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100 till about twenty-five years after the construction of the globe had been commenced was it completely finished. It was mounted on a solid stand, with graduated circles for meridian and horizon, and a movable graduated quadrant for measuring altitudes. On the horizon was the unavoidable inscription stating how the great work of art was made. A hemispherical cover of silk could be lowered over it from the ceiling to protect it from dust. In addition to this great globe, the library or museum contained four tables for Tycho's assistants to work at, also his collection of books and various smaller knicknacks, portraits of astronomers and philosophers, among whom Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Albattani, Copernicus, and the Landgrave figured conspicuously. There was also a portrait of George Buchanan, who played so important a part in the religious and political revolutions in Scotland, and whose acquaintance Tycho had probably made in 1571 when Buchanan was in Denmark. This portrait had been presented to Tycho by Peter Young. Under the pictures were versified inscriptions composed by Tycho.

We may form some idea of the elegance and taste which pervaded Tycho's residence by examining the large picture which adorned his great mural quadrant. This instrument was, as already mentioned, mounted on the wall in the south-west room on the ground-floor, and consisted of a