This section is from "The American Cyclopaedia", by George Ripley And Charles A. Dana. Also available from Amazon: The New American Cyclopædia. 16 volumes complete..
Oise (anc. Isara and Fsia), a river of France, which rises in the province of Hainaut in Belgium, near the French frontier, flows S. W. through the departments of Le Nord, Aisne, Oise, and Seine-et-Oise, and joins the Seine 12 m. N. W. of Paris, after a course of about 150 m. Its principal tributaries are the Noirieu, Brèche, and Thérain on the right, and the Ton, Serre, Lette, Aisne, Autonne, and Nonette on the left. It communicates by canals with the Somme, the Sambre, and the Scheldt. The principal towns on its banks are La Fere, Noyon, Compiegne, and Pontoise.
Oise, a N. department of France, formed from parts of the old provinces of Isle-de-France and Picardy, bordering on Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-et-Oise, Eure, and Seine-Inferieure; area, 2,2G1 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 396,804. The chief rivers are the Oise and its tributaries the Aisne, Nonette, and Therain. The Epte passes through the W. part, and the Ourcq through the S. E. The surface is low and undulating, and the soil consists in general of strong clay, but there are sandy barrens. The chief crops are wheat, flax, hemp, and rape. The wine is of inferior quality, and there are few vineyards. Woollens, linen, canvas, and beet sugar are manufactured. The department is divided into the arrondissements of Beauvais, Clermont, Compiegne, and Senlis. Capital, Beauvais.
 
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