Neutral-current four-fermion production in e(+)e(-) interactions at 130 GeV<=root s<=172 GeV

A study of neutral-current four-fermion processes is performed, using data collected by the L3 detector at LEP during high-energy runs at centre-of-mass energies 130 - 136, 161 and 170 - 172 GeV, with integrated luminosities of 4.9, 10.7 and 10.1 pb$^{-1}$, respectively. The total cross sections for the final states $ \ell\ell \ell^\prime \ell^\prime $ and $\rm \ell\ell qq $ ($\ell$,~$\ell^\prime $ = e, $\mu$ or $\tau$) are measured and found to be in agreement with the Standard Model prediction.