1601 
the problems of navigation. According to the historian Barros there 
sat in this commission two royal physicians, Don Ropricurz and Don 
JosepH Viztnno, who had taken part in several voyages, as well as 
Martin Benam from Bohemia, who had come to Portugal in 1484, 
and who styled himself a pupil of the celebrated astronomer Rrato- 
MONTANUs, who had lived in Nuremberg from 1471 to 1475. 
The lack of facilities at that time made a proper determination 
of longitude at sea impossible, but for latitude, which the Portuguese 
needed most in their voyages, the conditions were more favorable. 
For places north of the equator, they could make use of the altitude 
of the Pole Star, from which, after some corrections, the latitude 
could be deduced, but in places south of the equator this star was 
no longer visible, and the position of the stars in the southern 
hemisphere of the heavens were too little known to serve for the 
determination of the latitude. The celestial body in those parts most 
suitable for the purpose, was the sun, but as the distance of the 
sun from the celestial pole changes from day to day, it was necessary 
to know beforehand its position for every day of the year, or rather 
its distance from the celestial pole. 
ReciomMontanus, while in Nuremberg, had made known the position 
of the sun for a number of years, in a work which he published, 
entitled ‘“Ephemerides ab anno 1475 ad annum 1506”, and it has 
always been supposed that Benaim communicated these tables to the 
Portuguese junta, thus enabling the Portuguese mariners to determine 
the latitude by means of the sun. Moreover Brnaim is supposed to 
have been of further use to them by introducing into Portugal the 
astrolabe, which was said to have been invented by REGIOMONTANUS, 
and to have been made in the work-shops in Nuremberg. 
Upon these grounds Humsorpr has attributed to Martin Bena 
and to ReEGIOMONTANUsS a predominant influence upon the discoveries 
of the Portuguese (in which he has been followed by many other Ger- 
man scholars). ZieeLEr for instance writes: — “Although Germany 
did not take a direct part in the great geographical discoveries of 
the 15th and 16 centuries, yet it was German scientists who, both 
by the construction of instruments and by their theoretical researches, 
materially contributed to these discoveries. In this manner, our 
compatriots REGIOMONTANUS and Martin BrHAmM have the merit of 
being precursors of CorumBus in the discovery of America.” Another 
German even suggested that the name Behaimia should be substituted 
for that of America. 
A Portuguese scholar, Joaquim Brnsaupg, has lately instituted a 
thorough investigation of the achievements of the Portuguese in 
