were invented in Europe; and, it is not unlikely, were introduced into this part of the world, in consequence of the statements of Marco Paulo.
With regard to the sciences, the Chinese cannot be said to rank high, though they have made some advances in a few, fully equal to what has been accomplished in other eastern nations. To astronomy, they have always paid some attention; and even during the reigns of their earliest kings, the five planets, the twenty-eight constellations, and the twelve signs of the zodiac were well known. They were in the habit of regarding various celestial phenomena, and eclipses and comets were regularly observed, and faithfully recorded, as will be seen by a reference to the scheme of chronology in the Appendix. A.D. 900, a comet appeared, which was considered as ominous of some change in the government, when the sovereign put thirty men of influence to death, and threw some of the literati into the Yellow River; closing the bloody transaction by murdering the former empress, in order to secure to himself the possession of an usurped throne. A.D. 996, an eclipse of the sun, which had been predicted by the astronomers, did not take place; on which occasion, the courtiers congratulated his majesty, suggesting that the very heavens had altered their courses, out of compliment to his virtues.
In all the periods of their history, the Chinese have thought that the heavenly bodies moved in their orbits, for no other purpose, than to point out the rise and fall of dynasties, and to indicate some change of rule in their empire. Famines and pestilences, wars and commotions, droughts and inundations, are with them prognosticated by falling stars and shooting meteors; and
