Brahe, an earnest student of chemistry, was to supervise the 

 construction of a laboratory; Longomontanus was to observe 

 the moon and its phases ; Kepler to study Mars ; while Teng- 

 nagel, the fiance of Elisabeth Brahe, naturally busied himself 

 (as von Hasner wittily remarks) with an earthly Venus. 

 Unfortunately Brahe was of a sanguine temperament, quite 

 obstinate, and inclined to be irritable; moreover he was in 

 his fifty-fourth year, whereas Kepler, his brilliant assistant, 

 was but twenty -nine, and the peace of this complex house- 

 hold was broken up by a quarrel which led to a withdrawal 

 of the younger from the establishment, as it proved, however, 

 only temporarily. Another serious blow to the plans at 

 Benatek fell when the Emperor commanded the illustrious 

 Dane to remove to Prague and to reside nearer his imperial 

 person, for consultation on astrological matters as well as 

 to obtain greater insight into astronomical labors. After the 

 removal of the instruments to the royal gardens on the 

 Hradschin, and of his household to the dwelling of his friend 

 Curtius, recently deceased, Brahe resumed his observations, 

 but notwithstanding the liberality of the Emperor and the 

 kindness of his friends, he felt that he was a stranger in a 

 foreign land ; ignorant of the language of the people, experi- 

 encing many inconveniences and some disappointments, his 

 disturbed mind enfeebled his body and he fell a victim to dis- 

 ease which terminated fatally on the twenty-fourth of October 

 1601. By order of the Emperor the body of the illustrious 

 astronomer was buried with great pomp in the principal 

 church (Teynkirche) of Prague, where a full length brass is 

 still to be seen. 



The great collection of books and instruments left b3 r 

 Brahe was bought of his heirs for twenty thousand thalers, 

 of which only four thousand were paid down, and twelve 

 years later twenty-three hundred more were paid to the now 



82 



