SARTHE; this last-named river rises near Sees, and runs for some way along the southern boundary. There is a great number of ponds in the department and several mineral springs, of which that at Bagnoks, 10 mile, from Doinfrout, is famous for the cure of skin-diseases and of rheumatism. The department is crossed by 8 imperial and 14 departmental roads, and by the railway now in course of construction from Le-Mans to Caen, which presses through Menem), Sees, and Argentan, and is joined at Sties by a branch line from Chartres.
The climate is in general temperate but damp. The spring brings cold east winds, white frosts, aid rain; the summer is dry and warm, but terminates with storms In September ; in autumn the rains begin to fall about the middle of October, then succeed white frosts till the end of November; In the depth of winter there are continual fogs with much rain and snow. The chief grain crops are wheat, mixed corn, rye, and oats, of which in ordinary years the produce suffices only for about two-thirds of the censnmption. No wine is produced ; cider is the chief beverage. The number of apple- and pear-trees, which are planted along the roads, round the fields, or in quincunxes, amounts to several millions. Tho pasture-land of the department is of considerable breadth, and In general of good quality; great numbers of lean cattle, purchased in the neighbouring departments, are fattened for the Paris and Rouen markets; good butter and middling cheese are made. The plain of Aleneen is famous for its saddle-horses of the purest Norman breed ; in the rest of the department a large number of cart-horses, also of the Norman breed, are reared. Poultry of all kinds, especially geese, are abundant.
The western side of the department is occupied by primitive rocks; the eastern side by chalk ; and the valleys of the Sarthe and Orne by formations that intervene between the chalk and the new rod-sand stone. Several iron-mines are worked; marble, granite, porphyry, building-stone, marl, kaolin, porcelain-clay, and quarts-crystals are found ; these last, after being carefully cut, get the name of Aleneon Diamonds. The number of smelting-furnaces and forges at the several
iron-works amounts to 49.
Besides pig- and bar-iron the industrial products include sheet-iron and copper, wire of different kinds, pins and needles, linen, canvass, lace, thread, hair-cloth, cotton and woollen-yarn, paper, beet root sugar, pottery, and leather. There are several large bleach-works in the department. Other articles of commerce are—corn, clover-seed, cider, flax, thread, linen, wax, honey, horses, fat-cattle, pigs, poultry, goose-feathers, oak staves, timber, and firewood.
The department is divided into four arrondissements, which, with their subdivisions and population, are as follows:— 1. Of the first arrondissement and of the whole department the capital is ALescox. Carrouges, 16 miles N.W. from Aleneon, has smelting furnaces and forges for manufacturing the iron-ore raised from the mines in the neighbourhood ' • a fine feudal castle, of the 14th century, still inhabited ; and 2145 inhabitants. Seca, 13.miles N. by E. from Aleneon, is a well built episcopal town on the Orne, with one of the finest cathedrals in Lower Normandie, a handsome episcopal palace, a college, two ecclesiastical seminaries, and 4474 inhabitants.
2. In the second arrondissement, the chief town Argentan, situated on a hill above the Orne, 22 miles N. from Aleneon, is a clean well built town, surrounded by old ramparts which form a pleasant walk, and afford a fine view of the valley of the Orne. It has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a college, end 6425 inhabitants in the commune; also linen factories, bleach-works, and tan-yards, besides some trade in corn, hides, cattle, poultry, and cheese. The old castle, now converted into a prison, the churches of St.-Germain and St. Martin, are the most remarkable buildings. Vintoutier, 17 miles N.E. from Argentan, is the centre of an important linen manufacture, and. has large bleach-works, tan-yards, a tribunal of commerce, and 4110 inhabitants.