402 HISTORY OF FORMAL ASTRONOMY. 



following nothing but the general plan of Coperni- 

 cus's demonstrations." These Prutenic Tables were 

 republished in 1571 and 1585, and continued in 

 repute for some time; till superseded by the Ru- 

 dolphine Tables of Kepler in 1627. The name 

 Prutenic, or Prussian, may be considered as a 

 tribute to the fame of Copernicus, for it shows that 

 his discoveries had inspired his countrymen with 

 the ambition of claiming a place in the literary 

 community of Europe. In something of the same 

 spirit, Rheticus wrote an Encomium Borussice 

 which was published along with his Narratio. 



The Tables founded upon the Copernican sys- 

 tem were, at first, much more generally adopted 

 than the heliocentric doctrine on which they were 

 founded. Thus Magin published at Venice, in 1587, 

 New Theories of the Celestial Orbits, agreeing 

 with the Observations of Nicholas Copernicus. But 

 in the preface, after praising Copernicus, he says, 

 " Since, however, he, either for the sake of show- 

 ing his talents, or induced by his own reasons, has 

 revived the opinion of Nicetas, Aristarchus, and 

 others, concerning the motion of the earth, and 

 has disturbed the established constitution of the 

 world, which was a reason why many rejected, or 

 received with dislike, his hypotheses, I have thought 

 it worth while, that, rejecting the suppositions of 

 Copernicus, I should accommodate other causes to 

 his observations, and to the Prutenic tables." 



This doctrine, however, was, as we have shown, 



