JEROME, a celebrated Italian physician, mathematician, and philosopher, was born at Pavia in 1501. He was a natural son of Facio Cardan, a celebrated jurist-consult of Milan; and in his book De vita proprii he represents himself as from his very infancy exposed to the most extraordinary complication of misfortunes. His mother, during her pregnancy, in vain attempted to procure an abortion, and he was delivered only by the caesarian operation. In the house of his father at Milan, notwithstanding his delicate constitution and tyrannical treatment, he made great progress in mathematics; and though at first he joined the Franciscan order he quickly abandoned the life of the cloister for the eager pursuit of medicine and philosophy. Having studied for a year at Pavia he removed to Padua, where, in the absence of his professor, he was frequently called to conduct the classes of geometry and dialectics, and afterwards received the degree of doctor of medicine. He continued to support himself by his practice for six years at Sacco, where he married Lucia Bandareni, the daughter of a needy Venetian adventurer. Soon afterwards he was withdrawn from his retirement by Archbishop Archinto to lecture on mathematics and medicine at Milan. Induced by extravagant promises from the inhabitants, he accepted the chair of medicine at Pavia, but on the failure of their promises he again returned to Milan. In 1546 he received an invitation from the King of Denmark to fill the chair of medicine at Copenhagen, but declined to quit Milan. About six years later he went to Scotland to visit John Hamilton, archbishop of St Andrews, whom he completely cured of a violent asthmatic affection which had withstood the skill of the most eminent German physicians. He attributed his success to the accuracy with which he calculated the primate's nativity. On his return he removed to Pavia, where he remained till 1652. At the urgent solicitation of several foreign princes, Cardan made a tour through Germany, France, and England, visiting Edward VI., to whom, after a calculation of his nativity, he predicted a long life and reign. From Pavia he removed to Bologna, where he taught until thrown into prison for debt in 1570; but being released in a few months, in order to escape his creditors he removed to Rome, where he was admitted a member of the college of physicians and pensioned by Gregory XIII. He spent the rest of his life without any public employment, and died at Rome in 1576, a few weeks after he had finished his autobiography. Julius Scaliger and De Thou affirm, that having made a calculation of his nativity, he starved himself in order to insure its fulfillment; but this allegation does not rest on sufficient authority. The works of Cardan, consisting of about 122 treatises on physics, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, rhetoric, history, ethics, dialectics, natural history, music, medicine, and anatomy, are of the most varied description, and such a mixture of profound ideas and capricious absurdities as might be expected of a man who piqued himself on being totally unlike all other mortals. The eccentricity of his habits was so great that he was universally reputed mad; and to the violent and revengeful temper which he received from the harshness of his early education he added a firm belief in astrology, and in the constant presence of a familiar spirit which enabled him to hold converse with the other world. Although justly regarded as heterodox by the theologians of the day, there is not sufficient ground for regarding him as an atheist. Most of his works have been collected in an edition edited by Charles Spohn.