A. D. 1200. 



3^3 



'' it fnatches the iron from it *. It is moreover faid to be an antidote 

 ■' againft poifon, and a charm againft magic arts. It drives away noc- 



* turnal apparitions and vain dreams j and the touch of it is of great 

 ' fervice to the infane. The magnet is alfo an Indian flone of an iron 

 ' colour, which attrads iron fo as to form feveral rings into a chain. 



* Tiie magicians ufe it in their tricks ; and it is good againft the dropfy 



* and burnings.' 



Thefe two defcriptions, which, I thought, deferved to be given in 

 the words of their authors, are exceedingly curious and valuable : for, 

 while they prove that the polarity of the magnet was known in the age 

 of thofe two French writers, they alfo prove that the knowlege of it 

 was only in its infancy, at leaft among the Chriftians of Europe : and 

 I have not been able to difcover that it was known to the Chinefe or 

 the Saracens fooner than to the Chriftians, as fome learned men have 

 fuppofed f . 



In defiance of the above unqueftionable authorities, the Italian writ- 



* The power of the adamant in attrafting iron 

 Was believed after this time. Mathew Paris fays, 

 [/). 723] that the papal legate, fent to Scotland in 

 the year 1247, drew the money of the Scots to 

 himfelf as ftrongly as tlie adamant does iron. 



f Several authors ftrenuoufly aflert, that the 

 Chinefe have known the polarity of the magnet, 

 and had the ufe of the compafs a great many cen- 

 turies before it was known in Europe. 



Duhalde, in his H'ljlory c,f China, mentions a 

 chariot of the emperor floangti, which fhowed 

 the four cardinal points. He alfo fays, that Tcheou 

 Kong gave fome foreign ambaffadors an inftru- 

 ment, which pointed to the north and the fouth, 

 that they might be direiled on their way home 

 better than they had been in coming to China. 

 This inftrument was called Tchi Nan, which is the 

 very fame name by which the Chinefe now call 

 the compafs : and thence it is inferred, that the 

 Chinefe had the ufe of the compafs in the reign 

 of Tcheou Kong, which is placed 1040 years be- 

 fore the commencement of the Chriftian aera. As 

 this is a point, which is likely to remain for ever 

 in the province of conjcftnre, it may be fufficient 

 to remark, that, if the Chinefe had the compafs, 

 they appear from th.e relation of Soliman, an Ara- 

 bian merchant (See above, p. 256) not to have 

 known its moll valuable ufe in condufting a fliip 

 acrofs the ocean; as in liis time (A. D. S51) 

 they crept along the coall as timoroufly as the 

 Roman or Grecian navigators of antiquity ufcd to 

 do. And even at this day, with the ufe of the 

 compafs, which, according to Sir George Staun- 

 ton, thty call lin-van-cIAn^, (not tchi-naii) they are 

 not willing to lofe fight of land, if by a longer 

 coafting circuit they can avoid it. IStJuntoti's Em- 

 hajfy to China, V. i, p. 445, 81)0 ed.'] 



Ifaac VoffiU! \_Obfervalioncs gtmraks, e. ia] af- 



ferts, that the Seres (or Ch'mefe) have known the 

 polarity of the magnet about 2,800 years ; and 

 that the Saracens had undoubtedly learned it from 

 them, -when they met them at Taprobane {Ceylor), 

 and had ufcd it 500 years, as is tdliried by Jacobus 

 de Vitriaco (or V^itry) ; and that the .Chriftians 

 had learned the ufe of it from them about 300 

 years ago, i. e. about the year 1385. 



If it can be proved, that the Chinefe had the 

 compafs in antient times, the conveyance of it to 

 the Chriftians by the Saracens is extremely proba- 

 ble : but probabilities are often very different from 

 fafts. I have traveled not only through the two 

 books of Vitry's Hiftory pubhihed by tiiemfelves, 

 but alfo through his third book, and his epillles, 

 as publifhed by Martenne in his great TLefaurui 

 anectlotorum, and by Bongarfius in his coUedion 

 nititled Gejia Dei per Francos ; and I have not dif- 

 covered any other paflage concerning the magnet, 

 but the one I have tranflated in the text, whidi 

 has not a word concerning the Saracens, but clear- 

 ly proves that the Chrillians have known the ppl- 

 arity of the magnet about two centuries before 

 the date afligned by Voffius, who quotes no other 

 authority for the nautical ufe of the magnet among' 

 the Chinefe. 



I fliould be accufed of omifTion, if in this place 

 I fliould take no notice of Marco Polo, the cele- 

 brated Venetian traveler, who, according to fome 

 authors, flrft brought the compafs from China in 

 the year 1295, or, according to others, carried 

 the knowlege of it from Europe to China. Of 

 thefe contradiftory opinions, or aflcrcions, the firft 

 is evidently erroneous, and the fecond has verr 

 little piobability. 



I do not pretend to any knowlege of the autho- 

 rities, upon which the antediluvian* arc faid t» 

 have pofltfTed the compafs. 



Z Z 2 



