MARNE (anciently Matrona), a river of France, rising in the hills of Langres, and following a course nearly parallel to that of the Seine, flows first N.W. and then W., until it falls into that river a short distance above Paris, after a course of about 280 miles. The greater part of its course lies in the departments of Haute-Marne and Marne; but it also traverses those of Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, and Seine-et-Loire. It receives on the right the Ornain at Vitry, after a course of 48 miles; and on the left the Blaise, the Petit-Morin, and the Grand-Morin. The principal towns on the Marne are,—Langres, Chaumont, Joinville, Saint Dizier, Vitry-le-Français, Châlons, Mareuil, Epernay, Château-Thierry, Ferté-sous-Jouarre, and Meaux; and the river is navigable as far as Saint Dizier, 210 miles from its junction with the Seine. The Marne is joined to the Rhine by means of a canal, which follows for a considerable distance the course of the Ornain. It crosses the Meuse at Voide, the Moselle at Toul, and enters the Rhine at Strasbourg, its whole length being about 89 miles. Communicating with this canal another has been constructed from Vitry to Dizy, along the bank of the Marne, for 38 miles, on account of the rapid and winding character of this part of the river. There is also a third canal of 35 miles in length, which opens a communication between the Marne and the Aisne.