﻿HERADLT. 



HEREFORD. 



163 



8° 19' 10' E. long., 46 miles S.W. from MontpelUer, and has 17,376 

 mbabitanto in the commune. The ntreets are narrow and ill-laid out, 

 but the houses are in general well built of stone. B<!ziers contains several 

 buildings interesting for their architecture or their antiquity; the 

 principal are the cathedral of St.-Nazaire ; the churches of St.-Aphro- 

 dise and La-Madeleine ; the former episcopal palace, which now serves 

 for the residence of the sub-prefect and for courts of justice ; the 

 public library ; the house of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the engineer of the 

 Canal-du-Midi ; the market-house ; and the barracks. The town has 

 tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and a college. The 

 manufactures comprise woollen-cloth, silk hosiery, brandy, spirits, 

 liqueurs, chemical products, thrown silk, soap, leather, paper, glass, 

 Ac. ; the commerce of the town consists of these articles and of com, 

 •wool, iron, wine, oil, fruits, &c. A steam-engine raises the waters of 

 the Orb to a considerable height into a reservoir on the terrace, 

 near the cathedral, whence the different quarters of the town are 

 supplied. The Canal-du-Midi is carried through nine locks close 

 to the town. The town of Bdziers is ancient ; it contains a few 

 Roman remains, and is noted for the massacre of the Albigenses, 

 July 22, 1209. Agde is noticed in a separate article. [Agde.] 

 Among the other more important places we notice the following; 

 the population given in each case is that of the commune. Bidarienx, 

 a well-built manufacturing town on the left bank of the Orb, which 

 separates it from one of its suburbs, stands 18 miles N. from B^ziers, 

 and has a college, a council of prud'hommes, and 9012 inhabitants. 

 Fine and coarse woollens, cotton and woollen hosiery, hats, soap, 

 olive-oil, leather, and paper are manufactured. There are also dye- 

 houses, glass works, and a copper foundry. The trade in wine and in 

 the articles just named is extensive and important. Capealang, which 

 pves name to the lagune of Capestang, stands on the Canal-du-Midi, 

 and has 2000 inhabitants. Plormtae, situated near the left bank of 

 the H^rault in a rich district of vineyard and meadow land, has a popula- 

 tion of 3454. St.-Qenait, a small town of 2573 inhabitants, is situated 

 in a well-watered valley shut in between hills, 23 miles N. from 

 Bdziera. There are excellent coal mines near the town, and also 

 marble quarries, and limekilns. Moniaipiac, the birthplace of Latude, 

 celebrated for his long captivity in the Bastille, stands on the left bank 

 of the H^rault, and has brandy distilleries, some unimportant manu- 

 factures, and 3466 inhabitants. Pizauu, an ancient town situated 

 near th« left bank of the HiSranIt, at its junction with the Peine, has 

 a tribunal and chamber of commerce, an exchange, a college, and 

 7759 inhabitants. The town is well built, with pretty wide streets 

 and good houses ; the parish church and the theatre are the most 

 remarkable buildings. The neighbourhood of Uie town is remarkably 

 beautiful, and so well cultivated as to have gained for it the title of 

 the Oarden of H^rault. P^zenas is celebrated for its salubrity; 

 several craters, now extinct, and masses of basalt, are seen near it. It 

 was in this town that Moli^re wrote his ' Prdcienses Ridicules.' The 

 manufaetnres are linen, muslin, calico, woollen stuBs, hats, soap, 

 chemical products, syrup and sugar of grapes, cotton-yam and raw 

 silk. There are also brandy and spirit distilleries, establishments for 

 washing wool, and a considerable commerce in com, olive-oil, fruits, 

 4c Rtmjan, a small place in a volcanic district, near the right bank 

 of the Peine, has a population of 1627; near it there are extensive 

 coal-mines, and also cold mineral springs. Servian, 6 miles N.E. from 

 B<5zier8, has 2203 inhabitants. There is a castle here, the construction 

 of which dates from the 11th century. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town Lodlve is situated in 

 a valley at the foot of the C^Svennes, on the left bank of the Ergue, 

 which here receives the Salondres, 32 miles N.W. from MontpelUer, 

 in 43" 43' 57 ' N. lat, 2" 25' lO' E. long., and contains 10,793 inha- 

 bitants in the commune. It is the seat of tribunals of first instance 

 and of commerce, and has also a chamber of commerce, a college, and 

 a council of prud'hommes. The town is surrounded by strong walls, 

 but the interior is badly built and ill laid out The approaches to it 

 are by avenues of fine trees. The air is pure, and the environs 

 delightful ; the hills around it are cultivated to their very summits, 

 and plantations of the vine, the olive, and the mulberry everywhere 

 meet the view. The most remarkable building in Lod6ve is the 

 former cathedral church of St-Etienne, which contains a beautiful 

 mausoleum in white marble of one of the bishops of Lodfeve. The 

 town is the centre of a m'eat cloth manufacture, and is celebrated for 

 its pl«ce-dyed goods, which are exported to the Levant. Soldiers' 

 uniforms, other woollen stuffs, soap, leather, jcc, are also manufactured. 

 CUrmoiU-Lodive, 10 miles S. from Lodive, stands on the slope of a 

 hill above the little river Ydromiel, and contains 6294 inhabitants in 

 the commune. A college, a tribunal of commerce, a council of prud'- 

 hommes, and a savings bank are the principal institutions of the 

 town. The most remarkable building is a handsome gothic church 

 with aisles and nave (terminating in a beautiful apsis), a very lofty 

 tower, and, over the principal entrance, a rose window of noble 

 dimensions. The principal manufacture is piece-dyed cloth; but 

 woollen and cotton hosiery, handkerchiefs, cotton-yam, leather, 

 brandy, and chemical products are also manufactured. Gignac, near 

 the left bank of the Hdmult, is situated 15 miles S.E. from Lodftve, 

 in a country covered with vineyards, olive grounds, and mulberry 

 plantations, and has 2669 inhabitants, who manufacture verdigris, olive- 

 oil, sugar, brandy, and wooUen-yaro, and trade in agricultural produce. 



ocoo, DIV. VOL. ni. 



4. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town, Sl.-Pons, stands on 

 the Jaur, a feeder of the Orb, 60 miles W. from MontpelUer, and has 

 6947 inhabitants in the commime. It is a well-built town; most of 

 the houses are constructed of marble from the neighbouring quarries. 

 The church of St.-Pons, which is classed as an historical monument, 

 is one of the most interesting in the department. Within the town 

 the Jaur receives the waters of a very abundant spring, which forms 

 a vast basin of considerable depth ; in front of this there are two 

 immense elms, on the right a church built in the time of Charlemagne 

 and well preserved, and on the left a gothic tower. The town has a 

 tribunal of first instance, a coUege, and an ecclesiastical school ; the 

 waters of the Jaur drive the machinery of several corn and fulling 

 mills, saw-works, dye-houses, &c. There are important manufactures 

 of wooUen cloth in this town ; hosiery, woollen-yarn, and leather are 

 also among its industrial products ; and there is a good trade in corn, 

 cattle, and marble. St.-Chinian, important for the manufacture of 

 piece-dyed woollen goods, brandy, and leather, stands in a rich valley 

 watered by the Bernasobre, 12 miles S.E. from St-Pons, and has 3627 

 inhabitants in the commune. La-ScUretat, 7 miles N.N.W. from 

 St-Pons, is situated among high mountains, near the right bank of 

 the Agout, a feeder of the Tarn, and has a population of 4009, who 

 manufacture flannel, woollen-cloth, woollen-yarn, and swanskin, and 

 trade in wool, cattle, and the excellent butter of the neighbourhood, 

 which is considered the best in all Languedoc. 



The department forms the see of the bishop of MontpelUer, is 

 included in the jurisdiction of the High Court and University Academy 

 of MontpelUer, and belongs to the 8th MiUtary Division, of which 

 MontpelUer is head-quarters. Besides the university of MontpelUer 

 there are in the same town a theological college, an ecclesiastical 

 school, a royal college or high school, and a primary normal school. 

 There are communal colleges in Agde, B^darieui, Bdziers, Clermont, 

 and P^zenas. The Calvinists have churches in MontpelUer, Montagnao, 

 MassUlargues, and Ganges. To the Legislative Body of the French 

 empire the department returns three members. 



(Dictionnaire de la Prance ; Annuaire pour I'An 1853; Statutiqne 

 de la Prance; Official Paperi ; Richard, Guide CUusique du Voyagewr 

 en Prance et en Bdgique.) 



HERCULA'NEUM, a very ancient Italian city, situated on the 

 coast of Campania, about 5 miles E. from Kaples by the railway to 

 Nocei^a which passes near it It is said to have been of Phoenician 

 origin and to have been afterwards occupied by the Pela.sgiaus and 

 Oscans ; but its history is obscure, and it seems never to have attained 

 any importance. In the time of Titus, a.d. 79, it was overwhelmed 

 by the memorable eruption of Vesuvius which also ruined Pompeii. 

 It appears to have been buried imder showers of ashes, subsequently 

 overflowed by streams of lava, and it lies about 70 feet below the 

 present surface of the ground. It was re-discovered by the sinking 

 of a weU in the village of Resina in 1706, when the remains of the 

 theatre were discovered. This led to further investigation, and after 

 several years, in which little was done, the NeapoUtan government 

 undertook the work of excavation. But the circumstance that the 

 ground over the buried city is occupied by the large and populous 

 villages of Resina and Portici, has thrown great difficulties in the way 

 of the excavations, which have been carried on wholly by subterranean 

 galleries. The theatre, a chalcidicum, and two temples are the chief 

 buildings explored ; the private houses are chiefly smaJl, and of one 

 story, like those of Pompeii. The whole excavation is said to have 

 been about 600 yards long by 300 yards broad ; but it being impossible 

 to remove the incumbent soil, in consequence of its thickness, as fast 

 as one part was thoroughly searched it was filled up with rubbish 

 from another. The theiitre alone is now accessible ; it is a noble 

 edifice built of stone in a very massive style, with 18 rows of seats, and 

 capable of holding 8000 persons. A handsome street 36 feet wide 

 and bordered with porticoes, led from the theatre to the forum, on 

 the north side of which stood a basilica of a fine style of architecture; 

 two small temples (the walls of one of which were decorated with beau- 

 tiful paintings, now in the Museum of Naples); and a villa, in which were 

 some beautiful statues, and a number of papyrus rolls containing some 

 worthless treatises on the Epicurean philosophy, were discovered. The 

 papyri were found in a state resembUng charcoal, dry, and crumbling, 

 the lamina!, for the most part, strongly adhering to each other. The 

 chief advantage as yet derived from Herculaneum is the magnificent 

 collection, not only of statues, paintings, and vases, but of domestic 

 implements of every use and description, deposited in the Museum of 

 Naples. These are figured and described in the magnificent work, 

 'L'Antichita d'Ercolano,' Nap., 1757, 10 vols, fol. Some excavations 

 were made in 1853 and 1854, when the ground-floor of the houses 

 situated on the declivity leading to the sea were laid open, but the 

 results are hitherto unimportant. In Romanelli's ' Viaggio ad Erco- 

 lano,' and in Blewitt's ' Handbook of South Italy ' will be found an 

 account of the general results of the excavations made at Herculaneum. 

 HERCULES, PILLARS OF. [Gibraltar.] 



HEREFORD, the county town of Herefordshire, a city, municipal 

 and parUamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is 

 situated on the left bank of the river Wye, in 62'" 4' N. lat, 2° 42' 

 W. long., distant 134 miles W.N.W. from London by road. The 

 population of the borough in 1851 was 12,108.' The livings are in 

 the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford. The borough is governed 



