a town of France, in the department of Charente-Inférieure, stands on the left bank of the Seugne, 14 miles S.S.E. of Saintes. It has the remains of an old castle, now used as a prison, with a square tower 108 feet high, an ecclesiastical school, and an orphan hospital. Dyeing, tanning, and the manufacture of woollen stuffs are carried on here; and there is some trade in wines and brandies. Pop. 4765.

St., a town of France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Hérault, on the Jaur, an affluent of the Orb, 60 miles W. of Montpellier. It is well built, chiefly of variegated marble, quarried in the vicinity. The church, of this material, is historically of some interest. St Pons has also an ecclesiastical school, a communal college, a tribunal of the first instance, manufactories of woollen cloth, dye-works, tanneries, saw and flour mills, &c. There is some trade in corn and cattle. Iron mines, as well as marble quarries, are worked in the vicinity. Pop. (1856) 6312.

PONT-À-MOUSSON, a town of France, in the department of Meurthe, on the Moselle, here crossed by a bridge, from which the town takes its name, 16 miles N. of Nancy. On a hill to the east stand the ruins of the old castle of Mousson. The ramparts with which the town was surrounded are now public walks planted with trees. The principal square, which is lined with arcades, contains an old house, called the "House of the Seven Deadly Sins," from the curious sculptures on its front. The chief public edifices are the Gothic church of the thirteenth century, the town-hall, cavalry barracks, and the seminary occupying the buildings of the ancient abbey of St Mary. Pont-à-Mousson has also an hospital, tanneries, breweries, potteries, sugar-houses, and some trade in corn, wine, brandy, &c. Pop. 7843.

PONT-AUDEMER, a town of France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Eure, on the left bank of the Rille, which here becomes navigable, 38 miles N.W. of Evreux. It is a prettily-situated, clean, and well-built town, surrounded with walls and ditches. Here tanning is the staple employment of the people; there are no fewer than forty tanyards, besides currieries and establishments for dressing leather. Even one of the churches, that of Notre Dame des Prés, has been converted into a tan-house. This building, and the churches of St Germain in the suburbs, and of St Ouen and St Sepulchre, are architecturally interesting. Pont-Audemer has also public baths and a small theatre. There is some trade in hides, leather, corn, cider, flax, and other articles. Pop. (1856) 5832.

PONTALIER, a frontier town of France, in the department of Doubs, stands on the river Doubs, at the foot of one of the chains of the Jura, and at the entrance of a mountain pass leading into Switzerland, 35 miles S.E. of Besançon. It has much of the appearance of a Swiss town, with its neatly-built houses arranged in broad straight streets. Its town-hall, college, market-house, and cavalry barracks, are its chief buildings. There are here large iron foundries and furnaces, a copper foundry, a brewery, saw-mills, and tan-yards; besides manufactories of scythes and other implements. Some trade is carried on in horses, cattle, marble, timber, clock-work, essence of wormwood, paper, &c. Pop. (1856) 4783.