i 2 6 JEROME CARDAN 



that the Primate was cured of a lingering asthma by the 

 incantations of an astrologer named Cardan, from Milan. 

 Cardan in his narrative speaks of Edinburgh as the 

 place where he met his patient, and does not mention 

 any other place of sojourn, but the record just quoted 

 goes on to say that he abode with the Primate for eleven 

 weeks at his country residence at Monimail, near Cupar, 

 Fife, where there is a well called to this day Cardan's 

 Well. 



Cardan, as it has been noticed already, refused to 

 commit himself to any opinion as to the character of 

 the Archbishop's distemper over the dinner-table where 

 he and Cassanate had been entertained by the French 

 King's physicians. Cassanate had set forth his views 

 in full as to the nature of the asthma which had to be 

 dealt with in his letter to Cardan, and it is highly pro- 

 bable that he would again bring forward these views in 

 the hearing of the Paris doctors. It is certain that some 

 of the French physicians had, previous to this, prescribed 

 a course of treatment for the Archbishop, probably 

 without seeing him, and that the course was being tried 

 when Cardan arrived in Edinburgh. 1 For the first six 

 weeks of his stay he watched the case, and let the treat- 

 ment aforesaid go on whether it differed from that which 

 Cassanate recommended or not there is no evidence to 

 show. But no good result came of it. The Archbishop 

 wasted in body and became fretful and disturbed in 



de Magte, writes : " Ceux qui recherchoiant les Mathe'matiques et 

 les Sciences les moins communes e'toient soupgonnez d'etre enchan- 

 teurs et Magiciens." p. 1 5. 



1 " Curam agebat Medicus ex constitute Medicorum Lutetian- 

 orum." De Vita Propria, ch. xl. p. 137. Cardan makes no direct 

 mention of any other physician in Scotland besides Cassanate ; but 

 the Archbishop would certainly have a body physician in attend- 

 ance during Cassanate's absence. 



