PUY-DE-DOME, a department in France, lies between 45' 18' and 46* 16' N. let, 2° 27' and 3° 57' E. long.; and is bouuded N. by the department of Allier, E. by that of Loire, S. by those of Haute-Loire and Canted, and W. by those of Creuse and Correze. Its greatest length from north-west to south-east is 85 miles, and the average width is about 50 miles. The area is 3072.85 square miles; the population in 1841 was 591,458; in 1851 it amounted to 596,397; which gives to the square mile, being 19'664 above the average per square mile for the whole of France. The department is formed out of Lower Auvergne, part of Bourbounais, and a small portion of Forez; and is named from a lofty peak in the Domes Mountains.
The surface presents an extensive undulating basin inclining generally towards the north, drained by the Allier, and shut iu on the east and west by two chains of volcanic mountains resting on a grauitio base. This basin, which is distinguished by the name of La-Liinagne, consists of the valley of the Allier, into which a great number of other valleys open on either aide, each watered by a stream that descends from the neighbouring mountains, and separated from the adjacent one by gently-sloping hills. Tho Limagne has a soil which consiats of decomposed volcanic matter mixed with alluvial deposits; it is exceedingly fertile and well cultivated ; the hill sides are covered with vineyards and orchards ; the rows of walnut-trees that bound the fields, and the chestnut plantations, with their masses of foliage, add richness and variety to the landscape, which presents at every turn some new beauty. The chief products of this basin are wheat, hemp, wine, oil, and fruits; there is some fine pasture land, and a great breadth of rich meadow, especially near Riom, which is flooded every year and yields three crops of hay.
The mountains of Forez, which bound the Limagne on the east, are an offshoot of the Cevennes; they form the watershed between the Allier and tho Loire, and are covered with pine forests interspersed here and there with some huugry pastures, and a few cultivated patches that yield only oats and rye.
The western boundary of the Limagne is formed by that portion of tho Auvergne Mountains which runs northward out of the depart meat of Cautal, and forms part of the watershed between the Garonne and the Loire, including the two remarkable volcanic groups of the Monts-Demes and the Monts-Dares. The common base of these mountain groups is 1968 feet above the mean level of the Limagne. The Monts-Dorcs, or Monts-.11 Or (as the name is commonly but incor rectly written), aro in the south of tho department, and consist of a great number of high peaks, the loftiest among which, called .De-Sancy, has an elevation of 6196 foot above the level of the sea. The peak De-Saucy, although it has no crater, is covered on all sides with bare rocks, lava streams, and other volcanic products—a circumstance which favours the opinion that this elevated mass once had near it a still more elevated crater, whence the materials that form it were thrown out. Indeed but few of the peaks of the Monts-Dores have
craters, yet they are all of unquestionably volcanic origin. This mountain mass is visible from Montauban, in the department of Tarn, a distance of 127 miles; and the view from the accessible summits is said to be of a most extensive range, reaching even to the Alps. On the north-western flank of the Monts-Dores rise the two streams that give origin to the Dordogne, which river drains the south-western angle of the department : the slopes of the 3lonts-Dores are rich in pasture and medicinal plants. The Monts-Ddmes group lies more to the northward, a few miles west of the city of Clermont-Ferrand. It is famous for its picturesque beauty, and presents above 40 conical peaks with extinct craters, locally called 'Plays,' lava-streams that seem but just arrested in their course, basaltic columns in every variety of position, and frightful ravines, the sides of which give evidence of the agency that reared these stupendous masses. Far above all the other peaks rises the majestic cone of the Puy-de-Dame, which gives name to the department, and forms an object of grand and striking beauty, being covered with brilliant verdure in all its vast dimensions, from base to summit, except in a few places where some rude protuberances and hideous chasms display the volcanic origin of the mountain. Although its summit is 4805 feet above the sea-level it is easily accessible, and presents in clear weather a view perhaps unequalled for extent and variety. Standing on its lofty summit the spectator beholds countle's numbers of cattle and sheep feeding all round the grassy slopes of the Puy ; a little further a vast number of conical peaks yawning with craters, some of which contain water ; further south and west, the Auvergne ranges, extending into the departments of Corrbze and Centel, and inelosing between them the valley of the upper Dordogne; away to eastward and northward the whole basin of the Limagne with its towns, villages, and hills, its fields of every hue, its vineyards, isolated homesteads, rivers, and highways, all spread ont before him as in a map or picture. The Puy-de-Dome is connected with the history of the barometer, Pascal's teat of the Torrieellian theory having been satisfied by carrying the instrument to the top of this mountain. The basement and lower slopes of all these mountains abound in excellent pasture, and in medicinal and aromatic plants. Hot and cold mineral springs exist at several points, the most famous being the hot springs of Dore-les-Bains, near the source of the Dordogne. The mouttains above described present the finest ancient volcanic, mountain scenery in Europe.