BOUCHER DE CREVECOEUR DE PERTHES, JACQUES (1788-1868), French geologist and antiquary, was born on Sept. 1o, 1788, at Rethel, Ardennes, and became a cus toms official. He died on Aug. 5, 1868, at Abbeville, where he was director of the douane. His leisure was chiefly devoted to the study of the Stone Age. About 1830 he had found, in the gravels of the Somme valley, flints which in his opinion bore evi dence of human handiwork; but not until 1846, many years after wards, did he make public the important discovery of a worked flint implement with remains of elephant, rhinoceros, etc., in the gravels of Menchecourt. His monumental Antiquites celtiques et antediluviennes (1847-64) is a work in which he was the first to establish the existence of man in the Pleistocene or early Quater nary period. He was the author of several tragedies, two books of fiction, several works on travel, and a number of books on economic and philanthropic questions. To his scientific books may be added De l'homme antediluvien et de ses oeuvres See Alcius Ledien, Boucher de Perthes, sa vie, ses oeuvres, sa cor respondance (Abbeville, 1885) ; Lady Prestwich, "Recollections of M. Boucher de Perthes" in Essays Descriptive and Biographical (19ot). a maritime department of south eastern France situated at the mouth of the Rhone. Area, 2,026 sq. miles. Pop. (1931) 1,101,672. Formed in 1790 from western Provence, it is bounded on the north by Vaucluse, from which it is separated by the Durance, east by Var, west by Gard, and south by the Mediterranean, along which its seaboard stretches for about 120 miles. The western portion consists of the Camargue (q.v.) a marshy plain between the Rhone and the Petit-Rhone, and com prising the Rhone delta. A large portion of its surface is covered by lagoons and pools (etangs), the largest of which is the Etang de Vaccares. To the east of the Camargue is situated the remark able pebble-strewn Crau (q.v.) ; and farther east and north are east-west hill-ranges. The Etang de Berre, a lagoon nearly 6o sq.m. in area, is situated to the south-east of the Crau ; it is now con nected by a canal with the Rhone and by a canal tunnel through the Estaque hills with Marseille.
Bouches-du-Rhone has a Mediterranean climate, with the drawback of the mistral, the cold north-west wind from the central plateau of France. The proportion of arable land is small, though considerably increased by artificial irrigation and by draining. Cereals, chiefly wheat and oats, are grown in the Camargue and the plain of Arles, but they are of less importance than the olive tree, which is grown largely in the east of the department and supplies the oil-works of Marseille. The vine is also cultivated, the method of submersion being used as a safeguard against phyl loxera. In the cantons of the north-west large quantities of early vegetables are produced. Of live-stock, sheep alone are raised to any extent. Almonds, figs, capers, mulberry trees and silk-worms are sources of considerable profit. Iron is worked, but the most important mines are those of lignite ; the department also pro duces bauxite, building-stone, lime, cement, gypsum, clay, sand and gravel, marble and sea-salt. Marseille, the capital (q.v.), is the most important industrial town. In its industrial establishments is concentrated most of the manufacturing activity of the depart ment. To these must be added the potteries of Aubagne, the silk works in the north-west cantons, various paper and cardboard manufactories, oil distilleries, metal foundries and soap factories. Fishing is also important. The foreign commerce of the depart ment is for the most part concentrated in the capital; the minor ports are Martigues, Cassis and La Ciotat. Internal trade is facilitated by the canal from Arles to Port-de-Bouc and two smaller canals, in all about 35 m. in length, as well as by the canals mentioned above. The Rhone and the Petit-Rhone are both navi gable within the department.
Bouches-du-Rhone is divided into the three arrondissements of Marseille, Aix and Arles (33 cantons, 115 communes). It belongs to the archiepiscopal province of Aix, to the region of the XV. army corps, and to the academie (educational division) of Aix. Its court of appeal is at Aix. Near Saint-Chamas there is a Roman bridge over the Touloubre, which probably dates from the 1st century B.C. and is thus the oldest in France. At Vernegues there are remains of a Roman temple known as the "Maison Basse." The famous abbey of Montmajour, with Romanesque church and cloister, is 21 m. from Arles. At Orgon there are the ruins of a chateau of the 15th century, and near La Roque d'Antheron the church and other buildings of the Cistercian abbey of Silvacane, founded in the 12th century.
See also MARSEILLE ; AIX ; ARLES ; LA CIOTAT ; MARTIGUES ; SALON ; LES SAINTES MARIES ; ST. REAAY ; LES BAUX ; TARASCON.