e other horizon without the observer having to
move his head. This is effected by having a reflector in the central
part of the instrument, which throws the rays of light at right angles
through the axis.

[Illustration: THE "BROKEN-BACKED COMET-SEEKER"]

How well this search can be conducted by observers with limited means
at their disposal is shown by the success of several American
observers, among whom Messrs. W. R. Brooks, E. E. Barnard, and Lewis
Swift are well known. The cometary discoveries of these men afford an
excellent illustration of how much can be done with the smallest means
when one sets to work in the right spirit.

The larger number of wonderful telescopic objects are to be sought for
far beyond the confines of the solar system, in regions from which
light requires years to reach us. On account of their great distance,
these objects generally require the most powerful telescopes to be seen
in the best manner; but there are quite a number within the range of
the amateur. Looking at the Milky Way, especially its southern part, on
a clear winter or summer evening, tufts of light will be seen here and
there. On examining these tufts with a telescope, they will be found to
consist of congeries of stars. Many of these groups are of the greatest
beauty, with only a moderate optical power. Of all the groups in the
Milky Way the best known is that in the sword-handle of Perseus, which
may be seen during the greater part of the year, and is distinctly
visible to the naked eye as a patch of diffused light. With the
telescope there are seen in this patch two closely connected clusters
of stars, or perhaps we ought rather to say two centres of condensation.

Another object of the same class is Proesepe in the constellation
Cancer. This can be very distinctly seen by the naked eye on a clear
moonless night in winter or spring as a faint nebulous object,
surrounded by three small stars. The smallest telescope shows it as a
group of stars.

Of all stellar objects, the great nebula of Orion is that which has
most fascinated the astronomers of two centuries. It is distinctly
visible to the naked eye, and may be found without difficulty on any
winter night. The three bright stars forming the sword-belt of Orion
are known to every one who has noticed that constellation. Below this
belt is seen another triplet of stars, not so bright, and lying in a
north and south direction. The middle star of this triplet is the gr