Chapter VII: Part 7

XCII. _An Account of the fossile Bones of an Allegator, found on the Sea-shore, near_ Whitby _in_ Yorkshire. _In a Letter to_ John Fothergill, _M. D. from Capt._ William Chapman.

Whitby, 20th of 1st mo. 1758.

[Read May. 4, 1758.]

A Few days since we discovered on the sea-shore, about half a mile from this place, part of the bones of an animal, appearing as in the annexed figure (_See_ TAB. XXII.). The ground they laid in is what we call allum-rock; a kind of black slate, that may be taken up in flakes, and is continually wearing away by the surf of the sea, and the washing of stones, sand, _&c._ over it every tide.

The bones were covered five or six feet with the water every full sea, and were about nine or ten yards from the cliff, which is nearly perpendicular, and about sixty yards high, and is continually wearing away, by the washing of the sea against it; and, if I may judge by what has happened in my own memory, it must have extended beyond these bones less than a century ago. There are several regular strata or layers of stone, of some yards thickness, that run along the cliff, nearly parallel to the horizon and to one another. I mention this to obviate an objection, that this animal may have been upon the surface, and in a series of years may have sunk down to where it lay; which will now appear impossible, at least when the stones, _&c._ have had their present consistence.

_J. Mynde sc._]

_References to the Draught._

_A_, _B_, _C_, the head and bill, not in the same line or range with the rest of the bones.

_a_, _b_, A bone, with its processes, which I take to be similar to that, which includes the brain in fishes. The part between the bone and outlines appeared to be a smooth membrane; but was so thin, that in taking up it broke.

It is evident this is the upper part of the head inverted.

_B_, _C_, the superior _maxilla_ intire, and in some places covered with the inferior one for four or five inches together. Where this happens, the vacuity is filled with matter like the rock in which it lays; and there are large teeth in each jaw, at such distances, and so posited, that those in one jaw fill up the vacuities in the other, and appear like one continued row, the mouth being shut.

Where there is only the superior _maxilla_ remaining, there are
no teeth; but the sockets are visible and deep, and at the same
distances from each other as the teeth in the other part of the jaw.
The tip or extremity of the bill was intire for four or five inches,
having both _maxillæ_, with their teeth, and towards the point large
fangs. Part of the bill and head were covered with the rock; which
was removed before they appeared as in the figure.

_A_, _D_, _F_, _G_, cavities in the rock, about two inches deep, where, I suppose, the wanting _vertebræ_ have laid, as they are exactly suited to have received them.

_D_, _F_, Ten _vertebræ_, from three to four half inches in diameter, and about three inches long, some of them separated in taking up. They were about two inches in the rock.

_E,_ Here we observed something like bone to stretch from the _vertebræ_, and intending to take it up whole, begun to cut at what we thought a proper distance; but found we cut thro’ a bone; and with the _vertebræ_ brought up three or four inches of the _os femoris_, with the ball, covered with the _periosteum_: but the animal has been so crushed hereabouts, that we could make little of the socket or _os innominata_. Several of the ribs came up with the _vertebræ_: they were broke, and laid parallel to the _vertebræ_; but not quite close, there being some of the rock between them. The _periosteum_ is visible on many of the bones.

_G_, _H_, Twelve _vertebræ_ remaining in the rock, with which they are almost covered, especially towards the extremity.

The place, where these bones lay, was frequently covered with sea-sand, to the depth of two feet, and seldom quite bare; which was the occasion of their being rarely seen: but being informed that they had been discovered by some people two or three years ago, we had one of them with us upon the spot, who told us, that when he first saw it, it was intire, and had two short legs on that part of the _vertebræ_ wanting towards the head. Altho’ we could not suspect the veracity of this person, we thought he was mistaken; for we had hitherto taken it for a fish. But when we took it up, and found the _os femoris_ above-mentioned, we had cause to believe his relation true, and to rank this animal amongst those of the lizard kind: by the length (something more than ten feet) it seems to have been an allegator; but I shall be glad to have thy opinion about it.

I am thy friend,
William Chapman _Sen._

_The bones were sent up, and are herewith presented to the Royal Society by_

J. Fothergill.

XCIII. _De rariori quadam_ Orthoceratitis _Specie, in_ Suecia _reperta, tractatus; in literis a_ Nicholao de Himsel, _M. D._ Riga Livono, _ad_ Gul. Watson, _M. D. R.SS._

[Read May 11, 1758.]

ORthoceratiti recti in loco quodam Kelwika dicto, prope Fahlunam in Dahlia, reperti. Inhærebant lapidi cineracei coloris calcareo, variæ magnitudinis orthoceratiti, quorum portiones hic delineatas describo.

_Vide_ TAB. XXIII.

_Fig. A._ Orthoceratitis portio, cujus pars inferior saxo adhuc adhæret; ex lapide calcareo constans lente in apicem decrescens. Licet ex parvis ejus fragmentis judicari possit, cylindrum esse orthoceratitem, ea tamen si conjunguntur, verum formant conum, et mihi videtur ex crassitie siphonis, orthoceratitem hunc conicum duos fere superavisse pedes. Vidi orthoceratitem in alio lapide calcareo, quem etiam ibidem loci, Kelwikæ, reperi, longitudine duorum cum semisse pedum: sed impossibile erat, integrum eum excutere, nimis enim fragile erat. Est portio hæc orthoceratitis testa sua ambiente vestita in _a b c_. Quinque conspiciuntur articuli, thalami quondam, arctissime sibi invicem insidentes, per quos a latere procedit sipho _m n_ sat crassus, qui in omnibus fere, quas possideo portionibus orthoceratitarum, a centro semper remotus, hic ad peripheriam positus conspicitur. Sipho admodum lente decrescit, ex quo etiam de longitudine coni hujus judicare licet. Crustæ vel testæ _a b c_ interior pars, quæ articulos tegit, crysstallina est, ex spati crystallis tenuioribus irregularibus constans.

_J. Mynde sc._]

_Fig. B._ Portio alia, in qua articuli minus crassi; sipho quoque ad peripheriam positus, testa sua in _a_ tecta. Conspicitur septum illud testaceum in _b_, communi tenuior, quod ab ipso articulo superiori procedens, siphonis partem _r s_ investit.

_Fig. B, C._ Portio orthoceratitis ex lapide calcareo cineracei coloris: sipho vero, fluore spatoso egregie crystallisato, constat.

_Fig. C._ Portio alia per axin divisa, cujus pars exterior, testa quæ striis circularibus levioribus externe ornata, investita conspicitur.

Ex parte interiori _Fig. D._ confirmatio ejus interna adparet. Sipho _x z_ gracilior, inter centrum et peripheriam positus, dimidia parte ambiente articulo denudatus adparet; dimidia altera, inferiori articulo _c d e_ tegitur. Articulus _a b_ spato crystallisato pellucido polygono repletus est. Articulus _c d e_ vero, saxo spatoso incarnato paululum repletus est. _x_. Siphonis pars superior, ubi radii a peripheria ad centrum tendentes conspiciuntur. Inter crystallos spatosos in articulo _a b_ striæ hinc et inde adparent nigræ, asphalto repletæ; ita etiam cavitas articuli _a b_, æque ac superficies convexa articuli _c e_, quæ in primam concavam recipitur, lamina asphalti vestitæ sunt.

_Fig. E._ Pars alia orthoceratitis majoris, et quidem facies exterior.

_Fig. F._ Facies ejus interior, in medio divisi, cum siphone transeunte satis crasso. _a b c_ et reliquæ striæ leves, sunt diaphragmata, articulos _a b_ invicem separantia, siphonem proprie constituentia, siphonisque tenuiorem membranam, quæ in _o_ et _p_ adhuc conspicitur, ambientia. Sunt diaphragmata hæc crassiora in siphonis vestigiis, et sibi invicem ab inferiori parte insident. Sipho hic inter centrum et peripheriam positus est.

_Fig. G._ Materies calcarea, quæ siphonem replevit striata, et quidem pars ejus interior, qua centrum orthoceratitis respicit, peripheriæ opposita.

_Fig. H._ Facies posterior, peripheriæ propior.

_Fig. I._ Pars concava articuli majoris orthoceratitis, in qua diaphragmatis testacei jam crystallisati portiunculæ albicantes _m n r_ conspiciuntur cum siphone transeunte.

_Fig. K._ Portio alia orthoceratitis majoris, ejusque facies exterior, cum siphone _g_ ad peripheriam posito. Conspiciuntur his diaphragmata, quæ ab utroque latere, ab articulis procedunt, se invicem conjungunt, et siphonem ab exteriori parte obtegunt. _a_ est testæ satis crassæ portiuncula, qua portio hæc orthoceratitis vestita adhuc est.

XCIV. _A further Account of the Effects of Electricity in the Cure of some Diseases[133]: In a Letter from Mr._ Patrick Brydone _to Dr._ Robert Whytt, _Professor of Medicine in the University of_ Edinburgh, _and F.R.S._

Coldinghame, January 9th, 1758.

[Read May 11, 1758.]

A Young woman of Aiton, a village about two miles from this place, had her right leg drawn back by a contraction of the muscles that bend the knee, so that she had not been able to put that foot to the ground for near a twelvemonth. She had taken the advice of some Surgeons in the country, and had used several remedies to no purpose. At last, hearing of the cure of the paralytic woman, whose case I sent you some time ago, she insisted on being brought hither; and underwent a course of electrical shocks for near two months, receiving every day at least fifty or sixty in the following manner. She sat close by the machine, and grasping the phial in her hand, she presented the wire to the barrel or conductor, and drew the sparks from it for about half a minute. The phial being thus charged, she then touched her knee with the wire, and thereby received such severe strokes, as would sometimes instantly raise a blister on the part. The joint was at last so much relaxed, as that she could walk home with the help of a crutch, tho’ her leg was so weak, that she had very little use of it. After she had continued in this state for some weeks, she was advised to use the cold bath: but that soon brought back the contraction; and I have been since informed that she was worse than ever.

A soldier’s wife, a genteel looking woman, of about 30 years of age, was seized with a slight palsy, about Newcastle, on her way to this country: but before she got to this place, she had lost all the feeling in her left side, and so far the power of it, that she was brought to us in a cart. After receiving 600 strokes from the electrical machine in the usual way, and in the space of two days, she recovered the use of her side, and set out on foot to make out the rest of her journey. However, for fear of a relapse, I gave her a recommendatory letter to Mr. Sommer, Surgeon at Haddington, as she was to pass thro’ that town, and as I knew that he was likewise provided with an electrical apparatus.

A young woman from _Home_, a village in this shire, but at a good distance, complained of a coldness and insensibility in her left hand and wrist, of two years standing. When I felt that hand, it was as cold as a stone, whilst the other was sweating; and she told me, that it never had been warmer all that time. I made her draw the sparks from an egg (which for some other purpose was suspended by a wire from the conductor) for about half an hour; and at the end of that time I found the dead hand in a far greater sweat than the other. She then wrapt it up in a piece of flannel, as she used to do, and retired. Next day she told me, that since the operation she had been able to put off and on her cloaths without help, which she had not been able to do for a twelvemonth before. She was again electrised; and believing she was then quite well, she went away: but some weeks after, upon the coldness of her hand beginning to return, she made me another visit, was again electrised, and was dismissed a second time apparently cured. This is about two months ago, and I have heard nothing of her since.

As these two last women are at such a distance, I cannot pretend to send you their own testimony of their cure. But for the two cases in the separate paper, as the persons are inhabitants of this place, I have taken care that they themselves should sign them, along with my father; since you have acquainted me, that accounts of this kind should have the attestation both of the patients and the minister of the parish.

I shall only add here, that several persons have been relieved of rheumatic pains, by electrising the parts affected. And a woman was cured of a deafness of six months standing, contracted, as she imagined, by cold. This woman held the phial in her hand, whilst another person standing on a cake of resin gave her the shock, by putting the end of the wire into her ear. This manner of electrising brought always on a profuse sweat over the head, which we encouraged, by wrapping it up in flannel. The first day she came here, she could scarce hear what was spoken by those about her; but in five days she seemed to be perfectly cured.

I am, _&c._
Patrick Brydone.

_Copy of the separate Paper before mentioned._

Robert Haigs, of Coldinghame, a labouring man of about 45, after having been for ten days ill of a regular tertian ague, at my desire underwent the electrical shocks in the common way. After having received about thirty or forty very severe ones, he grew pale, and staggering for several steps, would have fallen down, had he not been supported. He then fell into a sweat, which continued near half an hour. I desired him to come back the next morning, immediately before the fit, which he said came on about ten o’clock. He accordingly came, and told me he had not the usual symptoms preceding the fit. He was that day again strongly electrised; and has been without any aguish symptom ever since; _viz._ for the space of four months.

The truth of this is attested by

ROBERT HAIGS, _the person cured_.
ROBᵗ. BRYDONE, _Minister of Coldinghame_.

Ann Torry, of Coldinghame, a young woman of about 20, had a regular tertian (being the first time she ever had the ague) for near a fortnight. The fit came on early in the morning. She was electrised on her well day in the afternoon; and the next morning, having had only a slight shivering, she was electrised again about ten o’ clock, and has had no symptom of the ague since; _viz._ for three months.

The above is attested by

ANN TORRY, _the person cured_.
ROBᵗ. BRYDONE, _Minister of Coldinghame_.

XCV. _An Account of the Black Assize at_ Oxford, _from the Register of_ Merton College _in that University. Communicated by_ John Ward, _LL. D. With some additional Remarks._

_Anno nono_ D. Bickley _Custodis_, 1577.

[Read May 25, 1758.]

VIcessimo[134] primo Julii in vestiario Dñus custos et octo Seniores dispensarunt cum _Decreto de concione et appictantia habendis, die Dominico post festum Sᵗⁱ Petri ad vincula_; ne vocata et conveniente turba, morbus ille, qui ante quinque dies quamplurimos infestarat, dissipatior et periculosior fiat. Etenim 15, 16, et 17, hujus Julii aegrotant plus minus trecenti homines; et infra duodecim dierum spatium mortui sunt (ne quid errem) centum scholares, praeter cives non paucos. Tempus sine dubio calamitosissimum et luctu plenum. Nam quidam lectos differentes[135], agitati nescio quo morbi et doloris furore, suos custodes baculis caedunt et abigunt; alii per areas et plateas insanientium more circumcursant; alii in profundam aquarum praecipites insiliunt; nemo tamen, summo Deo gratia, desperanter perit. Franguntur omnium animi. Fugiunt medici, non propter necessitatem fratrum, sed propter se et cistas creati. Relinquuntur miseri. Domini, doctores, et collegiorum praefecti, ad unum pene omnes abeunt. Custos noster, longe omnium vigilantissimus, domi apud nos manet; in aegrotis omnem curam, laborem, diligentiam impensus[136] collocat; die toto, et nocte etiam intempesta, eos sedulo invisit. Moriuntur e nostris quinque. Omnis aula, omne collegium, aut domi, aut in via ad patriam, suos habet mortuos. Mirari quis posset multitudinem ad medicastrorum domos cum matulis citato cursu properantium. Pharmacopolarum etiam conservata syrupos, olea, aquas dulces, pixides, cujusque generis confectiones, brevissimo tempore exhausta. Laborant aegroti vehementissimo tum capitis tum stomachi dolore; vexantur phrenesi; privantur intellectu, memoria, visu, auditu, et caeteris etiam sensibus. Crescente morbo, non capiunt cibos, non dormiunt, ministros aut custodes non patiuntur. Semper, vel in ipsa morte, mirae orum strenuitas et corporis robur; et eo declinante, omnia modis impense contrariis eveniunt. Nulli complexioni aut constitutioni parcitur; cholericos tamen praecipue hic morbus molestos habet; cujus ut causas, sic et curas ignorant medici. Natum suspicantur multi, vel ex foetido et pestilenti furum e carceribus prodeuntium aëre (quorum duo vel tres sunt ante paucos dies in vinculis mortui) vel ex artificiosis diabolicis et plane papisticis flatibus e Lovaniensi barathro excitatis, et ad nos scelestissime et clam emissis. Nam illi solum et hic et alibi decumbunt aegroti, qui in castro, et _guilda_, quam appellant, aula, quinto et sexto hujus mensis adsunt[137]. Assisiorum judices, dominus Robertus Bell, capitatis baro scaccarii etc. qualem hactenus non peperit Anglia; dominus Johannes Barrham, dominae reginae serviens ad legem; papisticae pravitatis uterque apertissimi hostes et acerrimi vindices: vicecomes Oxoniensis comitatis[138], equites aurati duo, armigeri et pacis justiciarii octo, generosi plures, horum non pauci famuli, omnes (uno aut attero exceptis) _de grandi_, ut loquuntur, _jure_, statim post fere relictam Oxoniam mortui sunt. Et ut quisque fortissimus, ita citissime moritur. Foeminae non petuntur, nec certe pauperes; neque etiam inficitur quisquam, qui aegrotorum necessitatibus subministrarit, aut eos inviserit. Sed ut fuit morbus hic insigniter violentus, ita neque diu duravit. Nam infra unius mensis curriculum ad pristinam pene sanitatem restituuntur omnes; ut jam denuo mirari possis tot scholares, tot etiam cives, urbem et plateas linteis capitibus obambulantes, et nomen clementissimi Dei nostri in omne aevum suspicere[139].

Vicessimo quarto Julii Joannes May, socius et artium magister, in collegio vitam finit. Sepelitur in ecclesia.

Vicessimo septimo ejusdem Browne clericus moritur in collegio.

Vicessimo octavo ejusdem Gaunte portionista moritur in collegio.

Vicessimo nono Dnus Lea, electus probationarius 20 Julii, moritur in collegio.

_Additional Remarks, by_ Tho. Birch, _D. D. Secret. R. S._

CAmden, in his Annals of Queen Elizabeth[140], observes, that almost all, except women and children, who were present at the assizes at Oxford, at the tryal of Rowland Jenkes, a Bookseller there, for seditious words, died, to the number of about three hundred. Mr. John Stow, in his _Chronicle of England_[141], enlarges this number, and affirms, that there died in Oxford three hundred persons, and in other places two hundred and odd, from the 6th of July to the 12th of August; _after which died not any of that sickness; for one of them infected not another_: And this historian agrees with Camden, that not any one woman or child died thereof. Dr. George Ethryg, a physician, who practised at that time at Oxford[142], in the 2d book of his _Hypomnemata quædam in aliquot Libros Pauli Æginetæ, seu Observationis Medicamentorum, quæ hâc ætate in usu sunt_, printed at London in 1588, in 8vo, mentions, that on the first night of the appearance of the dissease about six hundred fell sick of it; and that the next night an hundred more were seized in the villages near Oxford. Lord Bacon, in his _Natural History_, evidently refers to this, and one or two more instances of the same kind, in the following passage, _Century_ X. _Nº._ 914. “The most pernicious infection next the plague is the smell of the goal, where prisoners have been long and close and nastily kept; whereof we have had in our time experience twice or thrice, when both the judges, that sat upon the goal, and numbers of those, that attended the business, or were present, sickened upon it, and died. Therefore it were good wisdom, that in such cases the goal were aired before they be brought forth.” We have likewise an account in Mr. Anthony Wood[143], that at the quarter-session at Cambridge, in Lent in the year 1522, and the 13th of the reign of Henry VIII. the justices, gentlemen, and bailiffs, with most of the persons present, were seized with a disease, which proved mortal to a considerable number of them; those, who escaped, having been very dangerously sick. With regard to the unhappy instance of the same kind of contagion, which happened at the session in the Old Baily in May 1750, see Dr. Pringle’s excellent work, intitled, _Observations on the Diseases of the Army in Camp and in Garison_[144].

XCVI. _A Description of the Plan of_ Peking, _the Capital of_ China; _sent to the Royal Society by Father_ Gaubil, è Societate Jesu. _Translated from the_ French.

KING CHE. THE COURT.

[Read June 1, 1758.]

IN this plan are the inclosures of walls, which form as it were three cities.

[Kong tching, Tse kin.]

The first is the imperial palace, or imperial city. It is called _Kong tching_ or _Tse kin_. The numbers 11, 17, 21, 24, mark the great gates of this inclosure.

[Hoang tching.]

The second inclosure is _Hoang tching_. The numbers 3, 18, 30, 86, mark four great gates of this inclosure.

[King tching.]

The third inclosure is _King tching_, or Royal City. The numbers 235, 1, 99, 146, 173, 183, 188, 109, 211, mark nine gates of this inclosure.

At the four angles east and west of the north and south walls is a large pavillion in the form of a fortress. It is a kind of arsenal or magazine of arrows, bows, guns, bucklers, cuirasses, pikes, small cannon, _&c._

Observe the angle made by the inclosure _Hoang tching_ on the south of the gate Nº. 84, to the north of Nº. 260. The inclosure extends to the east, then to the south, and continues to the east, passing by Nº. 3.

_J. Mynde sc._ ]

_J. Mynde sc._]

1. is the great gate _Hien men_. As you go on to the north, 2, 143, 214, are three gates of a great court with magnificent walls. Thro’ the gate 3 you enter into a court, where is the _Tay miao_ Nº. 7. There are reposited the tablets of the ancestors of the reigning emperor, and of the illustrious subjects deceased, who have served the dynasty. This _miao_ or palace is a vast one, and well kept. At regular times the emperor, princes, and great men, go thither to perform ceremonies.

Nº. 9 is the _Che tsi tan_, where are performed, at regular times, the ceremonies to the ancients, who have taught the art of agriculture. This palace is a very beautiful one. 4, 5, 6, are the gates of a court, where the _reguli_ and princes go frequently to receive the emperor’s orders. There are halls for their reception. The mandarins give them tea to drink, and mark their names in a register. When upon the fixed days they cannot attend, they are required to give notice of it. It is in this court, that the tributary princes, or their envoys, do homage, and receive the presents of the emperor; which presents are considered as rewards.

Nº. 11 is _Ou men_, the great gate with a beautiful pavillion of a considerable height, in which is a large bell[145]. This gate, with those marked Nº. 12, 13, are those of the great court; whence going to the north, you enter into the beautiful and vast court _Tay ho tien_, the gates and galleries of which, with the balconies, make a fine appearance. In this court, on the first day of the year, and on other fixed days, the mandarins, according to their ranks, perform the ceremony to the emperor, who is seated on his throne in the hall called _Tay ho tien_. This hall is a vast and magnificent one. The princes, ministers, and great men of the first order, place themselves there by the emperor. It is in this hall, that the emperor gives audience to foreign princes and their ambassadors. You go up to this hall by magnificent steps.

To the north of _Tay ho tien_ is a large court, whither the princes, great men, ministers, and principal mandarins, go in turns every day, to receive the emperor’s orders, or to present their petitions. To the north of this court are the apartments of the emperor, the empress, the queens, and ladies. The great gate of the place, where these apartments are, is Nº. 23. All these apartments are in the space contained within the walls, which have this figure

+----- -----+
| 23 |.
+----- A -----+

At A is a beautiful gate to the south. The walls of the inclosure of the apartments of the emperor and empress are higher than those of the inclosures of the queens and ladies. In them are orchards, jets d’eau, flowering shrubs, and a great number of small chambers for the eunuchs.

To the west of the court _Tay ho tien_ is the fine palace _Tsi ning kong_. The empress-mother lives there at present. Every thing in this palace is beautiful. There are little gardens very neat and well kept. At the east of the _Tay ho tien_ is likewise a fine palace, where the prince heir, with his court, resided in the time of the emperor _Kanghi_. It is a very beautiful palace, and highly ornamented.

In the inclosure of _Kong tching_, or _Tse kin_, there are tribunals, a great number of magazines, manufactures, the imperial apothecary’s shop and printing-house; schools for the Chinese and Tartar languages; and several temples of idols, one of which, lately made for the lamas, cost immense sums.

Nº. 26, 28, 29, are the gates of the great inclosure called _Kin chan_. It is properly a beautiful pleasure-house, which the present emperor has caused to be extremely embellished. There are in it fine gardens with walks of trees, very rich and elegant apartments, halls for the musicians and comedians. From the mountain _m_, the last emperor of the dynasty _Ming_, seeing the city taken by the rebels, hanged himself on the morning of the 15th of April of the year of our Lord 1644. On the day before, the 14th of April, the empress hanged herself in the evening in the palace. The mountain in _Kin chan_ was made by art a long time ago.

At the west of the inclosure _Kin chan_ and _Tse kin_ observe the great laos. 54 is the _peta_, or white pyramid. This pyramid stands on a small mountain, which makes an island. The present emperor has built there, in the form of an amphitheatre, I do not know how many apartments with covered and open galleries, well built, and in a good taste: the point of view is charming, and the galleries, which run over the lake, are extremely beautiful. There are two or three temples of idols. 53 is a fine building with a temple of idols; and in it a statue of _Fo_ of an extraordinary height. It is of copper, gilt, and cost great sums. 76 is a very beautiful palace called _Yng tay_, with fine gardens, fine halls, and fine walks.

55 is the palace, in which is placed the tablet of the emperor _Kang hi_, grandfather to the present emperor, who at regular times goes thither, in order to honour the memory of that great prince, one of the most illustrious and fortunate sovereigns of the empire of China.

81 is the house and church of the French Jesuits. The house stands in 39° 55´ of northern latitude, or possibly some seconds more, and 114° to the east of the observatory of Paris. This situation, with regard to latitude and longitude, is founded upon a considerable number of astronomical observations. By means of a scale, which may be made, we have the distance between this house and the other parts of the city, north and south, east and west; as likewise the latitude and longitude of all the places in the city of Peking. 248 is the house and church of the Portuguese Jesuits; 170 the house and church of the Portuguese Jesuits[146]; 131 the house and church of the Russians. A little to the east of Nº. 176 is a small house and chapel for the Russians settled at Peking for above seventy years past.

31 is _Kou leou_[147], the Tower of the Drum; 32 is _Tchong leou_, the Tower of the Bell; in which is a very large bell[148].

179 was formerly the palace of the fourth son of the emperor _Kang hi_ after the death of _Kang hi_. This prince reigned under the name of _Yong tching_. His son the present emperor caused this palace to be demolished, and to be rebuilt with an extraordinary magnificence. In the hall is the tablet of _Yong tching_; and there are in this palace grand apartments for the emperor, when he goes thither to honour the memory of his father. The emperor has erected here a temple of idols for the lama of Thibet; and there are apartments for above three hundred lama’s. These have Chinese and Tartar disciples to the number of two hundred. Here are taught, in the Thibetan language, called here _Tan gout_, the sciences, arts, mathematics, physic, spirituality, and the pagan religion. In this beautiful inclosure there are statuaries and painters. This building is not at all inferior in beauty and magnificence to those of the palace of Peking, or to those, which the present emperor is going on to erect in his pleasure-houses.

180 _Koue he kien_ is the imperial college. The great hall, where Confucius is honoured, is a very beautiful one. There are likewise halls for honouring the disciples of this philosopher and several eminent Chinese learned men, who have followed his doctrine with success. The emperor goes thither sometimes to perform the ceremony to Confucius as master and instructor to the empire. The avenues, courts, and apartments, of _Koue he kien_ have a most majestic appearance.

70 the smaller observatory.

108 the imperial observatory, built by _Kia hing_, emperor of the last dynasty _Ming_.

136 the tribunal of mathematics, _Kin tien kien_.

137 the tribunal of mandarins, _Ly pou_.

139 the tribunal of rites and ceremonies[149], _Ly pou_.

133 _Ping pou_, the tribunal of war.

134 _Kong pou_, the tribunal for public works.

140 _Heu pou_, the tribunal for the finances.

142 the tribunal of princes, _Tsong gin fou_.

168 _Hing pou_, the tribunal for criminal causes.

144 _Li fan yuen_, the tribunal for foreign nations, Thibetans, Eleuthians, Russians, and indeed for all foreigners, who come by the way of Tartary from the west.

369 _Tou tcha yuen_, the tribunal of the censors of the empire. It has under it the _provosts_ and _mare-chaussée_.

233 the tribunal of _Kieou men ti tou_, or governor of the nine gates, that is, the governor of the city.

185 the tribunal of the judge of the city. This judge is here called _Fou yn_. He has under him two judges named _Tchi hyen_. One of these is the judge of the district called _Ouang ping hien_ 193. The other is called the district of _Tay tsing hien_ 182. These districts are within the city and without it. What is called at Peking _tou yn_ is called elsewhere _tchi fou_.

128 is the tribunal of _Han lin_, or the chosen doctors of the empire. This tribunal, called _Han lin yuen_, is a very considerable one: it has the care of the registers for the Chinese history. All the learned men of the empire, and the colleges and schools, depend upon this tribunal. Here are chosen the judges and examiners of the compositions for the degrees of the learned men; as likewise those, who are most capable of writing verses and pieces of eloquence for the use of the palace and emperor.

107 _Kong yuen_ is the inclosure, where the compositions are drawn up for the examination of the learned men. Here are a great number of little chambers or cells for the composers, and fine apartments for the mandarins appointed to preserve good order, and to prevent those, who compose, from making use of the compositions of others.

273 _Tchoua kou ting_ is a pavillion, in which is a drum. Mandarins and soldiers keep guard here day and night. In ancient times, when any person had not justice done him, and thought himself oppressed, he went and beat this drum; at the sound of which the mandarins ran, and were obliged to carry the complaint of the party oppressed to the great men or ministers. Upon which information was taken of the fact, and justice done. At present the use of this drum is abolished; but it has been thought proper to preserve this ancient monument of the Chinese government.

217 _Ti ouang miao_ is a palace, wherein are the tablets of a great number of the ancient emperors of China. At the time of the equinoxes the emperor goes thither to perform the ceremonies to these deceased emperors. See the notes on the _Ti ouang miao_, p. 723.

92, and the continuation of the buildings to the north, contain the magazines of gunpowder, salt-petre, and nitre. In the city are many other magazines. I do not name them here. They have their numbers. These magazines are of cloth, mats, skins, oil, wine, vinegar, wood, coal, porcelain, tea, varnish, silk, _&c._

The city is divided into eight quarters for the bannieres of the Tartars _Mantcheou_, the Tartars _Mongou_, and the Chinese called _Han kun_, who follow the Tartars _Mantcheou_, and submitted to them when they entered China. Since that time the Chinese _Han kun_ are become numerous and powerful. These eight bannieries are divided by this means as it were into twenty-four; _viz._ eight of _Mantcheou_, eight of _Mongou_, and eight of _Han kun_. Each banniery has its officers, magazines, and arsenal. These are pretty spacious inclosures, each of which has its number.

94 is an inclosure, in which are kept tygers; and 240 an inclosure, wherein are elephants.

65 _Tsan yuen_ is an inclosure for silk-worms.

147, 150, 151, are public granaries, very well built. Without the gates 146, 173, are many of these public granaries; as also in the environs of the city to the north, south, east, and west. The largest and most magnificent are in the city of _Tong tcheou_, four French Leagues to the east of Peking.

37, 38, 42, 52, 54, 59, 60, 66, 80, 83, 84, 85, 91, 93, 117, 118, 152, 154, 156, 160, 165, 178, 196, 203, 210, 215, 218, 225, 229, 230, 250, 255, 261, these numbers mark temples of idols. Some of these numbers mark halls for honouring of illustrious deceased persons; but of these there are only a few. There are several small _miao_, which are not numbered. In the Chinese city, in the suburbs, are many temples of idols; and some even in the emperor’s palace. And almost all the palaces of the princes have idol temples.

33, 35, 36, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 71, 109, 126, 128, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144, 180, 182, 185, 193, 219, 222, 233, 243, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 259, 260, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 297, these numbers mark the tribunals, as well those, which I have already mentioned, as many other subaltern ones, which depend on them. There is one for the physicians.

101, 119, 121, 124, 125, 129, 148, 149, 155, 161, 162, 166, 172, 174, 175, 176, 192, 194, 195, 202, 208, 209, 216, 220, 221, 224, 232, 237, 238, 239, 241, 244, 247, 249, 262, 263, 264, mark the palaces of the princes of the blood, who are divided into several classes _Tsing ouang_, _reguli_ of the first order; _Kun ouang_, _reguli_ of the second order; _Pey le_, _reguli_ of the third order; _Pey tse_, _reguli_ of the fourth order; _Kong_, or counts, divided still farther into other classes; and _Tsiang kun_, or generals of armies, divided likewise into other classes.

Some years ago the emperor caused to be measured the circumference of the walls of _King tching_, of _Hoang tching_, and of _He kin_, _&c._ as likewise the breadth of the streets, the space filled by the _miao_, our three churches, that of the Russians, palaces, _&c._ The Chinese city was not measured. A drawing of all this was made at large, and then reduced to a smaller scale, as it appears here. I will not undertake for the perfect exactness of it, either in the measures or the reduction. All this is by a Chinese hand. The foot made use of in this mensuration is to that of France as 1000 to 1016. 1800 of these feet make a _ly_[150]. By the scale to be seen in the small plan, and from the dimensions of the south and east walls of _King tching_, may be deduced all the dimensions. The circumference of the walls of the Chinese city has been formerly measured, and well, by several measures; and the result of them may be seen here by the scale.

The south wall of _King tching_ is from east to west eleven _ly_ and near a third. The east wall from north to south is nine _ly_ and some paces. So that the city is not square, as several persons have written.

The persons employed by the emperor to measure did not think of measuring the space, which contains the house and church of the congregation _de propagandâ fide_. This house and church are situated to the south between number 207 and a small bridge to the west of number 201.

In the accounts sufficient mention has been made of the walls and gates of the city of _King tching_; for which reason it is not necessary for me to say any thing concerning it.

In the year of our Lord 1267, the Tartar emperor _Koublay han_ (in Chinese _Yuen chi tsou_) built the city called _Ta tou_. It is the principal part of the present city of _King tching_. It contained the _Kin chun_, a palace _Yng tay_, _Hoang tching_, _Tse kin_, &c. the walls of the city, an observatory, the towers of the Drum and the Bell. _Yong lo_, emperor of the last dynasty _Tay ming_, made great alterations in the city built by _Yuen chi tsou_.

In the year 1406 the emperor _Yong lo_ undertook to build stronger and higher walls, and more magnificent gates, to the city; to rebuild the _Hoang tching_, the emperor and empress’s proper habitation, and the several parts of _Tse kin_, the courts, hall of the throne or of _Tay ho tien_, the _Kou leou_, the _Tchong leou_. He undertook also to build the _Sien nong tan_ and _Tien tan_, which are now in the Chinese city. On account of the wars with the Tartars, the works undertaken by _Yong lo_ were not finished till the year of our Lord 1421. Since that time, in the _Kin tchin_ some alterations have been made in the palace, and a good number of new _miao_ and palaces have been built. The emperor _Kia tsing_ built the Chinese city in the year of Christ 1544.

The gates and walls of the Chinese city are not all equal in beauty to those in the city _King tching_. The streets are neither so broad, nor so well kept in repair. More than a third of the space of the Chinese city is not inhabited. It consists only of fields and gardens. The spaces occupied by the _Sien nong tan_ and the _Tien tan_ are vast; and between these two there is a very broad road. In this Chinese city are some mosques for the Mahometans. The inhabited part of this city is much more so than the city _King tching_ and _Hoang tching_. In the Chinese city are vast inns for those, who come out of the southern provinces to Peking. Here are likewise a curious manufacture of _lieou ly_ or Chinese glass, rich merchants of women’s ornaments, of gold, of the plant _gin cheng_ so much esteemed and so dear here, of varnished furniture, tea, stuffs of value, _&c._ The booksellers shops are also in this city. It is to be remarked, that the walls of the Chinese city and _King tching_ do not run directly north and south and east and west, but decline towards the north-west 2° 30´, and as much south-east. It is probable, that the architects employed in directing the building of these walls made use of a compass; and that the declinatiation of the needle was then what is mentioned above.

What I have said of the walls of the city is likewise to be said of the walls of _Hoang tching_ and of _Tse king_.

At the time of building the city _King tching_, and the Chinese city, the Chinese astronomers very well understood, that the north and south of the compass was not the north and south of the heavens at Peking; they knew, that the needle declined to the north-west and south-east; but that this declination was not considerable.

Without the gates of the Chinese city, and of _King tching_, I mark the suburbs; which are very full of people and merchants, and like so many cities. In most of these suburbs there are fine temples of idols.

The _Sien nong tan_ in the Chinese city is almost six _ly_ in circuit. These three words signify, The hill of the ancient husbandmen.

The emperor goes thither every year in the spring to till the ground, and sacrifices on that hill to heaven. The emperor’s apartments there have nothing magnificent in them; but the ceremony of ploughing is a solemn and curious one, and deserves a particular description. The emperor tills under a small covering of mat. When he has ploughed about half an hour, he ascends a large alcove, from whence he sees the princes, great men, and mandarins, plough in the fields, which are not covered with mats. While the emperor is ploughing, a good number of peasants sing ancient songs on the importance of ploughing. The emperor, princes, and great men, are dressed in the habit of plough-men, and their instruments of husbandry are very neat, and kept in a magazine. There are granaries for the grain produced by this tillage; and it is carefully remarked, that the grain from the emperor’s tillage is much better than that from the labour of others. From this grain are made several cakes for the various sacrifices to Heaven or _Chang ti_. The emperor prepares himself for this ceremony by fasting, prayers to heaven, and a kind of retreat: and the intention of it is to keep up a memorial of those times, in which the princes themselves tilled the ground. This ceremony is of the highest antiquity in China.

Over against the _Sien nong tan_ is the _Tien tan_, or Hill of Heaven, near ten _ly_ in circuit. Every thing here is magnificent. The emperor goes thither every year at the winter solstice to sacrifice to heaven. He prepares himself three days for this ceremony by fasting, in a palace of _Tien tan_, called the _palace of fasting_. The hill, on which the emperor sacrifices, is magnificently adorned. At the four avenues are beautiful triumphal arches of fine marble; and the hill is ascended by elegant steps. In this ceremony are introduced many usages contrary to the ancient Chinese doctrine concerning the sacrifice to heaven. On the day of the winter solstice are added the honours paid to the five planets, that is, to their spirit. These ceremonies added to the sacrifice to heaven are not very ancient. There are likewise honours to the first founders of the reigning dynasty. At several other times the emperor goes to _Tien tan_ to perform a sacrifice to heaven, and to honour his deceased ancestors.

To the north of the Hill of Heaven is a large and high terrace, on which is a most magnificent hall in honour of _Chang ti_, or the sovereign Lord, and of his ancestors. On the frontispiece of this hall the present Tartar emperors have caused an inscription to be placed to _Ap cai han_, or the Lord of heaven. To this Tartar inscription answers the Chinese character _Kien_; which has the same meaning as the character _Tien_, heaven; and it signifies the _Chang ti_, who is intended to be honoured in this hall. The tablet for the _Chang ti_ is in a place, which shews, that the honour paid to _Chang ti_ is of a different kind from the honour paid to ancestors.

Without the eastern gate of _King tching_, Nº. 145, is _Ge tan_, or Hill of the Sun. At the vernal equinox the emperor sends hither a prince or great man to honour the sun, that is, the spirit of the sun. This inclosure, tho’ elegant enough, has nothing very remarkable; nor is the ceremony very ancient.

Without the north gate of _King tching_, at Nº. 183, is _Ti tan_, or the Hill of the Earth. At the summer solstice the emperor goes thither to sacrifice to the earth on the hill. Many of the learned men at present distinguish this sacrifice in the _Ti tan_ from the sacrifice in the _Tien tan_. But, according to the doctrine of Confucius, the sacrifice to the earth has the same object as the sacrifice to heaven. In both the supreme Lord _Chang ti_ is to be honoured. I do not know, whether the emperor adheres to the pure doctrine of Confucius, and whether he does not pretend to honour the earth, or spirit of the earth, by performing a sacrifice, which originally had for its object the _Chang ti_, as we are assured by Confucius. The inclosure of _Ti tan_ is a vast one; but is not at all equal in beauty to the _Tien tan_.

Without the western gate of _King tching_, Nº. 211, is _Yue tan_, the Hill of the Moon. At the autumnal equinox the emperor sends thither a prince or great man to honour the moon, or spirit of the moon. This ceremony is not very ancient. This inclosure is a neat one, and pretty large.

Between the two north gates of _King tching_, Nº. 183 and 188, is a vast esplanade for the exercise of the troops both horse and foot.

To the north of this esplanade are two beautiful temples of idols for the lamas. These two monasteries are very elegant. The emperor and the Tartars _Mon gou_ lay out great sums on these two monasteries and the two temples of the lamas.

In the year 1111 before Christ, _Ou ouang_, founder of the dynasty _Tcheou_, nominated his brother _Tchao kong_ prince of _Yen_. _Yen_ is the ancient name of a pretty extensive country, in which Peking stands. This prince of _Yen_ built a city there, a league and half south-west of the city _King tching_. This city was called _Yen king_, or the court of _Yen_. It became afterwards considerable; and the prince of _Yen_ very powerful in the country of _Petcheli_ and _Leao tong_. In the year 222 before Christ the emperor _Tsin chi hoang_ destroyed the power of the princes of _Yen_, the defendants of _Tchao kong_, and seized their dominions. The founder of the dynasty _Han_ destroyed the power of the family of _Tsin chi hoang_. In the time of the dynasty _Tsin_, before the Christian æra, and of the dynasty _Han_, the city of _Yen_ was an important government, on account of the neighbourhood of the Tartars. Some time after the dynasty _Han_ several Tartar princes _Sien pi_ made themselves masters of the country of _Yen_. During the dynasty of _Tang_ the city of _Yen_ was still a considerable one. After the destruction of that dynasty the Tartars _Ki tan_[151] made themselves masters of Tartary, and the provinces of _Chansy_, _Petcheli_, and _Leao tong_. Their power was formidable to the Chinese. Their court was in the city of _Yen_, which they adorned and inlarged. These Tartars had, like the Chinese emperors, tribunals; one for the mathematics, and another for history[152]. They had likewise some illustrious princes, and kept some correspondence with the Caliphs.

The Tartars _Nuntche_ destroyed the power of _Leao_. Their court was also at _Yen_; and they made it as magnificent and large a city as Peking is now. The Mogol Tartars destroyed the empire of the _Nuntche_ or _Kin_. Their court was at first at _Yen_; but the Tartar Mogol emperor _Koublay_ demolished that city, and built what is now called _King tching_: at least _King tching_ is a good part of the city built by _Koublay_, which was some _ly_ larger. The emperor’s palace was likewise larger.

This city _King tching_ is that, which Marco Paulo calls _Cambalu_. _Car_ is _khan_, which signifies a _king_; and _balu_ is a corruption of an old Mogol word _balga_, or _balah_, which signifies a _city_: whence is formed the word _balgasan_ in Mogol or Mongou, which signifies city. _Khan balu_, or _khan balou_, signifies the royal city. _King tching_, in the time of Marco Paulo, was the capital of the empire of China. The Persians and Arabians, from the Mongou word _khan balou_, or _khan balgasun_, or _khan balga_, formed the word _khan balik_ or _khan balek_, which signifies also the royal city. This name was given by the eastern people to the city of _Caifong fou_, the capital of _Honan_, and to that of _Nanking_, the capital of _Kiangnan_, at the time when these cities were the court of princes. This name was also given to the cities of Tartary, when some powerful princes kept sometimes their court there. What I have remarked concerning the words _khan balik_, _khan balek_, _khan balga_, &c. is to be applied to the words _ordo balik_, _ordou balik_. _Ordo_, or _ordou_, or _orto_, signifies royal, imperial, in the Mogol or Mongou language. So _ordou balik_ signifies a court, a royal city; and these words are in fact the names of some old cities, where the Mogol or Mongou kings kept their courts.

REMARKS _on_ Nº. 5, _Fan king tchang_; which is the place where the foreign classical books are kept.

_Tchang_ signifies magazine, or large place, where any thing is contained. _Fan_ signifies stranger or foreigner; and _king_ signifies a classical book.

The Jews of _Caifong fou_, the capital of _Honan_, first told the Jesuit missionaries, that they conceived, that the Hebrew Bible was preserved at Peking in the place called _Fan king tchang_. These first missionaries neglected to make a search for it at Peking, or did not think of it. But it did not escape the attention of Father Bouvet, a French Jesuit, who went to _Fan king tchang_. The antient place, where the foreign books were kept, had been destroyed; and those books removed into a neighbouring _miao_ where there were bonzes. Father Bouvet went to this _miao_ with two other French Jesuits; but they found only the Koran, fragments of the classical books of the Indians, and the classical books of the lamas; the whole in bad condition. Father Bouvet thought, that he saw in an old coffer Chaldee, Syriac, and Hebrew characters. The bonze would not shew the place, where Father Bouvet thought that he had seen those characters, which, on returning to the _miao_, were not found. The emperor had ordered the bonzes to shew every thing to Father Bouvet. All the classical books were afterwards removed to the palace; the _miao_ was demolished; and there remained nothing but the name of _Fan king tchang_. When I passed thro’ _Caifong fou_, the Jews, in the presence of Father Gozani, who served me as interpreter, assured me, that I should find the Bible in the _Fan king tchang_. These Jews had not been at Peking. What they said was in consequence of what they had been told by old Jews, who were deceased. When I arrived at Peking, I made inquiries myself, and caused inquiries to be made by others; but I could not find the Bible. It is not yet an hundred years since there were at Peking some Jewish families; which afterwards turned Mahometans. A Mahometan, who was a man of parts, assured me several times, that the Bible was in the possession of the Mahometans here, whose ancestors were Jews. But when, in consequence of what he said, inquiries were made, nothing was found. This Mahometan informed me likewise, that he had made inquiries; but if he had done so, his researches proved unsuccessful.

REMARKS _on the_ Ti ouang miao, Nº. 217.

1. The emperors, whose memory is honoured there, are

The emperors _Tou hi_, _Chin Nong_, _Hoang ti_.

The emperors _Chao hao_, _Tchouen hiu_, _Ty co_, _Yao_, _Chun_.

The emperor _Yu_, the founder of the dynasty _Hia_, and thirteen other emperors of that dynasty.

The emperor _Tching tang_, the founder of the dynasty _Chang_, and twenty-five emperors of that dynasty.

The emperor _Ou ouang_, the founder of the dynasty _Tcheou_, and thirty-one emperors of that dynasty.

The founder of the dynasty _Han_, and twenty emperors of that dynasty, who are called western _Han_, eastern _Han_, and later _Han_.

The founder of the dynasty _Tang_, and fourteen emperors of that dynasty.

The founder of the dynasty _Song_, and thirteen emperors of that dynasty; which is called the northern _Song_ and the southern _Song_.