 of other roads. There are 3 arrondissements (Paris, St Denis, and Sceaux), 28 cantons (20 in Paris), and 72 communes. The department forms the archiepiscopal diocese of Paris, falls within the jurisdiction of the Paris court of appeal, and is divided between the four corps d’armée of Amiens, Rouen, Le Mans, and Orleans. Among the important institutions in the department are the lyceums of Vanves and Sceaux, the lunatic asylum at Charenton, the veterinary college of Maisons-Alfort, and the great Bicêtre hospital at Gentilly.

With a total area of 1,491,458 acres, Seine Inférieure has 911,938 acres of arable ground, 151,125 of wood, 99,703 grass, 32,977 moorland and pasturage. Out of a total population of 814,068 in 1881 those dependent on agriculture numbered 233,536. The live stock in the same year comprised 81,561 horses of good breeds, 1421 asses, 125 mules, 236,493 cattle, 259,677 sheep of ordinary kinds and 27,523 of special breeds (wool-clip, 560 tons), 78,186 pigs, 3341 goats, 13,202 beehives (54 tons of honey and 13 of wax). Milch cows are kept in great numbers, and Gournay butter and Gournay and Neufchâtel cheese are in repute. The farms of the Caux plateau are each surrounded by an earthen dyke, on which are planted forest trees, generally beech and oak. Within the shelter thus provided apple and pear trees grow, which produce the cider generally drunk by the inhabitants (38,602,036 gallons in 1883). The other crops in 1883 were—wheat, 6,667,650 bushels; meslin, 59,950; rye, 654,489; barley, 443,751; oats, 7,017,609; potatoes, 2,954,457; pulse, 98,736; beetroot for sugar 28,837 tons, and for fodder 118,099; colza seed, 29,076 tons; and 457,047 tons of ordinary fodder. In general the department is fertile and well cultivated. Along the Seine fine meadow-land has been reclaimed by dyking; and sandy and barren districts have been planted with trees, mostly with oaks and beeches, and they often attain magnificent dimensions, especially in the forest of Arques and along the railway from Rouen to Dieppe; Pinus sylvestris is the principal component of the forest of Rouvray opposite Rouen. With the exception of a little peat and a number of quarries, employing 745 workmen, Seine Inférieure has no mineral source of wealth; but manufacturing industry is well developed. Rouen is the chief centre of the cotton-trade, which is in the department represented by 190 spinning and weaving factories, employing 22,947 hands, 1,400,000 spindles, 14,000 power-looms, and 4000 hand-looms, and working up 30,000 tons of cotton annually. Hand-loom weaving, carried on throughout the country districts, employs 18,000 looms; in the branch of the cotton trade known as rouennerie 190 manufacturers are employed, producing to the value of £2,400,000 per annum; in that of the indiennes 20 establishments with 5000 workpeople turn out yearly 1,000,000 pieces of 115 yards each. There are 22 establishments for dyeing cotton cloth with 700 workmen, and for dyeing cotton yarn 32 establishments with 1200 workmen. The woollen manufacture, of which Elbeuf is the centre, employs 24,000 workmen and produces goods valued at about £3,500,000, with raw material valued at £1,720,000, mainly imported from Australia and partly from the La Plata ports. The wool-spinning mills (at Elbeuf and Darnétal) have 92,000 spindles, and there are 650 power-looms and 3800 hand-looms. At Elbeuf (22,883 inhabitants in 1881) there are 17 dye works, 50 twist factories, a manufactory of carding machines, and 45 cloth-dressing factories. About 18,000 spindles are employed in flax-spinning, an industry more widely distributed throughout the department. Engineering works, foundries, and iron shipbuilding yards occur at Havre (population 105,540 in 1881) and Rouen (105,860). Wooden ships are also built at Havre, Rouen, Dieppe (21,585), and Fécamp (11,919). Other establishments of importance are the national tobacco-factories at Dieppe (1100 hands) and Havre (580 hands), sugar-refineries (£1,440,000 worth of sugar in 1881), glass-works (873 workmen), soap-works, chemical works, candle-factories, flour-mills, oil-factories, ivory-works, lace-works, clock-factories, &c. The total number of industrial establishments in the department is 975; and it is estimated that 305,460 persons depend on industrial pursuits. The fisheries are a great resource for the inhabitants of the seaboard. Fécamp sends yearly £100,000 worth of cod and £80,000 worth of herrings, mackerel, &c., into the market; Dieppe has the supplying of Paris with fresh fish; St Valery sends its boats as far as Iceland. The principal ports for foreign trade are Havre, Rouen, and Dieppe. There are 364 miles of railway, 370 of national roads, 6543 of other roads, 98 of Seine navigation, and the Bresle is canalized for 2 miles. In population Seine Inférieure stands fourth in the list of French departments; it has consequently been proposed to divide it into the two departments of Seine Inférieure and Seine Maritime. The density of population is double the average of France. There are 5 arrondissements, 51 cantons (of which 3 are in Havre and 6 in Rouen), and 759 communes. The department forms the archbishopric of Rouen; the court of appeal and the headquarters of the corps d'armée are also in that city. Places of importance are Elbeuf; Fécamp, a fishing port, with sea-bathing, distilling, &c.; Bolbec (10,226 inhabitants), with weaving and spinning factories; and Eu (4827 inhabitants), with a celebrated castle belonging to Louis Philippe and the Orleans family.

With a total area of 1,417,534 acres, Seine-et-Marne had in 1879 261,074 under wheat, 274,808 under oats, 53,362 under beetroot, 51,130 under vines. Besides these, meslin, rye, barley, pulse, potatoes are the principal crops grown. In 1884 the yield was 6,567,547 bushels of wheat, 231,959 of meslin, 665,505 of rye, 471,251 of barley, 9,104,254 of oats, 3,035,167 of potatoes, 924,210 tons of beetroot, and 401,427 tons of green fodder (lucerne, clover, sainfoin, &c.). The live stock in 1879 included 40,400 horses, 5190 asses, 522,700 sheep (173,290 superior breed), 101,100 cattle, 16,840 pigs, 3714 goats, and 11,440 beehives (75 tons of honey, 15 of wax). Cereals occupy two-fifths of the department and yield an annual value of £2,400,000, while all other products of the soil do not reach £1,600,000. The wheat and oats of Brie are especially esteemed, as are also the white grapes of Fontainebleau and the roses of Provins (see vol. xix. p. 886). Thousands of the well-known Brie cheeses are manufactured, and large numbers of calves and poultry are reared. The forests (covering a fifth of the surface) are planted with oak, beech, chestnut, hornbeam, birch, wild cherry, linden, willow, poplar, and conifers. Best known and most important is the forest of Fontainebleau, the annual product of which is worth £14,000. Excellent freestone is quarried in the department, especially in the valley of the Loing, mill-stones at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre; the Fontainebleau sandstone, used extensively for pavements, gives employment to 300 establishments, and the white sand which is found along with it is in great request for the manufacture of glass. Along the Marne are numerous plaster-quarries; lime-kilns occur throughout the department; and peat is found in the valleys of the Ourcq and the Voulzie. Beds of common clay and porcelain clay supply the potteries of Fontainebleau, and especially those of Montereau, where upwards of 700 hands are employed. Other industrial establishments are the numerous large flour-mills, the sugar-factories, beetroot distilleries, paper-mills (the Marais paper-mill manufactures bank-notes, &c., both for France and foreign markets), saw-mills, foundries, printing works, tanneries, tawing works, glove factories, chemical works, &c. Most of the motive-power used in these establishments is supplied by the streams. The Seine, the Yonne, the Marne, and the Grand Morin are navigable, and, with the canals of the Loing and the Ourcq and those of Chalifert, Cornillon, and Chelles, which cut off the windings of the Marne, form a total waterway of 219 miles. There are 242 miles of railway. With its 348,991 inhabitants in 1881, Seine-et-Marne is in density of population slightly below the average of France. It has 5 arrondissements, 29 cantons, 530 communes, forms the diocese of Meaux, belongs to the jurisdiction of the Paris court of appeal, and to the district of the Orleans corps d'armée. Among the places of note in the department, Montereau (7107 inhabitants in 1881), distinguished as Montereau-faut-Yonne because of its situation at the confluence of the Yonne with the Seine, deserves to be mentioned not only for its porcelain manufacture but also as a great railway station on the route from Paris to Lyous at the junction of the Troyes line, as the scene of the assassination of John the Bold, duke of Burgundy, and as one of the battlefields of Napoleon I. in the campaign of 1814. Its church is an historical monument of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. A statue of Napoleon stands between the two bridges.

Of the 1,384,695 acres 912,205 are arable soil, 50,330 meadows, 42,852 vineyards, and 199,864 woods. In 1881 the live stock comprised 48,540 horses, 5626 asses, 162 mules, 70,600 cattle, 341,600 sheep (wool-clip, 1110 tons), 16,200 pigs, 4500 goats, and 13,500 beehives. Seine-et-Oise is a great agricultural and horticultural department. The crops in 1883 were—wheat, 5,817,858 bushels; meslin, 353,127; rye, 1,034,572; barley, 641,894; oats, 8,705,193; buckwheat, 3800; potatoes, 6,479,000; beetroot for sugar 206,645 tons, and for fodder 237,915; colza seed, 415 tons; hay, 48,242; clover, 13,505; lucerne, 140,354; sainfoin, 57,283. Oaks, hornbeams, birch, chestnuts are the prevailing trees in the forests, most of which belong to the state. Building, paving, and mill stones (1978 workmen), lime, plaster, marl, chalk, sand, clay, and peat (along the Essonne) are all found in the department. At Enghien are cold mineral springs, and Forges has a hydropathic establishment, where the town of Paris maintains a hospital for scrofulous children. The most important industrial establishments are the national porcelain factory at Sèvres; the Government powder-mills of Sevran and Bouchet; the paper-mills and cardboard mills (1570 workmen) of Corbeil (population 6566 in 1881), Étampes (7465), and Pontoise (6675), but by far the largest is at Essonne (4999); the flax-spinning mills (6368 spindles), cotton-mills (17,830 spindles), silk-mills (5726), wool-mills (8890); the foundries and boat and bridge building yards at Argenteuil (10,167); the engineering and railway works at Corbeil, &c.; the agricultural implement factories at Dourdan (2819); the sugar-refineries with thousands of workmen; distilleries on most of the large farms; starch-works, laundries, large printing establishments close to Paris; factories for chemical products, candles, embroidery, hosiery, perfumery, shoes, and buttons; one of the finest zinc-works in France; saw-mills, &c. Besides the navigation of the Seine, the Marne, the Oise, and the Canal d’Ourcq, the department has 420 miles of railroad, 457 of national roads, and 3958 of other roads. The population of the department in 1881 was 577,798 inhabitants (one and a half times the average density of the French departments). There are 6 arrondissements, 37 cantons, and 686 communes; the department forms the diocese of Versailles, is divided between the corps d’armée of Amiens, Rouen, Le Mans, and Orleans, and has its court of appeal at Paris. The commune of Argenteuil (11,849 inhabitants) is not only important for its manufactures but also for its market gardens (asparagus, figs, grapes, &c.); and its church, rebuilt in the 19th century in the Romanesque style, is a fashionable place of pilgrimage.