and ihc otlier several feet in length ; iKe hmida ie filled with 

 quicksilver, and it is fixed in a case, on the iide of wbicti 

 some Euroi>can characters are written. lo thia tube the 

 quickailm rises and falls. Gene rally speaking, in fair wec- 

 ther the mercury rises, but in ghomy dark weather it falls ; 

 the exact height of jia rise antl fall is seen by the marka on 

 (beside, by which may be predicted wind or ram, fair or 

 foul weather ; it has never been known to fail.* 



THE TiME-PlXmO BELL. 



Each day of twelve Chinese hours, is divided by the Eu- 

 ropeans imo twenty-fouT hours. The "first hour after mid- 

 night they call one o'clock, going on till noon, which they 

 call twelve o'clock • after this they begin reckoning one 

 o'ciock again J until midnight, when it is again twelve ; thus 

 dividing the natural day mlo twice twelve hours. The clocks 

 are some large and some small ; the smaller ones are not 

 more than an inch in diameter, and tire larger ones are sever- 

 al fe«t high. After the clock has struck, there are toirie 

 Bmaller bells that play, producing various notes, aU of which 

 may be distinctly heard. These are called repefiters. 



TitE »AtLOO;*j OR CELE3 riAt BOAT. 



' This boat is short and small, resembling a dome-shaped pa- 

 \Mlion, capable of coniaining ten men: atiaehed to it iheie is a 

 pair of bellows, or air pump, of exquisite workmanahip, in shape 

 like a globe; several people work this with all their might, 

 and the boat flies up extremely high, where it is borne about 

 by the winds ; but if they wish to give it any pariiculnr di- 

 rection they spread their sails, and make use of the quadrant 

 to measure their distance : when they arrive at the deaJined 

 place, they take in their sails, and let the boat descend. 

 It has been reported that these boats have been burnt and in- 



* It is not clear wlmther the Chiiicec writer meaa* lo fliludc lo the 

 bjironjeter or diermoinder ; he Keema lu hmve b^el bulli in liia niiiul. 



