CHINESE MAGNETIC CHARIOT. 



aspect) "nevertheless it points a little towards the east and docs not point 

 due south, therefore mariners take a thread of raw cotton which they 

 attach to the needle by a bit of wax, of the size of a grain of mustard 

 seed, and suspend it in a place where there is no wind. Then the needle 

 points constantly to the south ; if the needle be placed in a slender reed 

 it still points southward with a declination towards the east." The 

 amount of declination did not exceed four degrees, which is too nice an 

 observation to be made with a newly discovered instrument, the inference 

 is accordingly, that they must have known and used it for a long time. 



A still more remarkable proof 

 of the claims of the Chinese to 

 the honor of discovery is found 

 in the history of the magnetic 

 chariot, the accompanying fig- 

 ure of which is copied from the 

 33rd volume of the great Japa- 

 nese Encyclopedia. The figure 

 is made of a light material, fix- 

 ed on a pivot, and its finger in 

 which the magnet was inserted 

 invariably pointed South. It 

 was used to direct the march of 

 armies, the route of ambassa- 

 dors, religious processions, and 

 other ceremonies in which the 

 priests established the proper 

 point of the heavens where the 

 Kibleh was located. The fol- 

 lowing extract from the Chinese 

 work of Gaubil mentions one 

 of its supposed inventors. 

 "The celebrated Tcheon-Kong is considered as the inventor of the 

 Compass. It is said that the wisdom of his administration, under Tching- 

 Vang^ having become known to all nations, a king of a southern coun- 

 try sent ambassadors to Tching-Vang to make his submission and pay 

 his tribute. Tcheon-Kong had a car constructed, upon which was pla- 

 ced a human figure, the right hand of which always pointed to the 

 South. This car was destined to take the ambassadors back to their 

 country ; it was called TcM non Iche, that is to say, a car indicaiing 

 ihr Soulh ; and this is the name whicli the Chinese now give to the 

 compass. 



