hemp, rape and
flax are also cultivated. Vineyards are numerous in the neighbourhood of
Bressuire in the north, and of Niort and Melle in the south. The
department is well known for the Parthenay breed of cattle and the
Poitou breed of horses; and the mules reared in the southern
arrondissements are much sought after both in France and in Spain. The
system of co-operative dairying is practised in some localities. The
apple-trees of the Gatine and the walnut-trees of the Plaine bring a
good return. Coal is mined, and the department produces building-stone
and lime. A leading industry is the manufacture of textiles (serges,
druggets, linen, handkerchiefs, flannels, swan-skins and knitted goods).
Tanning and leather-dressing are carried on at Niort and other places,
and gloves are made at Niort. Wool and cotton spinning, hat and shoe
making, distilling, brewing, flour-milling and oil-refining are also
main industries. The department exports cattle and sheep to Paris and
Poitiers; also cereals, oils, wines, vegetables and its industrial
products.

The Sevre Niortaise and its tributary the Mignon furnish 19 m. of
navigable waterway. The department is served by the Ouest-Etat railway.
It contains a large proportion of Protestants, especially in the
south-east. The four arrondissements are Niort, Bressuire, Melle and
Parthenay; the cantons number 31, and the communes 356. Deux-Sevres is
part of the region of the IX. army corps, and of the diocese and the
academie (educational circumscription) of Poitiers, where also is its
court of appeal.

Niort (the capital), Bressuire, Melle, Parthenay, St Maixent, Thouars
and Oiron are the principal places in the department. Several other
towns contain features of interest. Among these are Airvault, where
there is a church of the 12th and 14th centuries which once belonged to
the abbey of St Pierre, and an ancient bridge built by the monks;
Celles-sur-Belle, where there is an old church rebuilt by Louis XI., and
again in the 17th century; and St Jouin-de-Marnes, with a fine
Romanesque church with Gothic restoration, which belonged to one of the
most ancient abbeys of Gaul.

DEVA (Sanskrit "heavenly"), in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, spirits of
the light and air, and minor deities generally beneficent. In Persian
mythology, however, the word is used for evil spirits or demons.
According to Zoroaster the devas were created by Ahriman.

DEVA (mod. _Chester_), a Roman legionary fortr