92 
Mr. Davis on the Chinese Tear. 
that they have in former times adopted the very errors of 
European astronomy. The writer of this discovered, in an 
old Chinese book, the most exact delineation of the Ptolemaic 
system, with its crystalline orbs, primum mobile, &c. &c. 
and the earth occupying a conspicuous place in the centre of 
all. Indeed it is impossible not to smile at the idea of attri- 
buting any science to a people whose learned books are filled 
with such trumpery as the diagrams of Fo-hi, and a hundred 
other puerilities of the same kind. 
There cannot be a doubt that the instruments mentioned 
by Du Halde, as having been found by the missionaries on 
their first entrance into the country, were constructed by the 
Arabians. His observation, that “ the uses of these instru- 
ments were written in Chinese characters, with the names of 
the constellations, which are 28 in number,” proves nothing 
to the contrary. The guns which were cast for the Chinese 
by Europeans, were always inscribed with Chinese characters ; 
and the ungrateful vanity of that people has invariably led 
them, when they have borrowed any thing from foreigners, 
to conceal the debt as much as possible. In proof of this, 
the writer is able to state the following fact : when Mr. 
Pearson made them his invaluable present of the vaccine 
inoculation, it was accompanied by a small pamphlet in Chi- 
nese, containing a few necessary directions as to the use of 
the virus, and stating the discovery to have been English. 
An expurgata edition of this little book was very soon after 
published, in which not one word was retained as to its 
origin, nor any trace by which it could be known that the 
discovery of vaccination was otherwise than Chinese. 
In the accompanying view [[PI. XIII.] of the Chinese year, are 
marked down, in the outer circle of all, the signs of our 
