VERCELLI, an administrative division of the Sardinian continental dominions, consists of three provinces, which, with their area and population, are as follows : The Province of Vercdli in bounded N. by the provinces of Val di Seaia and Biella, E. by the province, of Mortara and Novara, S. by the l'o, which divides it from the province of Casale, and W. by the provinces of Ierea and Turin. It is mostly a plain eloping towards the south, and through which runs from north to south the river Sesia, an affluent of the Po. The rivers Cervo and Elvo, which rise In the mountains of Meth, flow through the province of Vercelli in a south-east direction and join the Serie above the town of Vercelli. A canal for the purpose of irrigation, called Canals, d'Irrea, and also Canal. di Saethila from the town of that name, receive' part of the water of the Dora Bates below Ivrea, and after irrigating the plain of Vercelli empties itself Into the Snell. near Vercelli. This canal is one of the largest in Piedmont. The lower part of the province of Vercelli consists of rice-fields, which are laid under water during the summer until September, when the water is let out, and the rice is reaped. This system of cultivation renders tho country unhealthy. The province of Vercelli produces also corn, wine, and silk in abundance.
Vercelli, the head town, situated on the left bank of the Sega, about midway between Milan and Turin, near the site of the ancient Veroellse, a town of Cisalpine Gaul, is a large and well-built but somewhat decayed town, in an atmosphere rendered unhealthy by tho rice-grounds; It is a bishop's see, has many churches, convents, and palaces, a gymnasium, a clerical seminary, a large hospital with a botanical garden and a museum of anatomy attached to it, and about 15,000 inhabitanta.
Borgo Vercelli is a suburb on the opposite or left bank of the Serie, with about 2000 inhabitants. It was In tho plains of Vereellre that the Cimbri were defeated by C. Marius, zee. 101.
The other towns of the province a town of 3300 inhabitants, on the road from Vercelli to Ivrea. Trino, a town of about 7M0 inhabitants, in a low manly plain near the Po. Trino is a great market for cattle and pigs. The hams of Trino are in repute In northern Italy. Crrecentine, west of Trino, on the high road to Turin, bas about 4000 inhabitants, and some remains of Roman buildings in its neighbourhood. Livorno, not far from Crescentino, has 3000 inhabitants, who deal in silk, the produce of the country, Gattinara, on the banks of the Seaia, north of Vercelli, has 3700 inhabitants: its territory produces good wine.
The Province of Biella is drained by the upper courses of the Cervo and Elvo. Its northern districts are covered by offshoots of the Pennine Alps, but a great part of the surface is level and pro ductive. The chief products are wheat, rice, silk, hemp, and good wine. Cattle are very numerous. Among the minerals are iron and copper. The eyetem of irrigation is extensively adopted. Biella the chief town, on the slope and at the foot of a hill on the right bank of the Cervo, has a college, manufactures of silks and woollens, and a population of 8000. The trade of the town in raw-silk, oil, chestnuts, and wine is considerable. Biella gives title to a bishop.
The Province of Casale is noticed eepanstely. [CesaLe.]