SEINE-ET-MARNE, a department of northern France, was formed in 1790 of almost the entire district of Brie (half of which belonged to Champagne und half to ile-de-France) and a portion of Catinais (from Ile-de-France and Orleanais). Lying between 48° 7' and 49° 6' N. lat. and 2° 23' and 3' 13' E. long., it is bounded N. by the departments of Oise and Aisne, E. by Marne and Aube, S. by Yonne and Loiret, and IV. by Seine-et-Oise. The whole department belongs to the basin of the Seine, and is drained partly by that river and partly by its tributaries the Yonne and the Loing from the left, and from the right the Voulzie, the Yeres, and the Marne, with its affluents the Ourcq, the Petit Morin, and the Grand Morin. With the exception of the Loing, flowing from south to north, all these streams cross the department from east to west, following the general slope of the surface, which is broken up into several plateaus from 300 to 500 feet in height (highest point, in the north-east, 705 feet, lowest 105), and separated from each other by deep valleys. Most of the plateaus belong to the Brie, a fertile and well-wooded district of a clayey character. In the south-west lies the dry sandy district of the Fontainebleau sandstones. The climate is rather more " continental" than that of Paris, -the summers warmer, the winters colder ; the annual rainfall does not exceed 16 inches. There is a striking difference between the south of the department, where the famous white grape (chasselas) of Fontainebleau ripens, and the country to the north of the Marne,-this river 'narking pretty exactly the northern limit of the vine.

With a total arca of 1,417,534 acres, Seine-et-Marne had in 1879 261,074 under wheat, 274,808 under oats, 53,362 under beetroot, 51,130 under vines. Besides these, meslin, rye, barley, pulse, potatoes are the principal crops grown. In 1884 the yield was 6,567,547 bushels of wheat, 231,959 of meslin, 665,505 of rye, 471,251 of barley, 9,104,254 of oats, 3,035,167 of potatoes, 924,210 tons of beetroot, and 401,427 tons of green fodder (lucerne, clover, sainfoin, &c.). The live stock in 1879 included 40,400 horses, 5190 asses, 522,700 sheep (173,290 superior breed), 101,100 cattle, 16,840 pigs, 3714 goats, and 11,440 beehives (75 tons of honey, 15 of wax). Cereals occupy two-fifths of the department and yield an annual value of £2,400,000, while all other products of the soil do not reach £1,600,000. The wheat and oats of Brie are especially esteemed, as are also the white grapes of Fontainebleau and the roses of Provins (see vol. xix. p. 886). Thousands of the well-known Brie cheeses aro manufactured, and large numbers of calves and poultry are reared. The forests (covering a fifth of the surface) are planted with oak, beech, chestnut, hornbeam, birch, wild cherry, linden, willow, poplar, and conifers. Best known and most im-portant is the forest of Fontainebleau, the annual product of which is worth £14,000. Excellent freestone is quarried in the depart-ment, especially in the valley of the Loing, mill-stones at La Forte-sous-Jouarre ; the Fontainebleau sandstone, used extensively for pavements, gives employment to 300 establishments, and the white sand which is found along with it is in great request for the manu-facture of glass. Along the Marne are numerous plaster-quarries ; lirne-kilns occur throughout the department ; and peat is found in the valleys of the Ourcq and the Voulzie. Beds of common clay and porcelain clay supply the potteries of Fontainebleau, and especially those of Montereau, where upwards of 700 hands are employed. Other industrial establishments are the numerous large flour-mills, the sugar-factories, beetroot distilleries, paper-mills (the Marais paper-mill manufactures bank-notes, &c., both for France and foreign markets), saw-mills, foundries, printing works, tanneries, tawing works, glove factories, chemical works, &c. Most of the motive-power used in these establishments is supplied by the streams. The Seine, the Yonne, the Marne, and the Grand Morin are navigable, and, with the canals of the Loing and the Ourcq and those of Chalifert, Cornillon, and Chelles, which cut off the windings of the Marne, form a total waterway of 219 miles. There are 242 miles of railway. With its 348,991 inhabitants in 1881, Seinc-et-Marne is in density of population slightly below the aver-age of France. It has 5 arrondissements, 29 cantons, 530 com-munes, forms the diocese of Meaux, belongs to the jurisdiction of the Paris court of appeal, and to the district of the Orleans corps d'arrac. Among the places of note in the department, Montereau (7107 inhabitants in 1881), distinguished as Montereau-faut-Yonne because of its situation at the confluence of the Yonne with the Seine, deserves to be mentioned not only for its porcelain manu-facture but also as a great railway station on the route from Paris