a department of France, bounded on the N. by Belgium and the department of Ardennes, E. by those of Moselle and Meurthe, S. by those of Vosges and Haute-Marne, and W. by those of Marne and Ardennes; lies between 48° 25' and 49° 35' N. Lat., and between 4° 54' and 5° 50' E. Long.; having a length of 83 miles, a breadth of 40, and an area of 2436 square miles. The department is traversed by two ranges of mountains at no great distance from each other, which extend from the Faucilles in the S. to the hills of Ardennes in the N. The highest summit of these ranges does not exceed 1600 feet; and between the two lies the valley traversed by the Meuse, from which the department takes its name. The other parts of the department present a great variety of hills, valleys, and plains. Besides the Meuse, it is watered by the Aisne and its tributary the Aire; by the Ornain and the Saulx, which join the Marne; by the Madine and Orne, tributaries of the Moselle; and by the Chiers, which falls into the Meuse. The nature of the soil is as varied as that of the surface of the country; and in some parts, especially in the valleys, it is rich and fertile, but in the hills and plains it is in general thin and poor. Of the whole area, 875,000 acres consist of arable land; 325,000 of wood; 125,000 of meadow land; 35,000 of vineyards; &c. quantity of grain produced is more than enough for the supply of the inhabitants; potatoes, peas, beans, flax, &c., are also largely cultivated, and with great success. The fruits are excellent; gooseberries in particular are raised with much care; and the wines of Meuse, especially those of the valley of the Ornain, are highly prized. The pasture is very good; and the cattle are superior to those of the neighbouring country. The horses are weak and small; but the rearing of pigs is attended to with much care. It is computed that the department contains 60,000 horses, 96,000 cattle, 214,000 sheep, 98,000 pigs, &c. The principal minerals in the department are iron, good building stone, potters' clay, and slate. The inhabitants are employed to a great extent in iron mines, forges, lime-kilns, glassworks, potteries, cotton factories, paper-mills, &c.; and the trade consists of iron, timber, wines, cotton stuffs, salt provisions, &c. The railway from Paris to Strasbourg runs through this department for a distance of 42 miles.

Meuse is divided into four arrondissements, as follows:

| Canton | Communes | Pop. (1831) | |--------|----------|------------| | Bar-le-Duc | 8 | 128 | 86,358 | | Commercy | 7 | 180 | 87,964 | | Montmédy | 6 | 131 | 69,996 | | Verdun | 7 | 149 | 85,333 |

Total | 28 | 538 | 328,657 |

In 1866 the total population was 305,727. The capital is Bar-le-Duc.

Meuse (anciently Mosæ, Flemish Moes, Dutch Maas), a river of Europe, which takes its rise in the plateau of Langres, being formed by the union of two small streams above the village of Meuse, in the department of Haute-Marne. It flows northward in a narrow valley across the departments of Vosges, Meuse, and Ardennes, till it enters Belgium. At Namur it takes a N.E. direction; then separates Dutch from Belgian Limburg, and enters Holland; then turns to the N.W., and afterwards to the W. At a short distance below Gorcum it divides into two arms, the northern of which gets the name of Merwe, and again divides into the Maas and the Oude-Mans, or Old Meuse, inclosing between them the island of Ysselmonde, and falling among shoals and quicksands into the German Ocean. The other arm of the Meuse, flowing farther to the S., also separates into two smaller streams, one of which, called Haring-Vliet or Herring Stream, and afterwards Flakkee, separates the islands of Voorn and Over-Flakkee, and falls by a wide estuary into the ocean; and the other enters the sea farther S., between the islands of Over-Flakkee and Schouwen, communicating also by a smaller branch with the estuary of the Schelde. The whole length of the Meuse is about 550 miles; but a direct line from its source to its mouth would not exceed 230 miles in length. It is navigable as far as Verdun, a distance from the sea of 430 miles, of which nearly 300 are in Holland and Belgium. In the upper part of its course the river flows through a narrow valley, where the scenery is wild and picturesque, the precipitous cliffs sometimes leaving only a narrow defile, through which the river flows. In the lower part the appearance of the country is of a very different nature. Here there stretch large plains, which were originally under water, but have been recovered by the labours and persevering efforts of the Dutch. The delta formed by the Meuse is greater than that of any other river in Europe. The Meuse receives in France the Mouzon, the Vair, and the Chiers; in Belgium the Sambre, the Lesse, and the Ourthe; in Holland the Roer, the Niers, and the Rhine, by its three branches the Waal, the Leck, and the Yssel. The principal towns on the Meuse are—Nemichâteau, Verdun, Sedan, Charlemont, and Givet, in France; Namur and Liège in Belgium; and Maastricht, Venloo, Grave, Gorcum, Willemstad, and Rotterdam, in Holland.