456 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



patience, a keen eye and good judgment ; but no instruments 

 are required save a good celestial globe or star chart. The 

 writer has engaged in several lines of astronomical work but 

 has found watching for meteors the most entertaining of 

 all. This is especially the case on Autumn mornings, when 

 meteors fall frequently, and the observer has to use great 

 expedition to register them. When a man has acquired experi- 

 ence in this department, and a thorough knowledge of the 

 principal showers, the work becomes very interesting. In fact, 

 to realise the extent of this a person must have deeply engaged 

 in the research for many years ; he will then understand its 

 details and appreciate its many attractions. To be successful 

 the observer should watch during the whole night, for many 

 showers will otherwise escape recognition on account of their 

 feebleness. In England about 3,000 or 4,000 meteors could be 

 registered in a year by a fairly energetic student ; in a finer 

 climate, however, probably three or four times that number 

 could be recorded. But whatever is done in this branch must 

 be done well, or at least as well as the adverse conditions allow. 

 Every accurate observation is valuable ; but an incorrect record 

 is worse than useless; and whenever there is a suspicion of error, 

 that record should be rejected. Unreliable data if combined with 

 good observations will only destroy the utility of them all. 



