When you look at the firmament on a clear Autumnal or Winter evening, it appears so thickly studded with stars, that you would perhaps imagine that the task of learning even the brightest of them would be almost hopeless. Let me assure you, this is all a mistake. On the contrary, it is a very easy task to become acquainted with the names and positions of the stars of the first magnitude, and of the leading constellations. If you will give a few evenings to the study, you will be surprised to find, both how rapidly you can form these new acquaintances, and how deeply you will become interested in them. I would advise you, at first, to obtain, for an evening or two, the assistance of some friend who is familiar with the stars, just to point out a few of the most conspicuous constellations. This will put you on the track, and you will afterwards experience no difficulty in finding all the constellations and stars that are particularly worth knowing; especially if you have before you a map of the stars, or, what is much better, a celestial globe. It is a pleasant evening recreation for a small company of young astronomers to go out together, and learn one or two constellations every favorable evening, until the whole are mastered. If you have a celestial globe, _rectify_ it for the evening; that is, place it in such a position, that the constellations shall be seen on it in the same position with respect to the horizon, that they have at that moment in the sky itself. To do this, I first elevate the north pole until the number of degrees on the brass meridian from the pole to the horizon corresponds to my latitude, (forty-one degrees and eighteen minutes.) I then find the sun's place in the ecliptic, by looking for the day of the month on the broad horizon, and against it noting the corresponding sign and degree. I now find the same sign and degree on the ecliptic itself, and bring that point to the brass meridian. As that will be the position of the sun at noon, I set the hour-index at twelve, and then turn the globe westward, until the index points to the given hour of the evening. If I now inspect the figures of the constellations, and then look upward at the firmament, I shall see that the latter are spread over the sky in the same manner as the pictures of them are painted on the globe. I will point out a few marks by which the leading constellations may be recognised; this will aid you in finding them, and you can afterwards learn the individual stars of a constellation, to any extent you please, by means of the globes or maps. Let us begin with the _Constellations of the Zodiac_, which, succeeding each other, as they do, in a known order, are most easily found.