JEROME CARDAN 19 



To judge from the pictures which the Pavlan student, 

 writing in after years, gives of his physical self, it may 

 be inferred that he was ill-endowed by the Graces. " I 

 am of middle height. My chest is somewhat narrow 

 and my arms exceedingly thin : my right hand is the 

 more grossly fashioned of the two, so that a chiroman- 

 tist might have set me down as rude or doltish : indeed, 

 should such an one examine my hand, he would be 

 ashamed to say what he thought. In it the line of life 

 is short, and that named after Saturn long and well 

 marked. My left hand, however, is seemly, with fingers 

 long, tapering, and well-set, and shining nails. My neck 

 is longer and thinner than the rule, my chin is divided, 

 my lower lip thick and pendulous, my eyes are very 

 small, and it is my wont to keep them half-closed, per- 

 adventure lest I should discern things over clearly. My 

 forehead is wide and bare of hair where it meets the 

 temples. My hair and beard are both of them yellow 

 in tint, and both as a rule kept close cut. My chin, 

 which as I have said already is marked by a division, is 

 covered in its lower part with a thick growth of long 

 hair. My habit is to speak in a highly-pitched voice, so 

 that my friends sometimes rebuke me thereanent ; but, 

 harsh and loud as is my voice, it cannot be heard at any 

 great distance while I am lecturing. I am wont to talk 

 too much, and in none too urbane a tone. The look of 

 my eyes is fixed, like that of one in deep thought. My 

 front teeth are large, and my complexion red and white : 

 the form of my countenance being somewhat elongated, 

 and my head is finished off in narrow wise at the back, 

 like to a small sphere. Indeed, it was no rare thing for 

 the painters, who came from distant countries to paint 



removed by Francis I. to Fontainebleau, and with the other collec- 

 tions formed the nucleus of the Bibliotheque Nationale. 



