Note 144 — Chapter XII · THE STONE OF HERCULES.
Reading edition
P. Martini (Hist. p. 106), P. Amiot (Abrégé chronologique de l’histoire de la Chine, contained in the collection of the Mémoires sur les Chinois, tom. xiii.), Mailla (Hist. Gener. de la Chine, Paris, 1777, tom. i. p. 317), P. Gaubil (Astronomie Chinoise), Sir G. Staunton (Embassy to China), M. Roding (Dict. Polyglotte de Marine), W. Josh. Hager (Dissert. sur la Boussole), contend that from time immemorial the Chinese were in possession of the magnet. That the compass came from the Chinese to the Europeans, through the Arabs, is maintained by Bergeron (Hist. des Sarrazins, p. 119). Riccioli (Geogr. et Hydrogr. Ven. 1672.) Mention is made of the compass afloat in the third and in the fifth centuries of our era. “There were then (Tsin dynasty) ships directed to the south by the needle.”—Poi-wen-jeu-fou, or Great Encyclopedia.