THE WINTER OF TARTAGLIA'S DISCONTENT. 263 



first occasioned. He replied to the " most honourable 

 Messcr NicoloY' that he must have been beside himself to 

 write as he had written to one " who was his great friend, 

 and had without envy praised him to the skies." He 

 added, " for the other matter I reply that you have been 

 misinformed about my intention to publish on Algebra, 

 and to make known your rules. I think you must have 

 been hearing something from Messer Ottaviano Scoto 

 about the Arcana of Eternity, which you imagine to 

 be the Algebra I am about to publish. As to your 

 repentance at having given me your rules, I am not to be 

 moved by that or by any words of yours to depart from 

 the faith I pledged you 2 ." 



To this letter Tartalea sent no answer ; still Jerome did 

 not quarrel with him; and another letter from Cardan, 

 the last in Nicolo's collection, dated the 5th of January, 

 1540, stated how " that deuce of a Messer Zuanne da 

 CoiV' by whom Nicolo, Jerome, and all mathematicians 

 in that part of Italy were bored, had come to Milan, be^ 

 lieving that Cardan was desirous to give up to him his 

 arithmetical lectures, and professing, apparently with 

 truth, that he had found out certain rules. Cardan 



1 " Ho receputa una uostra, Messer Nicolo osseruandissimo, . . , ." 



2 " .... Quanto al pentirue hauermi dato quel uostro capitolo, per 

 questo non mi mouo, per uostre parole a niuna cosa contra la fede ui 

 promisse." 



3 " Eglie ritornato qui quel diauolo de Messer Zuanne Colle, . . ." 



