Alone among French rivers, the Rhne, itself Alpine in character in its upper course, is partly fed by Alpine rivers (the Arve, the Isre and the Durance) which have their floodsin spring at the melting of the snow, and are maintained by glacierwater in summer.
The chestnut covers considerable areas in Prigord, Limousin and Beam; resinotis trees (firs, pines, larches, &c.) form fine forests in the Vosges and The indigenous fauna include the bear, now very rare but still found in the Alps and Pyrenees, the wolf, harbouring chiefly in the Cvennes and Vosges, but in continually decreasing areas; the fox, marten, badger, weasel, otter, the beaver in the extreme south of the Rhne valley, and in the Alps the marmot; the red deer and roe deer are preserved in many of the forests, and the wild boar is found in several districts; the chamois and wild goat survive in the Pyrenees and Alps.
The value per acre of land, which exceeds 48 in the departments of Seine, Rhne and those fringing the north-west coast from Nord to Manche inclusive, is on the average about 29, though it drops to 16 and less in Morbihan, Landes, Basses-Pyrnes, and parts of the Alps and the central plateau.
With the exception of Loire, Bouches-du-Rhbne and Rhne, the chief industrial departments of France are to be found in the north and north-east of the country.
The production of lace and guipure, occupying 112,000 persons, is carried on mainly in the towns and villages of Haute-Loire and in Vosges (Mirecourt), Rhne (Lyons), Pas-de-Calais (Calais) and Paris.