WIENER. (Deem) 1tliETlgaS. (lusurr-Vtaa le al Rl11N, BAS (Lower Rhine), a department of France on the eastern frontier, moped from the river Rhine, on the left bank of which it lies, Is bounded N. by the department of Moselle and Rhenish-1antria; K by Baden, from which it is separated by the Rhine; S. by the department of Ilaut.lthin • and W. by the departments of Vosges and lIcarthe. The Rresteet length le from southeouth-cest to north-north wean 6S miles ; the greatest breadth is in the northern part, 60 miles; bat tta ordinary breadth does not exceed 30 miles. The area is square miles. The population in 1841 was 560,113; in 1851 it amounted to 5S7,434, giving to the square mile, being 159'774 above the average per square mile for the whole of France.
toner; Geological Vinraacr; LlydrograpAg.—The western side of the department is occupied by the rugged wooded highlands, which form the eastern face of the Vosges Mountains. The projection at the north.weaLera side of the department cmeses the ridge in one part so ea to include both the ridge Itself and the western face down to the Talley of the Sarre. The mountain sides are diversified with pre cipitous rocks, and picturesque valleys watered by small streams, which Row ultimately Into the Rhine, except a few which join the Sarre. The mountains are composed of sandstones, limestones, and marls. Upon the limestone rest variegated marls, which aro occasionally interitratified with gypsum. By convulsions subsequent to the depo sition of the sandstone, a portion of that formation has been thrown up Into bold craggy mountains, while the later formations rest upon the lower portions, several hundred feet below, at the foot of the escarpment. From the eastern foot of the Vosges a rich tract, forming part of the valley of the Rhine, extends to the bank of that river. This part is occupied by the tertiary formations. The immediate tanks of the river are in many places marshy.
A small quantity of coal is procured. Iron-ore is abundant; about 30 mines are worked ; and there are 27 forges and furnaces for the manufacture of the metaL Other mineral products are lead, asphalte, antimony, manganese, gypsum, slates, potters-clay, building-stone, &c.
The department belongs entirely to the basin of the Rhine. The greater part is included in the valley watered by that river, and the remaining part, which extends across the Vosges, Is drained by the Sane, which fall, into the Moselle, and so ultimately into tho Rhine. The Rhine skirts the eastern boundary of the department; it is as bread Al the Thames at London, and studded with a great number of small wooded islands. The Rhine yields abundance of trout, perch, salmon, carp, itnrgeons, and eels. Some particles of gold are brought down by the current.
The principal feeder of the Rhine is the Ill, which rises in the department of Haut-Rhin and flows northward, nearly parallel to the Rhine and a few miles west of it, so that it receives the mountain streams that flow down the eastern slopes of the Vosges, and thus becomes • considerable river. Nearly forty miles of its course are in this department, and through the whole of that distance it is navigable. It receives the Llepvrelle, the Scheer, the Andlau, the F.ger, the Benehe, into which flows the Moedg, all from the Vosges ; Saelestarit, Benfeld, Erstein, and Strasbourg ; and joins the Urea a few miles below the last-named place. It is used for the conveyance of the timber of the Vosges and the other productions of the country. One or two anus of this river branch off from it above Strasbourg, and communicate with the Rhine.
The Zorn, which receive. the Zintzel ; the Moder, which receives another ; the Surbach, which receives the Eberbach ; the Seltebacla ; and the Lauter, all flow from the eastern face of the Voegee into the Rhine. The Surbach and the Lauter rise In the Bavarian territory, and the butter has its course on the frontier of Franco and Dever* which It separates from each other. The Moder and the (enter, the longest of them streams, have each a course of about 45 miles ; the )foder alone is navigable, and that for only 2 miles. The others are wed for floating timber down from the mountains. The mune of the Sane within the department may be estimated at about 20 miles, for nearly 10 miles of %blob It is navigable.