Among the many who have seen and drawn the canals comes first, of course, Professor Schiaparelli, the discoverer of them. It is only necessary to state here that he first detected these enigmatical markings, which he named _canali_, in 1877. In the opposition of 1879, he not only confirmed the discoveries of 1877, but added new _canali_, and for the first time saw the curious process of doubling, or gemination. Astronomers in various parts of the world searched in vain for these markings, and despite the exalted character and remarkable work of the distinguished Italian in other lines of astronomic research, it was feared that, in this instance, Schiaparelli had been the victim of an hallucination. It is true that from the time of Huyghens, in 1659, a few astronomers, such as Secchi, Schroeter, Kaiser, and Dawes, have detected and drawn a few faint lines which seemed to be identical with the _canali_ of Schiaparelli. It was not until 1886, however, that Perrotin and Thollon with a twenty-nine inch refractor of the Nice Observatory, first began to confirm the discoveries of Schiaparelli, and since that time observers in various parts of the world have detected and drawn these remarkable lines. The cumulative testimony of these men as to the veritable existence of these markings cannot be set aside. It seems strange that nine years should elapse before an astronomer with an interest in the subject, coupled with an acute vision and the patience to observe assiduously, should arise to confirm the existence of these markings, but in another chapter I have called attention to the little interest astronomers have manifested in planetary markings of any kind. It has been shown elsewhere that acute vision, with a clear and, above all, a steady atmosphere, are the chief essentials in making out the markings. It is curious to note the attitude of some astronomers, who, having seen the canals and even drawn them, denied their veritability. Their explanations cover "illusions due to the property of light itself, the inability of the eye to maintain its mechanism of accommodation, the behavior of air waves, temporary alteration of the focus of the eye, undetected astigmatism," etc., etc. But, to return to the astronomers who have drawn them. On the unfavorable opposition of 1888, Schiaparelli declares that "the _canali_ had all the distinctness of an engraving on steel, with the magical beauty of a colored engraving." He furthermore says: "As far as we have been able to observe them hitherto, they are certainly fixed configurations upon the planet, the Nilosyrtis has been seen in that place for nearly one hundred years and some of the others for at least thirty years."