9S ISife. of Abraham Goth elf Kajlner, 



In the year 1735 he fludied under Haufen, and he ufed 

 to thank this preceptor for having recommended to him the 

 Greek method of geometry, which is fo certain, and which 

 Kadncr afterwards purfued with fo much credit to himfelf. 



At this period there was very httle encouragement at 

 Leipfic for praftical agronomy. Haufen foretimes (howed 

 the moon to his pupils through a lelefcope, and young 

 i>^artner on:e obferyed in his company an ecUpfe of that 

 planet; but they had no tiiue-piece, and their only telefcope 

 was borrowed from Walzen, a native of Wirtemberg, who 

 refided at Leipiic as a privrae tutor, and who was afterwards 

 geographer royal at Drefden, where he died. Another timci 

 Haufei> carried Kalhier along with hiin to the tower of 

 SaiiU Nicholas's church to obferve a iranfit of Mercury over 

 the fun, and for deterpaining the time they had a plummet 

 fufpcnded by a thread; but, the weather being cloudy, they 

 could make nq obfervation. In the year 1742 a comet ap- 

 peared, and Haufen determined its orbit in the fimpleft 

 manner, by the interfe6lion of two arches through two pair 

 of (lars., A proje6lion of this comet's orbit may be feen in 

 (jrottfched's preface to Heyne's Verfuch e'lner Betrachtung liber, 

 die Cometen ; Berlin, J 743. Young Kiiftner bping defirous of 

 obferving, along with fome friends, this comet through a 

 defcope, applied to his tutor, who gave him an old wooden 

 tube^ and a convex; glafs to be ufed as an eye-glafs, by hold- 

 int^- it to the end of the tube with the hand. What obferva- 

 tions the company could make with this inftrument it would 

 be difficultUo fay in profe; but Kaftner himfelf has given an 

 account of them in an ode publiflied in the firft part of his 

 Mifcellanics. 



From what has been faid it may readily be conceived what 

 prcgrefs ivaftner was able to make in practical aftronomy. 

 Being left entirely to his own afliduity, he procured Doppel- 

 jnayr's chart of the ftars and Bayer's Uranometria; and often 

 repaired to the market-place of Leipfic, and other convenient 

 flations, to obferve the heavenly bodies. In the year 174!^ 

 he formed an acquaintance with I. C. Baumann, who by 

 his own induf^ry had ftudied mathematics in the writings of 

 Wolfe, and who wiilied to fee himfelf wliat he had learned 



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