FIRST STAGE OF THE DISPUTE. 235 



To this letter Tartalea replied categorically on the 18th 

 of February, 1539 1 , at such very great length, that I 

 must be content to quote only the few passages which bear 

 immediately on our present subject. It must be quite 

 obvious that the mention made in the preceding letter of 

 Alphonso d'Avalos, Marquis del Guasto, was altogether 

 natural. Cardan knew when the tract on artillery came 

 out, that Tartalea possessed a bit of mathematical know- 

 ledge which he himself was desiring greatly to acquire. If 

 only in the hope of finding some clue to his secret, it was 

 natural that he should have bought anything mathematical 

 written by Nicolo, and as the subject was the management 

 of artillery, it would occur to him most readily to present 

 a copy to his patron, who, possessing the tastes of a 

 scholar, was appointed general in the district, and was 

 concerned very actively in the prevailing wars. That 

 Jerome had not only bought the tract but read it care- 

 fully, is evident from the perfectly just criticism of one of 

 its propositions contained in the preceding letter. The 

 first point of accusation in that letter consisted, I need 

 scarcely say, of a prevarication. I have pointed out the 

 vicious clause in the ethics sanctioned by his Church, and 

 almost universal in his time, which allowed truth of mind 

 to be put out of sight for any useful purpose, if the truth 

 of the lip only was preserved. Cardan was preserved 

 1 Op. cit. pp. 118 122. The pages are numbered in pairs. 



