a market-town and fashionable watering-place in Upper Austria, at the junction of the Traun and Ischl, 60 miles S. by W. from Linz, and 170 from Vienna. It is situated on a small plain surrounded by hills, and in the neighbourhood of extensive forests. Ischl is resorted to for its excellent climate and the efficacy of its waters. The mineral springs contain a solution of sulphate of soda and common salt, and have a purgative effect. Here the emperor of Austria and many of the nobility have summer residences. Permanent population about 2000.

ISÈRE, a department in the S.E. of France, on the Sardinian frontier, formerly comprised in the old provinces of Dauphine and Viennois, and lying between N. Lat. 44° 41' and 45° 52', and E. Long. 4° 44' and 6° 22'. It is bounded on the N. by the department of Ain, E. by Savoy, S. by the department of Hautes Alpes, and W. by those of Drôme, Loire, and Rhone. Area 3201 square miles; length from N. to S., 70 miles; breadth from E. to W., 60 miles. The surface of the country is generally irregular, and is especially so in the southern parts, where it is crossed by offshoots from the Alps. The highest elevations in the province are the Col de Syssyse, Col de Sept-Laux, Pic de Granier, and Pic de Belledonne, reaching a height of from 9000 to 11,000 feet. The valleys are celebrated for their extent and fertility. Those of Isère and Grésivaudan, both traversed by the same river, are together about 50 miles in length, and are justly reckoned the richest in France; while the numerous glens that branch off from them are rich in pasturage and forest trees, extending up the sides of the mountains to the very summit. In one of those glens or upland valleys, 4000 feet above the sea level, is the famous convent of the Carthusian order of monks, known by the name of "La Grande Chartreuse," for which see CHARTREUSE, LA. In the N.W. the surface of the country is less hilly, and in some places the low grounds are marshy. The principal rivers are the Rhône, the Drac, and the Isère. The first, forming the N. and W. boundaries, separates this department from those of Ain, Rhone, and Loire, and is navigable, except after long drought. Its tributary, the Isère, rises in Savoy, and traverses the department. It is navigable, but only for very light barges. The Drac joins the Isère a short distance below Grenoble, but is not navigable. All the rivers and streams of the department are subject to inundations, which in 1846 and 1856 devastated the country to a most alarming extent. The climate, from the irregularity of the surface, is various. Agriculture is almost wholly confined to the valleys, where the soil is very rich and water abundant. There are cultivated wheat, barley, rye, oats, maize, potatoes, and hemp, which in some places grows to the height of 15 feet; while on the hill sides, with a southern exposure, the vine, mulberry tree, walnut, and almond, are grown to a greater extent than in any other portion of France of the same size. The silkworm is reared easily and with profit, while in the pastures sheep and small cattle feed in considerable numbers. Of 2,048,638 acres contained in Isère there are 781,835 arable; 499,693 woods and forests; 425,011 waste (marsh, rocks, &c.); 164,584 under grass; 68,443 vineyards; 44,826 roads, buildings, &c.; 38,273 rivers, canals, &c.; 25,703 various, gardens, &c. This department, moreover, is celebrated for its mineral wealth, as well as for the richness of its soil and the grandeur of its scenery. Iron, lead, copper, and anthracitic coal are worked in various parts; and both gold and silver exist, but not in such quantities as to warrant mining undertakings. Marble, granite, porphyry, gypsum, and slate are quarried, and beautiful crystals are found in the mountains, while platinum occurs in the Drac valley. The manufactures of the department are unimportant; they consist chiefly of cloths, beetroot-sugar, brandy, and silk.

Isère is divided into four arrondissements as follows:

| Arrondissement | Canton | Communes | Pop. 1851 | |----------------|--------|----------|-----------| | Grenoble | | | | | Vienne | | | | | La-Tour-du-Pin | | | | | St Marcellin | | | |

Grenoble, the capital of the department, had in 1851 26,852 inhabitants.