530 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSKUM, 1893. 



cntitli'd "Eviin'8 Baseball Dominoes," consisted of wooden doniino- 

 sliaped blocks marked on one face at the ends with the names of the 

 scoring i)Oints in the American game of baseball. 



iNTiioDrrrioN of dominofs into furopk. 



Imoiii the foregoing accounts it will be seen liow widely tin' i)ecnliar 

 Chinese game of doininoes is <listiil)ute(l, from Korea to Durma and 

 Siam. Dr. Gustav Sclilegel states that tl»e European game of dominoes 

 is without doubt borrowed from the Chinese, only that in it the 

 idiilosophic-astronomic elements have been done away with and only 

 the arithmetical retained. 1 have been unable to discover tiie connect- 

 ing links between the two games. The Levant may furnish a clew to 

 the relationsiiip if any sncli now exists, but 1 am w ithout information 

 on the yubject. 



The game seems to date from a recent period in Europe. According 

 to Brockhaus' Conversations Lexicon, Art ''D.nnino," it was introduced 

 into (iermany through France from Italy about tiie middle of the last 

 century. In England it appears from a writer in Notes and (,)ueries* 

 to have been introduced by T^rench prisoners about the close of the 

 last century. 



INVENTION OF TIIE GAME. 



According to a tradition current among the Chinese laborers in the 

 United 8tat(!S, dominoes were invented by lhi)i(j Miii(j,\ a hero of that 

 poj)ular romance, the 8dm Kwokchi.X for the amusement of his soldiers to 

 keep them awake during the watches of the night in their camp before 

 the enemy. Others attril)ute them to the ingenuity of lu'nn<i f<(i ywrw//,§ 

 and give a similar reas(m for their discovery. A Chinese physician, 

 the most scliolarly of my informants among his class, insisted tliat they 

 were invented by Fan L>(l,\\ wliose picture, fiom a popular illustrated 

 edition of the Tniiff rlum lit kicolc,^] is re|>roduce(l in lig. 2:i. Little 

 importance nee<l be attached to these stories, which are given as 

 iMnslrationsof th« conllicting statements made by the comparatively 

 uneducated Chinese regarding things which are a matter (.f record. 



Dr.CJustav Schlegel,** (pu)ting from the Chi sz yin kau {Chii sz' yam 

 /MM),tt states that <h)miuoes were invented in 1120 A. D. by a statesman 



*Jannary23, 1869. ... „ . , 



t Chu-lvo Li.in- ( Ifuiui Mi,un, A. D. 181-234. Tho f^reat cont.selor of Lni Pei, who 

 ow.a tothoHn-acity and military skill of Clui-ko Liau- hisHuccess lu cstabliHhing 

 himself npou the throne. (The Chinese {Reader's Manual, No. 88.) 



t VVylie, A., Notes on Chinese Literature, Shan-jhai, 1807, ).. Itil. 



^ KiaufrTsze-ya {Keuvff fdi kiuuj) is rep<'"te.l to have been a counselor ..f Si Peh. 

 twelfth contnry B.C. (The Chin.;s(^ R.^ade.r's Manual, No. 2.->7.) 



II Fan Li(/'VfH Lai), nnuister of Kovv Psien, Prince of Viieh, whom he aided to 

 overthrow the rival kingdom of \Vu, the final victory of wirHli, after twenty years 

 warfare, was achieved H. C. 473. (The Chinese Reader's Manual, No. 127.) 



^ Notes on Chinese Literature, p. KiL'. 



**Chinesische Hriiuch und Spielc in F.m-.«p:i, I'.icslau. ISdil. p. 18. 



tUuvestitiatious on the traditions ol'all tiiin-s. 



