the radii in the same plane. After the radii had been opened or shut
till they nearly comprehended the angle between the stars to be
observed, the adjustment was completed by means of a very fine tangent
screw. With this instrument Tycho made many excellent observations
during his stay at Augsburg. He began also the construction of a wooden
globe about six feet in diameter. Its outer surface was turned with
great accuracy into a sphere, and kept from warping by interior bars of
wood supported at its centre.

After receiving a visit from the celebrated Peter Ramus, who
subsequently fell a victim at the massacre of St Bartholomew, Tycho left
Augsburg, having received a promise from his friend Hainzel that he
would communicate to him the observations made with his large quadrant,
and with the sextant which he had given him in a present. He paid a
visit to Philip Appian in passing through Ingolstadt, and returned to
his native country about the end of 1571.

The fame which he had acquired as an astronomer procured for him a
warmer reception than that which he had formerly experienced. The King
invited him to court, and his friends and admirers loaded him with
kindness. His uncle, Steno Bille, who now lived at the ancient convent
of Herritzvold, and who had always taken a deep interest in the
scientific character of his nephew, not only invited him to his house,
but assigned to him for an observatory the part of it which was best
adapted for that purpose. Tycho cheerfully accepted of this liberal
offer. The immediate proximity of Herritzvold to Knudstorp, rendered
this arrangement peculiarly convenient, and in the house of his uncle he
experienced all that kindness and consideration which natural affection
and a love of science combined to cherish. When Steno learned that the
study of chemistry was one of the pursuits of his nephew, he granted him
a spacious house, a few yards distant from the convent, for his
laboratory. Tycho lost no time in fitting up his observatory, and in
providing his furnaces; and regarding gold and silver and the other
metals as the stars of the earth, he used to represent his two opposite
pursuits as forming only one science, namely, celestial and terrestrial
astronomy.

In the hopes of enriching himself by the pursuits of alchemy, Tycho
devoted most of his attention to those satellites of gold and silver
which now constituted his own system, and which disturbed by their
powerful action the hith