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general between 300 and 65o ft., except in the western plains —the Pays-Bas and Champagne—where they range from 40 to 300 ft. A large part of Charente is thickly wooded the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal forests lying in its See also:

NORTHERN

northern districts. The department, as its name indicates, belongs mainly to the See also:

basin of the See also:

RIVER

river Charente (area of basin 386o sq. m.; length of river 225 m.), the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief affluents of which, within its See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders, are the Tardoire, the Touvre and the Ne. The Confolentais is watered by the Vienne, a tributary of the See also:

LOIRE

Loire, while the See also:

ARRONDISSEMENT (from arrondir, to make round)

arrondissement of Barbezieux in the south-See also:

west belongs almost wholly to the basin of the See also:

GIRONDE

Gironde. The See also:

CLIMATE

climate is temperate but moist, the rainfall being highest in the north-east. Agriculturally, Charente is prosperous.

More than See also:

HALF

half its See also:

SURFACE

surface is arable See also:

LAND

land, on the greater part of which cereals are grown. The See also:

potato is an important See also:

CROP (a word common. in various forms, such as Germ. Kropf, to many Teutonic languages for a swelling, excrescence, round head or top of anything; it appears also in Romanic languages derived from Teutonic, in Fr. as troupe, whence the English " crupper "

crop. The See also:

VINE

vine is predominant in the region of See also:

CHAMPAGNE

Champagne, the See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine produced being chiefly distilled into the famous See also:

BRANDY

brandy to which the See also:

TOWN

town of See also:

COGNAC

Cognac gives its name. The best pasture is found in the Confolentais, where horned See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle are largely reared. The chief fruits are chestnuts, walnuts and See also:

cider-apples. The poultry raised in the neighbourhood of Barbezieux is highly esteemed. Charente has numerous See also:

stone quarries, and there are See also:

PEAT (possibly connected with Med. Lat. petia, pecia, piece, ultimately of Celtic origin; cf. O. Celt. pet, O. Ir. pit, Welsh peth, portion)

peat workings and beds of See also:

clay which See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick and See also:

TILE (0. Eng. tigel, Fr. tuile, connected with Lat. tegula)

tile-See also:

WORKS

works and earthenware manufactories. Among the other See also:

INDUSTRIES

industries, See also:

paper-making, which has its chief centre at See also:

Angouleme, is foremost. The most important metallurgical See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment is the large foundry of See also:

NAVAL

naval guns at Ruelle. See also:

FLOUR

Flour-See also:

mills and See also:

leather-works are numerous. There are also many See also:

minor industries subsidiary to paper-making and brandy-distilling, and Angouleme manufactures See also:

GUNPOWDER

gunpowder and See also:

CONFECTIONERY (from Lat. confectio, conficere, compound)

confectionery. See also:

COAL

Coal, See also:

salt and See also:

TIMBER

timber are prominent imports.

Exports include paper, brandy, stone and agricultural products. The department is served chiefly by the See also:

Orleans and Ouest-Etat See also:

RAILWAYS

railways, and the Charente is navigable below Angouleme. Charente is divided into the five arrondissements of Angouleme, Cognac, Ruffec, Barbezieux and See also:

CONFOLENS

Confolens (29 cantons, 426 communes). It belongs to the region of the XII. See also:

army See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps, to the province of the See also:

ARCHBISHOP (Lat. archiepiscopus, from Gr. apxceatorcoros)

archbishop of See also:

BORDEAUX

Bordeaux, and to the See also:

ACADEMIC

academic (educational See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division) of See also:

POITIERS

Poitiers. Its See also:

court of See also:

APPEAL

appeal is at Bordeaux. Angouleme (the See also:

capital), Cognac, Confolens, See also:

JARNAC

Jarnac and La Rochefoucauld (q.v.) are the more noteworthy places in the department. Barbezieux and Ruffec, capitals of arrondissements and agricultural centres, are otherwise of little importance. The department abounds in churches of Romanesque See also:

ARCHITECTURE (Lat. architectura, from the Gr. ap)(LTEKrwv, a master-builder)

architecture, of which those of Bassac, St Amant-de-Boixe (portions of which are See also:

GOTHIC

Gothic in See also:

style), Plassac and Gensac-la-Pallue may be mentioned. There are remains of a Gothic See also:

abbey See also:

church at La Couronne, and See also:

ROMAN

Roman remains at St Cybardeaux, Brossac and Chassenon (where there are ruins of the Gallo-Roman town of Cassinomagus). CHARENTE-INFERIEURE, a -maritime department of south-western France, comprehending the old provinces of Saintonge and Aunis, and a small portion of Poitou, and including the islands of Re, See also:

OLERON

Oleron, See also:

Aix and Madame. Area, 2791 sq. m. Pop.

(1906) 453,793. It is bounded N. by See also:

Vendee, N.E. by Deux-Sevres, E. by Charente, S.E. by Dordogne, S.W. by Gironde and the See also:

ESTUARY (from the Lat. aestuarium, a place reached by aestus, the tide)

estuary of the Gironde, and W. by the See also:

Bay of See also:

Biscay. Plains and See also:

low hills occupy the interior; the See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast is See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat and marshy, as are the islands (Re, Aix, Oleron) which See also:

lie opposite to it. The department takes its name from the river Charente, which traverses it during the last 61 m. of its course and drains the central region. Its chief tributaries are on the right the Boutonne, on the See also:

LEFT

left the Seugne. The climate is temperate and, except along the coast, healthy. There are several sheltered bays on the coast, and several See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good harbours, the chief of which are La Rochelle, See also:

Rochefort and Tonnay-Charente, the two latter some distance up the Charente. See also:

ROYAN

Royan on the north See also:

SHORE

shore of the Gironde is an important watering-See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place much frequented for its bathing. The See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of the inhabitants of Charente-Inferieure live by See also:

agriculture. The chief products of the arable land are See also:

wheat, oats, See also:

MAIZE, or INDIAN CORN

maize, See also:

BARLEY (Hordeum sativum)

barley and the potato. See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

Horse and cattle-raising is carried on and dairying is prosperous. A considerable quantity of wine, most of which is distilled into brandy, is produced.

The department has a few peat-workings, and produces freestone, See also:

lime and See also:

CEMENT (from Lat. caementum, rough pieces of stone, a shortened form of caedimentum, from caedere, to cut)

cement; the salt-marshes of the coast are important See also:

SOURCES

sources of See also:

MINERAL

mineral See also:

WEALTH

wealth. See also:

Glass, pottery, bricks and earthen-See also:

WARE

ware are prominent See also:

INDUSTRIAL

industrial products. See also:

SHIP

Ship-See also:

BUILDING

building, brandy-distilling, See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron-See also:

FOUNDING (from Lat. fundere, to pour)

founding and See also:

machine construction are also carried on. Oysters and mussels are bred in the neighbourhood of La Rochelle and Marennes, and there are numerous fishing ports along the coast. The railways traversing the department belong to the Ouest-Etat See also:

SYSTEM

system, except one See also:

section of the See also:

Paris-Bordeaux See also:

LINE

line belonging to the Orleans See also:

COMPANY

Company. The facilities of the department for See also:

INTERNAL

internal communication are greatly increased by the number of navigable streams which See also:

WATER

water it. The Charente, the Sevre Niortaise, the .Boutonne, the Seudre and the Gironde furnish 142 M. of navigable waterway, to which must be added the 56 m. covered by the canals of the coast. There are 6 arrondissements (40 cantons, 481 communes), See also:

cog-nominal with the towns of La Rochelle, Rochefort, Marennes, See also:

SAINTES

Saintes, Jonzac and St See also:

JEAN

Jean d'Angely—La Rochelle being the chief town of the department. The department forms the See also:

DIOCESE (formed on Fr. diocese, in place of the Eng. form diocess—current until the 19th century—from Lat. dioecesis, med. Lat. variant diocesis, from Gr. Swucio•tc, " house-keeping," " administration," &miceas, " to keep house," " to govern ")

diocese of La Rochelle, and is attached to the 18th military region, and in educational matters to the academic of Poitiers. Its court of appeal is at Poitiers. La Rochelle, St Jean d'Angely, Rochefort and Saintes (q.v.) are the principal towns. Surgeres and Aulnay possess See also:

FINE

fine specimens of the numerous Romanesque churches.

Pons has a graceful See also:

CHATEAU (from Lat. castellum, fortress, through O. Fr. chastel, chasteau)

chateau of the 15th and 16th centuries, beside which there rises a fine keep of the 12th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century. CHARENTON-LE-See also:

PONT (or KYLPONT), ROBERT (1524–1606)

PONT, a town of northern France in the department of See also:

Seine, situated on the right See also:

BANK

bank of the See also:

MARNE

Marne, at its confluence with the Seine, 1 m. S.E. of the fortifications of Paris, of which it is a suburb. Pop. (1906) 18,034. It derives the distinctive part of its name from the stone See also:

BRIDGE

bridge of ten See also:

ARCHES, COURT OF

arches which crosses the Marne and unites the town with Alfortville, well known for its veterinary school founded in 1766. It has always been regarded as a point of See also:

GREAT

great importance for the See also:

defence of the capital, and has frequently been the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of sanguinary conflicts. The fort of Charenton on the left bank of the Marne is one of the older forts of the Paris defence. In the 16th and 17th centuries Charenton was the scene of the ecclesiastical See also:

COUNCILS

councils of the See also:

PROTESTANT

Protestant party, which had its principal church in the town. At St See also:

Maurice adjoining Charenton is the famous See also:

HOSPICE (Lat. hospitium, entertainment, hospitality, inn, hospes, host)

Hospice de Charenton, a lunatic See also:

asylum, the See also:

FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of which See also:

DATES

dates from 1641. Till the See also:

time of the Revolution it was used as a general See also:

HOSPITAL (Lat. haspitalis, the adjective of hospes, host or guest)

hospital, and even as a See also:

PRISON (derived through the Fr. from the Lat. prehensio, seizure)

prison, but from 1802 onwards it was specially appropriated to the treatment of lunacy. St Maurice has two other See also:

NATIONAL

national establishments, one for the victims of accidents in Paris (asile national Vacassy), the other for convalescent working-men (asile national de See also:

VINCENNES

Vincennes).

Charenton has a See also:

PORT

port on the- See also:

Canal de St Maurice, beside the Marne, and carries on See also:

BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat-building and the manufacture of tiles and See also:

PORCELAIN

porcelain.

End of Article: CHARENTE

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