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1em  HESSE-DARMSTADT,, the actual Hesse of the present day, isa state of Germany situated on the Rhine and Main, between Prussia on the north and Baden on the south. It consists of two large and several small detached portions of territory. The more northerly of the large portions forms the province of Oberhessen, and is completely surrounded by Prussia. The other, divided by the Rhine into the provinces of Starkenburg and Rhein- hessen, is bounded on the N. by Hesse- Nassau, on the W. by the Rhine Palatinate and Rhenish Prussia, on the S. by Baden, and on the E. by Baden and Bavaria. The axtent of the duchy is about 2965 square miles. Ober- hessen is mountainous, having the Vogelsberg in the east with Taufstein (2579 feet) as the highest summit in the country, and the Hausberg, a branch of the Taunus, in the south-west. In the south-east of Starkenburg is the Odenwald. Rheinhessen is occupied by fertile hills. The chief rivers are the Rhine, Main, Neckar, Lahn, and Fulda, with their tributaries. There are no lakes, but mineral springs abound in all the provinces. The climate is pleasant anJ mild in the river valleys and plains, but severe on the heights, especially in Oberhessen. Besides the usual domestic animals, deer of various kinds, wild swine, foxes, martens, and otters are found. Agriculture, incluling the breeding of horses and cattle, is actively encouraged by Government, and is the principal industry of the people. Forestry and vine-growing are also im- portant, the latter being practised almost exclusively in Rheinhessen. The principal crops are millet, buckwheat, oats, and potatoes; but rape (for oil), hemp, flax, tobacco, and fruit are also cultivated. The manufactures embrace leather (enamelled and coloured), tobacco, cigars, shoes, furniture, pocket-books and similar goods, chemicals, matches, machinery, and various textile fabrics. Mining is carried on chiefly in Oberhessen. Iron, copper, man- ganese, graphite, lignite, salt, marble, and clay are the principal minerals, which are worked for home consump. tion. In 1878 there were produced in Hesse 45,300 tons of lignite, 91,724 tons of iron ore, and 13,200 tons of salt, representing in value about £62,100. Trade is tolerably important in Hesse. The following numbers of persons engaged in the various industries are taken from the industrial census of 1875 :—Horticulturists, 292 ; fishermen, 65; miners, 1553; workers in ston, clay, glass, 4715; in metals, 8266; in machines, instruments, &e., 7202; in chemical industries, 2153; in lighting materials, soap, resins, &c., 1190; in textile industries, 8274; iv paper and leather, 7600; in wood, 11,142; in food and drink, 19,923; in dress and washing, 21,629 ; in building, 1291; in polygraphic industries, 1291; in artistic industries, 412; in mercantile business, 17,593 ; in conveyance, 2273; in lodging and boarding, 6016— total, 134,383. The people are well educated ; of the recruits in 1878-79 only °21 per cent. were unable either to read or write. There is a university at Giessen, and the schools, ordinary, technical, and theological, throughout the country are very numerous. The Protestant religion predominates, theugh the Roman Cathoke faith is also recognized by the state. Darmstadt is the capital ; Offenbach is the chief manufacturing town; Mainz has perhaps the most active trade. ‘The other chief towns are Alsfeld, Lauterbach, Friedberg, Bingen, Bensheim, and Worms. The population in 1875 was 884,218. The government since 1820 has been a constitutional heredi- tary monarchy, assisted by two chambers, modified in 1856—the one of life members, mostly from among the nobility, the other of popular representatives, elected indirectly. The chambers must mect at least once every three years. The ministry of three is responsible to the nation. Hesse is represented in the imperial federal council by 3 votes, and in the reichstag by 9. The annual revenue for the finance-period 1876-78 was £872,379, and the expenditure £872,481. The estimated annual revenue for the period 1879-82 is £1,011,762, and the estimated expenditure £857,124. The public debt in 1879 was £2,041,397, chiefly incurred for railways. For additional statistics see.

