an arrondissement of the department of the Gard, in France, 635 square miles in extent. It comprehends eleven cantons, divided into seventy-five communes, and contains 122,450 inhabitants. The capital is the city of the same name, which is situated in an extensive and fruitful plain, bounded by two parallel hills. It has a labyrinth of narrow and ill-built streets; but the suburbs are much more regular, and contain the best edifices, together with some open places, and pleasing promenades. Nismes contains many remains of antiquity, especially a Roman amphitheatre capable of seating 20,000 spectators. It has a cathedral, ten Catholic and five reformed churches, with 4800 houses, and 42,800 inhabitants, of whom about one eighth are Protestants. It contains an academy, with a library of 30,000 volumes. Its industry consists in the manufacture of silks, hosiery, cottons, lace, ribbons, and especially brandy. Nismes was the birthplace of the celebrated Protestant preacher Saurin, and of the poet Florian.