Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/104

92 horn of a uuicoru. It has been injurious to his fame to have been compelled to labour, partly in fields of research where no important discovery was then attainable, partly in those where his discoveries could only serve as the step ping-stones to others, by which they were inevitably eclipsed. His. medical career serves as an illustration of the former case, and his mathematical of the latter. His medical knowledge was wholly empirical ; restrained by the authority of Galen, and debarred from the practice of anatomy, nothing more could be expected than that lie should stumble on some fortunate nostrums. As a mathe matician, on the other hand, he effected most important advances in science, but such as merely paved the way for discoveries which have obscured his own. From his astro logy no results could be expected ; but even here the scien tific character of his mind is displayed in his common sense treatment of what usually passed for a mystical and occult study. His prognostications are as strictly empirical as his prescriptions, and rest quite as much upon the observa tions which he supposed himself to have made in his practice. As frequently is the case with men incapable of rightly ordering their own lives, he is full of wisdom and sound advice for others ; his ethical precepts and practical rules are frequently excellent. To complete the catalogue of his accomplishments, he is no contemptible poet. The work of Cardan s, however, which retains most interest for this generation is his autobiography, De Vita Propria. In its clearness and frankness of self revelation this book stands almost alone among records of its class. It may be compared with the autobiography of another celebrated Italian of the age, Benvenuto Cellini, but is much more free from vanity and self-consciousness, unless the extreme candour with which Cardan reveals his own errors is to be regarded as vanity in a more subtle form. The general impression is highly favourable to the writer, whose impetuosity and fits of reckless dissipation appear as mere exaggerations of the warmth of heart which imparted such strength to his domestic affections, and in the region of science imparted that passionate devotion to research which could alone have enabled him to persevere so reso lutely, and effect such marked advances in such multi farious fields of inquiry.

1em  CARDENAS, a maritime town of the island of Cuba, capital of a district in the western department, is situated 105 miles E. of Havana, on a bay of the northern coast, and has railway communication with Matanzas and Mont- alvo. There is good anchorage in the harbour, and a number of long wharves stretch out from the shore. The most important article of export is the sugar from the neighbouring district, of which, in 1873, 13,096 tons were Sint to Europe, and 69,364 to America. Though only founded in 1328, Cardenas had in 1861 12,910 inhabitants; and at present, in spite of the troubled condition of the island, the number is calculated at about 11,000, of whom 7700 are whites, 2800 slaves, and the rest free negroes. In 1850 the town was plundered by general Lopez.  CARDIFF (the &quot;Caer,&quot; or castle on the Taff), a muni cipal and parliamentary borough in the county of Gla morgan, 170 miles from London by the Great Western Railway, in 51 28 N. lat. and 3 10 W. long. This town is the chief emporium of the coal and iron trade of South Wales, and is remarkable for its rapid progress and development. The population of the parliamentary borough, by the census of 1871, was 56,911 and since that date it has largely increased. There is a striking contrast of dirty narrow thoroughfares and the wide streets of new houses now opening up in the modern quarter of the town. Plan of Cardiff. Historically, Cardiff is well known, but the castle remains and the old church of St John and its noble pinnacled tower are almost the only remnants of antiquity. The ancient walls and gates, Blackfriars and Grey friars, have been swept away, and the old church of St Mary, finer than any local churches that succeeded was washed away by the sea. The Arthurian legend of the Sparrow- hawk refers to Cardiff. Its position between the rivers Taff and Rhymney, and also between the mountains and the sea, marked it out, probably for the Romans, certainly for the Normans, as a fortified station. In the year 1 108 Henry I. having taken prisoner his brother Robert duke of Normandy, imprisoned him in Cardiff Castle for twenty- six years until his death in 1134. Contrary to the pre valent tradition &quot;le was most probably treated with kind ness, and pernr jted at times to change his abode. In the time of the Ci/il War Charles I. came to Cardiff, and the castle was alternately occupied by Royalists and Parlia mentarians. There was severe fighting at St Fagau s in the neighbourhood. In 1661 we find the Cardiff authorities complaining of being ruined by the competition of the neighbouring town of Caerphillyj but Caerphilly Castle is ruined and the town decayed, while Cardiff has greatly flourished. The local histories are full of the succession of different owners of the castle until the lordship of Glamorgan passed by marriage to the Bute family. The castle occupies. 