The only canal is that of Girors, which extends along the valley of the Gist from Riteade-Gier to Givers. The total length of water counnuniestloo in the department by this cane], the Same, and tho Me u% amounts to about 60 miles. The department is traversed by 6 imperial roads ; by the railway from Paris to Marseille, which passes through Maxon and Lyon ; and by the railway from Lyon to St Etienne, whittle is extended down the valley of the Loire to Roanne. From Beaune a new line is anthorieed to be constructed to Lyon through Tanu-e.
Tbe climate is healthy, but the temperature varies with the elevation of the surface. The surface may be estimated in round numbers at 690,000 acres, of which about 853,000 acres are under the plough. The banks of the Saone are remarkably fertile, and much wheat is grown there. The grain harvest is abundant, but insufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants. Pulse, colza, madder, millet, men" flax, and hemp are also cultivated. The meadows comprehend 90,000 acres ; the heaths and open pastures about 30,000. Neither horses nor oxen are numerous ; the number of cows Is considerable, approaching 50,000. Sheep are numerous ; asses are both numerous and good ' • and on a number of goats are fed, from whose milk good cheese Is. made. The vineyards occupy above 75,000 acres, yielding about 17,000,000 gallons of wine. Some of the finest wines in ranee are produced here, especially the Cote-Rotie, Ronesekhe, Sainte-Foy, and Condrieu. The fruits both of northern and southern France are grown, except the orange and the olive; chestnuts abound, and are sent to Paris and sold under the name of Mat-runs de Lyon. The mountains are for the most part covered with wood; Mont-Pilst in particular is covered with fine firs; the woodlands occupy about 85,000 acres. Pike, eel, barbel, excellent trout and perch, and other fish are taken in the streams ; and the shad, the lamprey, and the sturgeon ascend the Rhone. The eel-pouts of the &One are readiest The industrial products of the department aro of great variety and importance No other spot in Europe is so famous for its silk fabrics as Lyon, which is the centre of the manufacture of the finest satins, taffetas, lnteetrines, velrets, lace, brocades, silk-bate, shawls, gauze, ribands, hosiery, etc. Other industrial products are—musline, hand kerchief., calicoes, cotton-twist, gold lace, straw-hats, eteam-machinery and mill-work, liqueurs, chemical products, dm. .to. There are also numerous dye-houses, paper-mills, type-foundries, glass-works, pot teries, breweries, bleach-works, printing-offioes, gypsum-mills, and hydraulic saw-mills. The general commerce in raw and manufactured wine, coal, iron, planks, timber, and provisions of all is very Important The department is divided into two arrondissements, which, with their sebertiaions and population, are as follows:— 1, Of the Ent arroudissoment, and of the whole department, the chief town is Lyon, which forme the subject of a separate article. (Leox.) Arlerwle, a small place of about 2000 inhabitants on tho Brerann• and Tardine, has silk-factories, zinc-works, and potteries. ift.-1;enie-Lare/, 5 miles S. from Lyon, is a handsome little town of about 2400 inhabitant., with a square planted with trees. The towns men manufacture paperhanginge, paper-stainers' colours, printers Ink, writing ink, buttons, carpets, banners, and paintings for churches. Considerable trade is carried on in wine and cattle. The environs of the town are laid out in gardens and country-houses of the merchants of Lyon. Gimes, standing at the junction of the Givers Canal with the Menne, 13 miles by railway from Lyon, is a busy well-built town, with about 8000 inhabitants, attested in a fertile and pleasant district. It has glass-factories and silk dyteworks, and a large trade in coal and coke. At a town on the right bank of the Rhone, in the
south of the department, with a population of about 3500, are menu.
factures of silk and leather ; and the inhabitants carry on trade in corn, and the muchaateerned white wines of the neighbourhood. A considerable number are boatmen on the Rhone, and many boats are built here Outline, a town of about 4000 inhabitants, is situated on the right bank of the Rhone, 4 miles S. from Lyon. In the parish church is a monument to Jacquard, the inventor of the loom that goes by his name.
In the second arrondissement the chief town, l'illefrandte, IS miles by railway N. from Lyon, is situated in 45° 59' 21' N. 4' 43' 10' E. long., 599 feet above the level of the sea, and has 7769 inhabitants in the oorortmne. It was founded near the end of the 11th century by Humbert, Sire de Beaujeu. The town consists of one very wide and handsome street, extending for above a mile along the road from Paris to Lyon, and of some smaller streets branching from it. The houses are well built. Tho inhabitants manufacture cotton and linen-yarn, cotton goods, and leather. There is a considerable weekly market for cattle (chiefly for the supply of Lyon), hemp, flax, cotton-yarn, and cottou- and hempen-cloth. Considerable trade is carried on in hides and wine. Villefranche has tribunals of first inetance and of commerce, a college and hospitals. Anse, a small town of about 2000 inhabitants, near the mouth of the Azergue in tho Seine, is agreeably situated in one of the richest plains in France, at the foot of a hill covered with vineyards. Belleville.sur-Sallne, north of Villefranahe, has a manufacture of muslin and other cottons, and 2500 inhabitants, who trade in wine. The Belleville station is 27 miles N. from Lyon. Tarare, a well-built, busy, manufacturing town of about 10,000 iobabitants, situated in a narrow valley at the foot of Mont Tarare, has a commercial chamber and a council of prud'hommes. It is the centre of a manufacture of muslin, embroidery, silks, cotton prints, merinoes, leather, and earthenware. The neighbouring mountain contains lead-ore, but the mince have been given up ; marble is quarried. The town has at times suffered considerably from the swelling of the little river Tardine, on which it stands. Eeaujeu, the ancient capital of Beaujolais, is a neat town, at the foot of a mountain crowned with the ruins of the old castle of the Sires de Beaujeu. There are cooper ages, paper-mills, and tan-yards. A considerable trade is carried on in grain, winos, and iron, and in tho cottons and linens manufactured in the district around. It has six yearly fairs. At Tlazy, a small place of 2000 inhabitants, 20 miles N.W. from Villefranehe, linens and cottons are manufactured; and at Colas, a largo village of 3000 inhabit ants, near Thizy, a mixed fabric of cotton and flax is woven. There are twelve fairs at Thizy, which is the mart for the surrounding country.
The department constitutes, with the adjacent department of Loire, the diocese of the archbishop of Lyon-et-Vienne: it is in the jurisdic tion of the High Court and within the limits of the University Academy of Lyon. It belongs to the 8th Military Division, the head quarters of which are at Lyon. It sends four members to the Legis lative Chamber of the French empire. The Calvinists have a con sistorial church at Lyon and two meeting-houses at Lyon and Tarare. For purposes of higher education there are a lyceum, or college, an academy of sciences, medical and theological school., a diocesan seminary, and a preparatory ecclesiastical college in Lyon, and a college and normal school in Villefmnche.
(Dictionnaire de la Prance ; Annuaire pour l'An 1853; Annuaire du Commerce; Oficial Papers.)