relative to the houses, you may confidently proceed with your calculations and place the other planets. If not, you have made a mistake which must be corrected before you go further.
When someone hands you a horoscope calculated by another astrologer and asks you to read it, look first at the time of birth and then see if the Sun is in its proper position relative to the houses, and the right sign as determined by the month, for if you start to read from an improperly cast horoscope you lay yourself liable to ridicule. Suppose Saturn were on the ascendant and you accuse that person of being melancholy; when he denies the indications and you discover that Mars and Mercury should be there in Scorpio, it is not probable that he will accept your explanations; he will more likely sneer at astrology and astrologers; nor can we deny that from his point of view such condemnation is justified. Therefore be careful to look at the Sun. Other mistakes may occur, but that is the most serious and the most easily detected.
