acrofs, thus which by the way approaches nearer to
the human figure, having now arms as well as legs, fignifies
the abftrad quality g rea t; and with a fecond line thus
the material or vifible heaven, between either o f which and
man it would be no eafy talk to find out the ana logy ; and ftill
lefs fo to trace an affinity between any o f them, and
which fignifies a dog.
It is true certain ancient characters are ftill extant, in which
a rude reprefentation o f the image is employed; as for inftance,
a circle for the fun, and a crefcent for the moon, but thefe appear
to have been ufed only as abbreviations, in the fame manner
as thefe objeds are ftill characterized in our almanacks, and
in our aftronomical calculations. Thus alfo the kingdom o f
China is defigned by a fquare, w ith a vertical line drawn through
, the middle, in conformity perhaps with their ideas o f the earth
being a fquare, and China placed in its center; fo far thefe may
be confidered as fymbols o f the objeCts intended to be repre-
fented. So, alfo, the numerals one, two, three, being defigned
b y |g& — , would naturally fuggeft themfelves as being
fully as convenient for the purpofe, and perhaps more fo than
any other; and where the firft feries o f numerals ended, which
according to the univerfal cuftom o f counting by the fingers
was at ten, the very a d o f p lacing the index o f the right hand
on the little finger o f the left would fuggeft the form o f the
vertical
vertical crofs q. as the fymbol or reprefentation o f the number
ten.
I cannot avoid taking notice in this place o f a publication ot
Dod o r Hager, which he calls an “ Explanation o f the Elementary
Characters o f the Chinefe" In this work he has advanced
a moft extraordinary argument to prove an analogy between the
ancient Romans and the Chinefe, from the refemblance which
he has fancied to exift between the numeral charaders and the
numeral founds made ufe o f by thofe two nations. The Romans,
he obferves, exprefled their numerals one, two, three, by
a correfponding number o f Vertical ftrokes I. II. III. which the
Chinefe place horizontally _ . The Romans defigned
the number ten by an oblique crofs x , and the Chinefe by a
vertical one + . This refemblance in the forming o f their numerals,
fo fimple and natural that almoft all nations have
adopted it, is furely too flight a coincidence for concluding,
that the people who ufe them muft neceflarily, at fome period
or other, have had communication together. The Dodor
however feems to think fo, and proceeds to obferve, that the
three principal Roman cyphers, I. V . X. or one, five and ten,
are denoted in the Chinefe language b y the fame founds that
they exprefs in the Roman alphabet. This remark, although
ingenious, is not corred. One andfiv e , it is true, are exprefled
in the Chinefe language by the y and ou o f the French, which
it may be prefumed-, were the founds that the letters I. and V .
obtained in the ancient Roman alphabet; but with regard to
the ten, or X , whicli, he fays, the Chinefe pronounce xe, he it
entirely miftaken, the Chinefe word for ten in Pekin being Jhee,
and