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treacherous/ a dealer in the black art, a backbiter, a calumniator,and addicted to all the detestable excesses that can be imagined :yet, notwithstanding so humbling a declaration, there was neverperhaps a vainer mortal, or one that with less ceremony expressedthe high opinion he had of himself. “ I have been admired (sayshe) by many nations; an infinite number of panegyrics, both in ,prose and verse, have been composed to celebrate my fame. I jwas born to release the world from the manifold errors underwhich it groaned. What I have found out could not be disco-vered either by my predecessors or my cotemporaries ; and thatis the reason why those authors who write anv thing worthy of be-ing remembered, scruple not to own that they are indebted to mefor it. I have composed a book on the dialectic art, in whichthere is neither one superfluous letter nor one deficient. I finishedit in seven days, which seems a prodigy. Yet where is there aperson to be found, that can boast of his having become master ofits doctrine in a year? And he that shall have comprehended itin tliat time, must appear to have been instructed by a familiardaemon.” The same capricionsness observable in his outwardconduct appears in his works. In most of his treatises, the readeris slopped almost every moment either by the obscurity of histext, nr his digressions. In his arithmetical performances, thereare sever 'd discourses on the motions of the planets, the creation,and the tower of Babel . In his dialectic work, we find his opi-nions of historians and the writers of epistles. The only apologywhich he makes for his frequent digressions is, that they were donefor the sooner filling up of his sheet, his bargain with the booksellerbeing at so much per sliest; and that he worked as much for hisdaily support, as for the-acquisition of glory. The Lyons editionof his w orks, printed in 1663, consists of 10 vols. folio. He re-vived in latter times all the secret philosophy of the Cabbalists,which filled the world with spirits; a likeness to whom, he as-serted, we might attain by purifying ourselves with philosophy,lie chose for himself, however, notwithstanding such reveries,this fine device, Tempos mea possessio, tempos metis ager:“ Time is my sole possession, and the onlv fund I have to im-prove.” In fact, with all his oddities, we must allow, that Cardancultivated every species of knowledge, and made a greater pro-gress in philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, ike. thanthe greatest part of his cotemporaries who had applied their mindsbut to one of those sciences. Scaliger affirms, that Cardan, hav-ing fixed the time of his- death, abstained from food, that hisprediction might be fulfilled, and that his continuance to livemight not discredit his art. Cardan’s father, who was a doctor ofmedicine, and a professor of civil and canon law, died in the samemanner, in 1324, having abstained from all sustenance for 9 days.His soil tells us, that be had white eyes, and could see in theflight.

CARD ASS, 1. A sort of card, proper for rarding flocks of silk,to make cappadiue. 2. The name w hich the French give to thoseflocks of silk. 3. A large card used in the cloth manufactories ofLanguedoc , for carding the dyed wool, to make cloth of mixedcolours.

CARDIACS, [xr'tchn, the heart,] medicines beneficial to theheart, whether internally or externally applied ; particularly thosewhich raise the spirits, ami give present strength and cheerfulness;commonly called cordials. Cardiacs were anciently supposed toexert themselves immediately fn comforting and strengtheningthe heart; lmt modem physicians rather suppose them to pro-duce the effect by putting the blood into a gentle fermentation,whereby the springs, before decayed, are repaired and invigorated,and the”tone am! elasticity of the fibres of the vessels restored;and thus occasioning a more easy and brisk circulation.

CARDIALGIA". See Medicine.

CARDIAI.OY, [from xafltn, the lipnrt, and «>.-/©-, pain,] theheart-burn ; a pain supposed to be felt in the heart, but more pro-perly in the stomach, which sometimes rises all along from thenceup to the (esophagus, occasioned by some acrimonious matter,

CARDIFF, or CAEKDIFF, a town ofS. Wales, in Glamor-ganshire , seated on the river Tave. It is 12 miles E. of Cow-bridge. Eon. .3. 12. W. Lat. 51. 30. N.

CARDIGAN, or CARDIGANSHIRE , a county of South"Wales , bounded on the N. by Merionethshire, E. by Radnor-shire, W, by Cardigan Ray, S. by Carmarthenshire. Its lengthfrom N. W. to S. E. is about 4-i miles, and its breadth near 20.The principal rivers are the Tyvy, the Ridol, and the Istwith.

This county has five market towns, via. Cardigan, Aberistwith,Lhmbadarnvawn, Llanbedar, and Tregaron, with 64 parishes.'The mountains abound with silver and lead ores, w hich have beenwrought with advantage.

Cardigan’, the capital of the county, is 33 miles N. E. by' E.of St. David’s. Lon. 4. 3k. W, Lat. o2, 10. N.

CARDINAL, 'it a general sense, an appellation given to thingson account of their pre-eminence ; thus we say, cardinal win<f»,cardinal virtues, Ac. The cardinal virtues are these four, jus*tice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, upon which all therest hinge,

C ardinal Points, in cosmography, are the four intersectionsof (lie horizon w ith the meridian, and the prime vertical circle.The intersections of the horizon and meridian, are called northand south points. The intersections of the horizon and firstvertical, are called east and west points. The cardinal pointstherefore coincide with the four cardinal regions of the heavens,and arc 90 ° distant from each other. The intermediate points arecalled collateral points.

Cardinal W ixds, these that blow from the cardinal points.

Cardinal Signs in thezodiac, are Aries, Libra, Cancer, andCapricorn.

Cardinal Numbers in grammar. See (he article Number.

Cardinal, more particularly, signifies an ecclesiastical princein the Romish church, being one who has a voice in (he conclaveat the election of a pope. The cardinals w ere originally nothingmore than deacons, to whom was intrusted the care of distributingthe alms to the poor of the several quarters of Rome ; and asthey held assemblies of the poor in certain churches of theirseveral districts, they took the title ot these churches. 'They beganto be called cardinals in the year 300, during the pontificate of St.Sylvester, by which appellation was meant the chief priests of aparish, and next in dignity to a bishop. This office grew moreconsiderable afterwards, and by small degrees arrived at its pre-sent height, in which it is the reward of such as have served hisholiness well, even princes thinking it no diminution of their ho*nour, to become members of the college of cardinals, The car-dinals compose the pope’s council, and till the time oi Urban VIII .were styled most illustrious; but by a decree ot that pope in1630, they had the title of eminence con,erred upon them. Atthe creation of a new cardinal, the pope performs the ceremony ofshutting and opening his mouth, which is done in a private con-sistory. 'The shutting his mouth, implies the depriving him ofthe liberty of giving his opinion in congregations; and the open-ing his mouth, which is performed fifteen days after, signifies thetaking off this restraint. How ever, if the pope happens to dieduring the time a cardinal’s mouth is shut, he can neither givehis voice in the election of anew pope, nor be himself advancedon that dignity. 'The cardinals are divided into six classes ororders, consisting of six bishops, fifty priests, and fourteen dea-cons, making in all seventy; winch constitute the sacred college.The number of cardinal bishops lias very seldom been changed,but that of priests and deacons, have varied at different times.'The privileges of the cardinals are very great; they have an ab-solute power in the church during the vacancy of the holy see;,they have a right to elect the new pope, and are the only personsto whom the choice can fall; most of the grand offices in the courtof Rome , are filled by cardinals. r I lie dress of a cardinal is a redsoutanne, a rochet, a short purple mantle, and the red hat. Whenthey are sent to the courts of princes, it is ip quality of legates alatere ; and when they are appointed governors of towns, theirgovernment is called by the name of legation.

Cardinal is also a title given to some bishops, as those of.Muntz ami Milan, to the archbishop of Bourges .

CARDIOID, in the higher geometry, an algebraical curve,so called from its resemblance to a heart. The cardioid is thusgenerated, APB, (Plate XXXIX. fig. 6.) is a circle and AB its^diameter. Through one extremity A of the diameter draw a mini-'ber of lines APQ, cutting the circle in P ; upon these'set off bothways PQ equal to the diameter AB ; so shall the points Q be al-ways in the curve of the cardioid. From this generation of t]v>curve its chief properties are evident, viz. that,every where PQ = AB,

Q Q = A a or 2 AB,

AQ = AB

P always bisects QQ.

The