AsTR(JN()MK".\I. XolHS. 291 



bolic. SliDuUl it be elliptical its, period will run into thou- 

 sands of years; should its path be hyperbolic it will not 

 return to the sun ag^ain. 



Comets of 1914. 

 Five comets were discovered during- the year, all of 



which were practically telescopic. 



1914 (a) — Discovered by Dr Kritzinger, of Botiikamp, Ger- 

 many, on March ^oth, in Ophiucus. 



1914 (b) — Discovered by M. Zlatinsky, of the Mitau Obser- 

 vatory, Russia, on May i6th, near A Persei. 



1914 (c) — Discovered by Dr Neujmin, of the Simeis Obser- 

 vatory, Russia, on June 30th, in Sag-ita.rius". 



1914 (d) — Encke's Comet. Discoxered on September i8th 

 by Professor Barnard in Perseus. 



1914 (e) — This comet was discovered by three different 

 observers in widely different longitudes on the same day 

 — by Mr Lunt, of the Cape of Good Hope Observatory ; 

 Mr Leon Campbell, of Arequipa ; and Mr C. W'estland, 

 of New Zealand. It was then near Alpha Eridini. 

 Note. — I am indebted to the English Mechanic for all 



the information contained in this paper which is not my own 



work. 



Accounts of the Treasurers of the Royal Burgh of 

 Dumfries, 1633=4, 1634=5, 1636=8, 1638=9. 



Transcribed by R. C. Reid. 



I.NTRODUCTION. 



The earliest survi\ing- accounts of the Burgh Treasurers 

 of Dumfries in separate form are for the year 1634.* From 

 that year onwards there is a fairly complete series, only two 

 or three of the annual accounts being missing-. The accounts 

 seem to have been rather loosely kept. Not till 1642 does 

 there appear any effort to check the Treasurer's accounts, 



* In the Burgh Court Books, which extend with considerable 

 breaks from 1506 to 1624, the Treasurer's Accounts appear occa- 

 sionally in abbreviated form. 



