_Records._—With regard to records, every observer should make a note of what he sees, and at the earliest possible instant after the observation has been effected. If the duty is relegated to a subsequent occasion it is either not done at all or done very imperfectly. The most salient features of whatever is observed should be jotted down in systematic form, so as to permit of ready reference afterwards. It is useful to preserve these records in a paged book, with an index, so that the matter can be regularly posted up. The negligence of certain observers in this respect has resulted in the total loss of valuable observations. Even if the details appear to possess no significance, they should be faithfully registered in a convenient, legible form, because many facts deemed of no moment at the time may become of considerable importance. The observer should never refrain from such descriptions because he attributes little value to them. Some men keep voluminous diaries in which there is scarcely anything worth record; but this is going to the other extreme. All that is wanted is a concise and brief statement of facts. Some persons have omitted references to features or objects observed because they could not understand them, and rather distrusted the evidence of their eyes; but these are the very experiences which require careful record and reinvestigation. _Drawing._—Few observers are good draughtsmen; but it is astonishing how seldom we meet with real endeavours to excel in this respect. Every amateur should practise drawing, however indifferent his efforts may be. Delineations, even if roughly executed, are often more effective than whole pages of description. Pictorial representations form the leading attraction of astronomical literature, and are capable of rendering it more interesting to the popular mind than any other influence. They induce a more apt conception of what celestial objects are really like than any amount of verbal matter can possibly do. For this reason it becomes the obvious duty of every observer to cultivate sketching and drawing, at least in a rudimentary way. He will frequently find it essential to illustrate his descriptions, so as to ensure their ready comprehension. In fact, a thoroughly efficient observer must of necessity become a draughtsman. It should, however, be his invariable aim to depict just what he sees and in precisely the form in which it impresses his eye. Mere pictorial embellishments must be disregarded, and he should be careful not to include doubtful features, possibly existing in the imagination alone, unless he intends them simply for his own guidance in future investigations. If he sees but little, and it is faithfully delineated, it will be of more real value than a most elaborate drawing in which the eye and imagination have each played a part. It is an undoubted fact that some of the most striking illustrations in astronomical handbooks are disfigured by