at Uraniborg a laboratory was constructed in the crypt 

 beneath the building, in which no less than sixteen furnaces 

 were disposed for every degree of heat desired. He never 

 published the results of his researches in alchemy, giving as 

 a reason one frequently alleged by others ; "on consideration," 

 he wrote, "and by the advice of most learned men I thought 

 it improper to unfold the secrets of the art to the vulgar, 

 since few persons are capable of using its mysteries to ad- 

 vantage." 



As most physicians were astrologers, astronomers also 

 practiced medicine; Copernicus had done so, and it is not 

 strange to find that Brahe had invented an Elixir which was 

 widely sold as a remedy against the epidemics then ravaging 

 Germany. The Emperor Rudolph having heard of this precious 

 panacea sought of Brahe the secret of its preparation, where- 

 upon the latter addressed a long letter to his Majesty com- 

 municating the formula, and begging him to keep the secret 

 and to reserve to himself the curative power. The prescrip- 

 tion called for Venetian treacle, which was subjected to several 

 chemical operations, and to which was added either tincture 

 of corals, or of sapphires, or of hyacinths, or a solution of 

 pearls, or best of all a solution of potable gold ; but to make 

 the nostrum of universal application for all diseases that 

 could be cured by perspiration, it was necessary to combine 

 it with a preparation of antimony. 



In 1599 soldiers and refugees from the seat of the Turkish 

 war on the borders of Hungary, brought back to Bohemia 

 the seeds of the dreaded plague, and soon the city on the 

 Moldau was a victim of this frightful epidemic ; Rudolph, who 

 always had a superstitious fear of death, fled with a small 

 part of his court to Pilsen where he remained more than 

 nine months. Tycho Brahe, on his way to Prague, received 

 alarming reports of the mortality in Bohemia and lingered in 



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