JEROME CARDAN 207 



the floor under the middle of the bed, but the marvel 

 was not yet worked out : the ring could not possibly 

 have got into such a place unless it had been put there 

 by hand. It could not have rolled there, on account of 

 its shape, nor could it have fallen from the bed, because 

 the pillow was closely joined to the head of the bed, 

 round which ran a raised edge with no rift therein. 

 Cardan concludes : " I know that much may be said 

 over this matter, but nothing, forsooth, which will con- 

 vince a man, ever so little inclined to superstition, that 

 there was no boding sign manifested thereby, foretelling 

 the ruin of my position and good name. Then, having 

 soothed my mind, albeit I was well-nigh hopeless, I 

 consoled myself with the belief that God still protected 

 me." After pondering long and anxiously over the 

 possible significance of this sign he took a more san- 

 guine view of the future. He next put the jacinth ring 

 on his finger and bade the boy try to pull it off, but he 

 tried in vain, so well and closely did the ring fit the 

 finger. From this time forth Cardan laid aside this 

 ring, after having worn it for many years as a safeguard 

 against lightning, plague, wakefulness, and palpitation 

 of the heart. 1 



Many other instances of a like character might be 

 given from the Paralipomena ; but the foregoing will 

 suffice to show that the natural inclination of Cardan's 

 temper towards the marvellous had been aggravated by 

 his recent troubles. Also the belief that all men's hands 

 were against him never slumbered, but for this disposi- 

 tion there may well have been some justification. Scarcely 

 had he settled in Bologna before an intrigue was set in 

 motion against him. " After the events aforesaid, and 

 after I had gone to teach in Bologna, my adversaries, 

 1 Opera, torn. x. p. 459. 



