wards came successively into the hands of the Burgundians | and the Franks. In the time of Charles Martel (about A.D. 730), when the Saracens invaded France, they took and burnt Autun, which has never recovered its former eminence *. The antient town stood on the left or south-east bank of the river Arroux, and at the foot of three hills which now bear the names of Mont-Dru or Drud (supposed to have been derived from its being a place where druidical assemblies were held), Mont-Jeu or Jou (from a temple of Jupiter upon it), and Mont-Cenis. From the last-named of these eminences, which has, like the Mont Cenis of the Alps, a lake on its summit, the town is well supplied with water in every part. A short distance south-east of the town is a singular monument, called Pierre de Couhard, or Couur. It is a pyramid surmounted by a spherical mass, and is about 42 or 43 feet broad at the base on each side, and about 50 feet high, including the base on which it stands. It has the four corners nearly towards the four cardinal points, and consists of a solid mass of unhewn stones, joined by a very hard whitish cement. Its origin and use are involved in doubt. Some suppose it is a monument of some illustrious Æduan. It is in the midst of what is called le Champ des Urnes (the field of urns), from the funeral urns which have been discovered at different times. There are the ruins of a theatre, and traces of the seats and arena of an amphitheatre, covered with turf, having around and under the seats small dens, the purpose of which is not clearly known. They do not seem to have been for the wild beasts employed in the sports of the Amphitheatre. Not far from the Theatre and Amphitheatre, but without the circuit of the antient walls, is the site of the naumachia, a large basin or hollow used for exhibiting the representation of a naval engagement, with the remains of an aqueduct for conveying the water to it. There are, also, the ruins of some temples. One of these, that of Janus, on the other side of the Arroux, appears to have been very magnificent. A marble pavement was discovered within it in 1750, and many gold and silver medals have been dug up in the neighbourhood. Some remains of a rotunda, supposed to be the temple of Pluto, were observed within the last sixty or seventy years, but have now disappeared. They were also beyond the Arroux. Between these two antient monuments the river Tarenai (in Latin Taranis) flows. A Roman bridge over this little stream still exists. It first crosses the stream at right angles, having ten semicircular arches of seventeen feet diameter, and piers of about eight feet and a half; and then turns to the right in a direction contrary to that of the stream, having eight smaller semi-circular arches of between eleven and twelve feet diameter, with piers of rather more than five feet, to allow a passage to the waters when they overflow the banks. This river runs through the antient Campus Martius of the Æduans, where they held their assemblies. The name of Chaumar or Chamar is still given to the spot. The remains of antiquity are numerous. The circuit of the antient walls may still be traced. They are of considerable extent (between three and a quarter and three and a half English miles, or possibly more), built with great solidity, of stones so well fitted and so nicely joined as to give to the whole the appearance of solid rock. These walls were flanked with a great number of towers, at unequal distances from each other, and are supposed by some to be of earlier date than the Roman Conquest. The space inclosed by the walls was in form approaching to oval, with its longer diameter in the direction from N. to S., and about one mile and a quarter in length. The shorter diameter was about two-thirds of the longer one. The number of gates is a disputed point. Some contend for only four, the Porta Senonica (gate of Sens), otherwise the Porta Janualis (gate of Janus), to the N.W.; the Porta Lingonensis (gate of Langres), on the N.E.; the Porta Cabilonensis (gate of Châlons), otherwise Porta Romana (Roman gate), on the S. or S.E.; and the Porta Druidum (gate of the Druids), on the S.W. There were, it is likely, some smaller gates or posterns. Of these gates, the first two remain, viz., the Porta Senonica, now called Porte d'Arroux, from the river Arroux, close to which it stands; and the Porta Lingonensis, now Porte Saint André, close to, and indeed partly incorporated with, the church of St. André, or St. Andrew. The Porte D'Arroux, or gate of the Arroux, through which the traveller from Paris enters Autun, is a kind of triumphal arch built of stone, without any mortar or cement, about 53 feet high and 64 feet broad, having Of several antient edifices described by the rhetorician two greater archways for carriages, and two smaller ones Eumenius (who lived in the third century at Autun), there for foot passengers. Above these is an entablature, and are no traces now left: such as the temple of Hercules, the then a kind of open gallery with seven arches yet remain- palace of the Emperors, and the Menian schools (Schola ing of ten which formerly existed. The pilasters which Meniana or Meniana), a celebrated college of antient Gaul.* separate these arches are fluted, and are of the Corinthian A round building, not far from the supposed site of these order. This gallery was never finished on the inner or schools, is regarded as the remains of antient baths. A town side of the gate. The architectural ornaments are square tower, called Tour de Minerve (Minerva's Tower), elegantly sculptured. The Porte St. André, or gate of St. near the gate of the Druids (resembling in some respects Andrew, is almost as well preserved, and nearly similar to that already noticed as having belonged to the Temple the other, except that the pilasters are of a different order. of Cybele), is thought to have belonged to a temple of It had two projections or wings on the outer side, or side of Minerva. Ruins, supposed to be those of a temple of Apollo, the country, one of which now forms a chapel of the church stand near the spot, where was the Porte des Marbres, Gate of St. Andrew; the other has been destroyed. Two main of the Marbles (one of the gates of modern Autun, pulled streets ran through the town, one from the gate of Janus to down in 1777). There were several temples within the the Roman gate, and the other from the gate of Langres to antient capitol or citadel. The sites or ruins mentioned in that of the Druids. On the first of these ways, just within the this last paragraph are within the circuit of the modern gate of Janus, was a fine pavement, formed with irregularly-city; but the more important remains, previously noticed, shaped but well-fitted blocks of granite, laid on a bed of are without it. smaller stones (cailloutage). It was destroyed in 1776, because it stopped the passage of the horses which went that way. Some traces of a similar pavement have been observed in other parts of the town. These ways, which led to the main arches of the gates, had footways leading to the smaller side arches. At the intersection of the two main streets was the Martiale Forum, which retains some trace of its antient designation in the name Marchau. In the neighbourhood of this (where the Abbey of St. Jean le Grand, or St. John the Great, was afterwards built), the temple of Cybele is supposed to have stood, and some have thought that the tower, which was common to the abbey and to the parish church of St. John, was part of the temple. It is believed that in the foundation of this abbey there is hidden a stone, a remnant of the square pillars of the Menian schools. On these pillars was engraved an itinerary of the Roman roads leading into Italy, an accompaniment to the chart of the world which adorned the walls of those schools. • In Malte Brun's Annales des Voyages, vol. xii., the destruction of the dty by the Saracens is placed in A.D. 820, and it is added that the Normans pitaged it, and burned the greater part of it in 894. Many remains of antiquity, paintings, statues, medals, &c., have been dug up; but the Autonois are generally re proached with carelessness in collecting and preserving them. The modern town, as appears from the accompanying plan, is far smaller than the antient one, and occupies the southern part only of its site. It is on the slope of a hill, and from the river a good prospect of it can be obtained, as the houses rise in the form of an amphitheatre. It is divided into three parts, the most elevated of which is termed Le Château, the Castle, and is considered to occupy the site of the antient capitol. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Lazare, or Lazarus, was considerably improved in the course of the last century. The choir and chancel are much admired, and the spire was accounted the finest in Burgundy. The side entrance is of modern construction, but in it are preserved four co lumns, each differently but singularly carved. One represents fir cones, those in one part of the shaft having their • That Augustodunum was a place of study for the youth for the Gallie provinces, even as early as the reign of Tiberius, A.D. 21, is mentioned by Tacitus, Annales, lib. iii. c. 43. points directed upwards, those in the other part downwards. A second column is adorned with ribands and studs, and a third by branches of the vine, twining round it in spiral form, with dependent clusters of grapes. These columns support two arches adorned with medallions, in which the signs of the zodiac are represented alternately with the labours of the year. Nearly all the pilasters in the church have capitals rudely but singularly adorned. The library of the chapter contains some curious and interesting MSS. This church of St. Lazare does not appear to have been originally the cathedral, but the bishop and his clergy removed to it upon the destruction of the cathedral of St. Nazaire, or Nazarius, until that should be rebuilt. That edifice was, however, never restored, owing to the magnificence and extent of the plan on which the restoration was commenced. The choir alone was finished, and in this the bishop entered upon the possession of his see; so that it was considered to be properly the cathedral. Both these are in the quarter called Le Château. In front of the cathedral of St. Lazare is a place or square adorned with a handsome fountain. The second quarter, called La Ville, (the city,) contains the principal open space (place), that of St. Lazare, called by corruption Le Champ de St. Ladre. It is surrounded by good houses, and being planted with trees furnishes the citizens with a promenade close at hand. The third quarter, the Marchau, already noticed as the Martiale Forum of the antient city, has low ill-built houses and narrow streets. There are two bridges over the Arroux; one, the Pont d Arroux (Bridge of the Arroux, just by the gate of Arroux described above), is built partly on the foundations of an antient one, which was a little more to the northward. The other bridge, that of St. Andoche, is lower down the stream. Before the Revolution, Autun possessed twelve religious houses, and, with its suburbs, was divided into eight parishes. The collegiate church of Notre Dame, which was founded, or at least rendered collegiate, by the chancellor Rollin and his wife, in 1444, possesses a painting on wood by Peter of Bruges, which is much admired by connoisseurs. The abbeys of St. Martin and St. Jean le Grand, or John the Great, were of considerable magnificence; and that of St. Andoche was remarkable for the remains of a temple of Diana, which served as the kitchen of the establishment. Two hospitals and two institutions for the instruction of ecclesiastics (séminaires) are still among the establishments of Autun, which appears to have owed its importance very much to its episcopal dignity, and to the various religious foundations which it contained. The bishops of Autun held high rank in the church. They were presidents of the order of the clergy in the states of Burgundy, and administrators in spiritual and temporal matters of the archbishopric of Lyon when that see was vacant. They had jurisdiction over part of the city of Autun. At present the diocese comprehends the department of Saône et Loire, and the bishop is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Lyon and Vienne. Talleyrand was bishop of this see when the Revolution broke out. The trade of the town consists in horses, cattle, wood, and hemp. Serge, cotton-velvet, cloth for regimentals, hosiery, and leather, are among its manufactures. To the east of the town are several mills. A fabric called tapisserie de marchau, fitted for coverlets of beds, horse-cloths, and other purposes, is made in this town. Of this manufacture Autun was, and perhaps still is, the only seat. The population of the commune of Autun on the 1st of January, 1832, was about 10,000, of whom between 8000 and 9000 were in the town. There are here three libraries; a collection of pictures, statues, and medals; an agricultural society; baths, and a theatre; a tribunal de commerce, or committee for deciding mercantile disputes, and a tribunal de première instance, or subordinate court of justice, with powers inferior to those of the cours royales, or assize courts. Among the natives of Autun may be mentioned the pre sident Jeannin, one of the confidential ministers of Henry (Malte Brun, Annales des Voyages; Millin, Voyage dans les Départemens du Midi de la France; Dictionnaire Universel de la France; Reichard's Itinerary; D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule.) AUVERGNE (Geology of). A considerable portion of Central France is formed of gneiss, mica-slate, and other of the inferior stratified rocks, associated with granite. Whether any part of the granite has or has not been protruded through the gneiss and mica-slate, since their consolidation, is not apparent; but as it seems occasionally to pass into gneiss, which in its turn graduates into mica slate, we may infer that a part at least of the mass of granite was contemporaneous with the inferior stratified rocks of the district. Be this as it may, the beds of gneiss, mica-slate, and others of the same class, are sometimes highly inclined and contorted, as may be observed near Menat, showing that they have been acted on by some powerful force; but as these beds may have been exposed to the action of many powerful forces, during the series of ages which have elapsed since their production, we cannot, without better evidence than we possess, readily fix on the geological epoch when the gneiss and mica-slates were first thrown out of their original positions. As a whole, these rocks constitute a kind of elevated plain, having a mean height, according to Ramond, of about 3200 English feet, and rising, at Pierresur-Haute, to an elevation of 5410 feet above the level of the sea. Above these rocks, which are sometimes termed primitive, or primary, because they are the most antient with which we are acquainted, we find others that must have been formed at periods separated from each other by considerable intervals of time, since many rocks, necessary to complete the series of European deposits, are wanting between them. Finally, numerous volcanos, now extinct, poured forth an abundance of igneous products, which, though comparatively recent, have covered the remains of animals that have disappeared from the surface of our planet. The rocks which in the order of relative antiquity succeed the inferior stratified and granitic rocks above noticed, are referred, from the vegetable remains detected in them, to the same age as the coal measures of Great Britain. Their general mineralogical characters are also similar, beds of coal being associated with shales, sandstones, and conglomerates; the whole appears to be the result of drifted vegetable matter, and of detritus from pre-existing rocks accumulated in unequal quantities and at unequal intervals of time in particular situations. The extent to which these arboniferous rocks once covered the granitic area of Central France cannot be conjectured, owing to the various geological changes to which the surface of the country has been exposed; but we may infer, from the general characters of the scattered portions now observed, that the coal measures were once more extensively distributed over Central France than we now find them. The manner in which these carboniferous rocks occur would lead us to suppose that they had been deposited upon an uneven surface of pre-existing rocks, and that the time necessary for the accumulation of the vegetable matter must have been considerable; since the coal-beds, though they vary considerably in this respect, sometimes attain twenty or thirty vards in thickness. As the fossil plants discovered in these deposits do not afford any evidence of distant or violent transport, we may consider that dry land existed in the area now occupied by Central France at the epoch of the carboniferous group. A long interval of time appears to have elapsed, judging at least from the rocks now found in Auvergne, before any other deposits were formed in this part of the European area. During the various changes to which it has been exposed, rocks may indeed have been produced and have been subsequently removed; but as no traces of such products are now visible, the evidence is in favour of conditions unsuited to the formation of rocks in this district during a considerable geological period, extending from the epoch of the carboniferous group to that of the cretaceous group inclusive. If Central France has been elevated above the general level of the ocean from the time of the coal measures to the present day, as we might infer from the total absence of rocks with marine remains, conditions would necessarily be unfavourable to the production of any abundant equivalents of those thick and numerous deposits of transported matter which occur in various parts of Europe, and which are inferred, from their organic contents, to have been formed in a sea. We should, however, expect to discover traces of deposits effected in lakes, by the sides of rivers, and in other situations where transported detritus and calcareous matter precipitated from water could find places of rest. Conditions appear, however, to have been unfavourable for any accumulation of such deposits in sufficient abundance to leave traces of their existence, until the supracretaceous epoch, when large lakes were filled with detritus and calcareous matter. The supracretaceous lacustrine deposits of Auvergne may, according to M. Croizet (Bulletin de la Soc. Géol. de France, 1833), be divided into three portions:-1. An inferior accumulation of sandstones and red and variegated marls; the former being the lowest. In these are discovered the remains of a quadruped, of a few small reptiles, and the impressions of dicotyledonous plants. 2. A central accumulation of marls, limestones, and gypsum, in which are found the exuviæ of the palæotherium, anoplotherium, anthracotherium, a small pachydermatous creature, the crocodile, tortoise, some small reptiles, and of birds analogous to the genus Anas. To which may be added the eggs of birds, sometimes well preserved. 3. A superior deposit of limestone and marl, containing an abundance of the Indusia tubulata, Cypris faba, Gyrogonites, Potamides, Helix, &c. The remains of numerous vertebrated animals are discovered in it; among which there are three species of rhinoceros, two ruminants analogous to the genus Moschus, animals of the genera Canis, Felis, &c. The only portion of this mass of deposited matter of which the relative age has been doubted, consists of certain sandstones, constituting the base of the whole, and termed arkose, a name also given to a rock discovered in a situation intermediate between the lias and the granitic district of Central France, and therefore of much greater antiquity than the lacustrine deposit under consideration. The mere mineralogical resemblance of the two rocks is of little importance, since they are both formed of detrital matter derived from the granitic district itself, and which has afforded similar silt, sand, and gravel, at various geological epochs; so that rocks formed at different periods may be separated from the granitic mass beneath by similar sandstones. The lakes, for there would appear to have been several, in which this mass of limestone and marl was deposited, must have been deep, since the thickness of the lacustrine formations of Auvergne has been estimated at 800 or 1000 feet in some places. The beds of which it is composed vary from two or three inches to six feet in depth, some of the laminae being exceedingly thin; and the whole, taken generally, presenting the appearance of slow and tranquil deposition. As the remains of the mammiferous animals, detected in the upper portion, do not correspond with those discovered in the lower part of these beds, we may infer that a considerable change in the terrestrial animal life of the district was effected even during the time that the various deposits were made in the same lakes. Subsequently to the production of the greater proportion of the lacustrine rocks noticed above, the surface of the country was broken up, and volcanic products ejected in great abundance. In the Cantal, which for the sake of greater clearness we shall consider as part of Auvergne. though geologists have been in the habit of separating them, there is no evidence yet adduced to show that any portion of the lacustrine rocks was produced after the volcanic eruptions commenced; it is otherwise, however, with the northern part of the district, for the lacustrine deposits of Limagne had not terminated before the volcanos burst forth in that direction, as may be seen at the hill of Gergovia, and two or three other places in the vicinity of Clermont. The volcanic products are extremely various; some appearing like the older rocks melted by heat beneath and thrown up, while others seem to have been derived from matter deeper seated. The two groups of the Cantal and the Monts-Dore are remarkable for a certain general resemblance to each other, consisting principally of trachytes and basalt; the former having been, as a whole, first thrown up, dislocating the lacustrine rocks where they opposed their ejection, as may be seen in the Cantal between Aurillac and Murat, particularly from the village of St. Roque to Polminhac. Large fragments of lacustrine limestone (from 40 to 50 feet in diameter) are included among the trachytic conglomerate near Giou. The trachytic rocks of the Cantal have not been produced at a single eruption, but appear to have been formed at distinct intervals of time, judging at least from the repetition of the beds. Dykes of trachytes cut through the principal masses, as may be observed near Ferval, and near the source of the Cer; and it is inferred, that the trachytic eruptions of the Cantal ceased before the basaltic matter was poured forth, since the trachytic dykes do not traverse the basalt. The latter and its conglomerates cover the trachyte in a nearly continuous mass, broken only by the radiating lines of valley and the central part of the group, where the inferior rocks are exposed to view. The Plomb de Cantal, which is the highest part of the group, attaining an elevation of 6095 English feet above the sea, is formed of a small patch of basalt. This rock also occurs in dykes traversing the trachytic masses, sometimes spreading out over their upper surfaces; the Puys Violent (5232 feet above the sea) is thus formed; and it is worthy of remark, that the basaltic dykes of this mountain keep a very constant direction from S. 10° E. to N. 10° W. Like the trachytic rocks, the basalts of the Cantal do not appear to have been formed at a single eruption, since they constitute several beds. In the environs of the Puys Violent, and on the flanks of the Vallée du Mars, two beds of basalt are separated by a thick accumulation of basaltic conglomerate, the lowest bed of basalt resting on trachytic tuff. MM. Dufrénoy and Elie de Beaumont (sur les Groupes du Cantal, &c., Annales des Mines, 1833) consider that the clinkstone at the Puys de Griou and adjacent places is more modern than the trachytes and basalts; and that its eruption forced up these rocks, breaking the whole volcanic group of the Cantal into those radiating valleys we now see, and which diverge from the central part of the group outwards. The Monts-Dore constitute another somewhat circular system of volcanic mountains, about four leagues in diameter, and rising at the Puys de Sancy to the height of 6190 English feet above the sea-the most elevated point of Central France. The trachytic rocks are here also the most antient volcanic products, and occupy the central and largest part of this group of mountains, the basalts skirting the general mass, though they are not strictly confined to the outer portions, patches of basalt occurring among the trachyte of the interior. The whole rests on the granite and other antient crystalline rocks of Auvergne. Trachytic conglomerates alternate with solid trachyte, and the latter is often divided into prisms as beautiful as those of basalt. The upper bed of trachyte is the thickest, and forms the rock beneath the greater part of the pastures of MontsDore. Veins of trachyte are well seen in the Vallée des Enfers. More modern volcanic action can be traced around the great central mass of these mountains at Monteynard, and the Puys d'Enfer; and scoria extremely fresh are observable at the Puys Vivanson and the Puys d'Aiguillier. named domite. This rock varies much in its appearance but is generally light grey, and sometimes contains frag ments of granite and of the porphyritic trachyte of the Monts-Dore (Puys de Dôme, Puys de Sarcouy). The Pariou may be considered one of the most interesting of the crater-volcanos of the district: it rises to the height of 3986 feet above the level of the sea; and its trun cated cone is a remarkable object, even among the other volcanic eminences of the country. The crater is beautifully preserved, and is about 930 yards in circumference, and 93 in depth. The upper part of the mountain rises from another crater, from which the upper cone has evidently been thrown up. The lower crater has been broken down on the side of the Puys de Goules, and a current of lava has issued from it, passing near Orcines, and forming the sheet of volcanic matter on which La Baraque is built. Before it arrived at this point, some granite elevations arrested the lava-current, and divided it into two unequal streams, the smallest of which passed the point where the village of Durtol now stands, and stopped at Nohament. The other stream, after passing La Baraque, and forming the cheire (as these sheets of lava are termed in Auvergne) of Villars, descended on the granitic plateau of the country, and flowed on to Fontmore, about half a league from Clermont. The Puys de Laschamps is a more modern volcano, which attains the greatest elevation above the sea, its height being 4170 feet above its level. Nothing can be more exact than the resemblance of these volcanos to those now in activity in other countries. Their presence in Auvergne shows that volcanic action may suddenly commence in any part of the earth's surface, where no such action had previously been apparent; and that having caused the ejection of various igneous products, and altering the whole physical character of a country, it may cease, for at least long periods of time, and a district once laid waste by volcanic eruptions be again freed from their ravages. During the period that the volcanos of Auvergne were in a state of activity, conditions would necessarily be favourable for the production of alluvial deposits, the ashes, cinders, and ejected stones being readily washed down into the val leys, where they would be swept onwards by the rivers, and exposed to still further attrition. In them we should expect to discover some traces of the animals which inhabited the country at this period, and from which we might obtain an insight into the geological date of some of the eruptions themselves. The remains of animals, so situated that they must have been entombed in the places where they now occur when the Auvergne volcanos were in activity, have been found, and from the kind of remains discovered, volcanic eruptions are supposed to have occurred up to a late part of the supracretaceous period. According to MM. Croizet and Jobert (Recherches sur les Oss. Foss. du Puys de Dôme), there are, at the Montagne de Perrier (N.W. from Issoire), and in the neighbouring country, about thirty beds above the lacustrine limestone, which may be divided into four alternations of alluvium and basaltic deposits. Three or four beds contain organic remains. The principal ossiferous stratum is about ten feet thick, and can be traced for a considerable distance at the Montagne de Perrier. The remains discovered consisted of-elephant, one species; mastodon, one or two; hippopotamus, one; rhinoceros, one; tapir, one; horse, one; boar, one; felis, four or five; hyaena, two; bear, three; canis, one; castor, one; otter, ore; hare, one; water-rat, one; deer, fifteen; and ox, two. The remains are mixed confusedly with each other, and are of all ages; and mingled with them are the fæcal remains of carnivora, appearing to occupy the places where they have been dropped. As, moreover, the bones are never rolled, though frequently broken and often gnawed, the animals whose remains are thus entombed would appear to have been inhabitants of the immediate vicinity of the places where their remains are now found. The great proportion of the more modern volcanos of Auvergne occur in the vicinity of, or at moderate distances from, the town of Clermont. It would far exceed our limits to enter into a detail of the volcanos which are found in this part of Auvergne, and which possess various The lava-currents discharged from the volcanos of Audegrees of interest according to the situations where they vergne have sometimes traversed pre-existing valleys, aroccur, and the rocks with which they are associated. resting the progress of rivers, the waters of which accumu Though they are, for the most part, distinguished by cra-lated into lakes behind the barriers of lava. When these ters in different states of preservation, by lava currents, and by accumulations of cinders, ashes, and ejected portions of pre-existing rocks, there are some remarkable for the ab sence of craters and lava currents, and which seem due to a modification of the more usual volcanic action. Of these, one of the most remarkable is the Puys de Dôme, formed of a particular kind of rock, which has thence been lakes became full, the surplus waters discharged over the dams gradually eroded them, until they formed deep channels for the rivers, and the lakes disappeared. We should anticipate, unless the physical features of a given locality were materially changed during an eruption, that the lowest lip of the brim of such lakes would be in the direction of the pre-existing valleys, and at the junction af Le lava-currents with the opposite sides of such valleys. | grène (red wines), are made in this neighbourhood. The This seems to have been the case with the lava-current from vintage draws to Auxerre two sorts of dealers from Paris. the Puys de Come (near Clermont), which flowed into the One class purchase the wine from the grower, and, remainvalley of the Sioule; the river having cut a new bed being on the spot, see the crop gathered, put into tubs by the tween the lava and the granite on the opposite side of the road-side, pressed, and put into casks, and immediately sent valley. An example of a deep cut made by a river into the off to Paris. This is said to be the only way to prevent rock over which it flows may also be observed in another adulteration by the country merchants, who mix with it part of the same valley, where a lava-current that issued their old wine, or with the strong wines of the south of from the Puys Rouge, and barred the progress of the stream, France, in order to make more Burgundy.' Wines of the has been cut into a ravine, and an excavation formed in the most celebrated growths are found to possess, by this progneiss beneath to the depth of fifty feet. cess, a marvellous faculty of increase: those of which only a few small casks are made, even in favourable years, can be had at any inn in France. Wood is also a considerable article of trade at Auxerre. AUXERRE, a city in France, capital of the department of Yonne, situated on the left or west bank of the river which gives name to the department. It is 102 miles S.E. of Paris by the road through Melun, and 104 through Fontainebleau. There are in this town a library, a museum of natural history, and a collection of philosophical instruments, an Auxerre is mentioned in the later periods of the Roman agricultural society, a high school (collège) of considerable dominion in Gaul under the name of Autissiodurum, Autis-repute, a theatre, and baths. Some wealthy wine-mersiodorum, Autisiodorum, and Autosidorum. It was in the chants have collections of antiquities. Some medals and country of the Senones; but by a division of that territory coins in these collections show that money was once coined acquired a district of its own. The line of demarcation here. The population in 1832 was between 11,000 and between the former dioceses of Sens and Auxerre (now 12,000. incorporated together), is supposed to have coincided with the frontier of this district. The bishopric of Auxerre is said to be as antient as the third century, its first bishop having been St. Peregrin, who was put to death for his religion in the reign of Aurelian, A.D. 273, The bishopric of Auxerre appears now to be united to the archbishopric of Sens, to the holder of which see the bishop was formerly suffragan. The dignitary now has the title of Archbishop of Sens and Auxerre. The town suffered considerably in the middle ages from the hostility of the Huns, Normans, Saracens, and English; and from the religious wars of the sixteenth century. The marshal of Chatelux, who took Cravant (a small place near Auxerre) from the English, and restored it to the chapter of the cathedral, received in perpetuity a canonry for the eldest son of the family. They entered upon their office aressed in a curious combination of ecclesiastical and mili. tary garments. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the city came under the dominion of the Franks, without ever being subject to the Burgundians. Under the Carlovingian dynasty, the county of Auxerre, which was then co-extensive with the bishoprick, was granted by the kings of France to the bishops of Auxerre; and by these the city of Auxerre was bestowed on the counts of Nevers to hold on condition of fealty and homage to the see. After passing through the families of Courtenay and others, the county of Auxerre The arrondissement of Auxerre includes a district of 774 (consisting at that time, as it appears, of the city and such square miles or 495,360 acres, and a population of about part of the former county as had been granted to the counts 112,000 persons. (Malte Brun; Piganiol de la Force; of Nevers) was sold to the crown of France in the year 1370. Martinière; Encyclopédie Méthodique; Dictionnaire Uniin 1435 it was ceded by Charles VII. to the Duke of Bur-versel de la France; Letters from France, by J. M. Cobbett; gundy, in order to win him over from his alliance with the Reichard's Itinerary of France; Dupin; Expilly.) English; but was again united to the crown by Louis XI. However, the princes of the house of Austria, though they never obtained possession, do not appear ever to have renounced their right to the county, as heirs of the family of Burgundy. The bishop retained, till of late years, the only relic of his feudal superiority. When he made his solemn entry into his see, the king's procureur, as first vassal, assisted in carrying him to the throne. The city stands on the slope of a hill, in a country fruitful in wine; the air is considered very pure. It is a fine old place, with many well-built houses, but with dirty and narrow streets. There are two squares (places), but both small. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Stephen, stands high, and is accounted one of the finest in France. It escaped with little damage the violence of the Revolution. The portal is magnificent, and there are some fine painted windows. The abbey of St. Germain was celebrated for its crypts, in which were the bodies of no less than sixty saints, and a prodigious quantity' of holy relics. This sacred spot suffered some violence from the hands of the Calvinists, in the religious wars of France. Previous to the Revolution there were fourteen religious houses; besides a commandery of the order of Malta, two seminaries for the priesthood, and as many hospitals. The number of parishes is differently stated at eight (Piganiol de la Force) and twelve. (Expilly, Encyclopédie Méthodique.) One of the churches (Nôtre Dame) was collegiate. The foundling hospital is a large building near the northern entrance of the town. The episcopal palace, which is spoken of in high terms by Martiniere (Le Grand Dictionnaire), Expilly, and others, is said, in the Encyclopédie Méthodique, to be only an ordinary residence. Woollen cloths, serges, druggets, stockings, cotton-yarn, and pottery, are made in Auxerre, but it should seem to a trifling extent; the chief trade of the town is in wine, of which it is a considerable mart. The navigation of the Yonne commences.here, or at least a very little way above, and the wine is sent down the river to Paris and elsewhere by water-carriage. The wine of Auxerre is generally known by the name of Petit Vin d Auxerre; but two or three spots produce growths of great reputation. The chablis (a white wine) and the côte de la chênette and côte de la mé AUXILIARY VERBS are distinguished from other verbs in the following way. Verbs express the notions of action: auxiliary verbs, though they originally expressed notions of action, only express relations of action when considered as auxiliary verbs, and are accordingly employed, in connexion with other verbs, to give to them certain relations called by grammarians tense, mood, and voice. The modern languages of Europe, and our own more particularly, abound in such forms; but they are likewise found in the languages of Greece and Rome, sometimes altogether undisguised, more commonly so completely blended with the main verb as to pass for a mere arbitrary suffix, which the grammarian does not attempt to explain. It is in the very nature of a particle which plays a secondary part, that it should not occupy too large a share of the attention; and thus those verbs which in course of time are used as auxiliaries, though originally as significant as any other verbs, lose something of their distinctive character; so that if the fuller form happen to disappear from a language, the corrupted auxiliary presents anomalies which it is not easy for the philologist to explain. This difficulty is increased by the circumstance, that verbs used as auxiliaries generally throw off much of the distinctive meaning which they originally possessed. Among the auxiliaries, the most important is the sub stantive verb signifying to be; and, as might be expected, no word has passed through more variations of form. Grimm and other grammarians, indeed, have laid down that there are three or even more distinct roots combined in the conjugation of this verb. But when allowance is made for the known changes that take place in the letters of the alphabet, there will appear, we think, some reason for supposing that all the varying forms of this verb are derived from a common origin. As the ultimate form from which all the rest appear to us to have flowed, we will propose the root wes; and we are inclined to assign to this root, as its primary meaning, the notion of eating. Such a form appears in the Latin vescor (pronounced wescor), I eat, and in the German wes-en, to be. The initial w, it is well known, sometimes assumes the form of g, and hence we have ge-gess-en, eaten. Still inore commonly the to is altogether dropped, and then we have the root es, which is the basis of the Greek sub |