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CARDAMOM CARDAN leather. No place in France has preserved to a greater extent the aspect of a fortress of the middle ages than the old town or cite, which is quite distinct from the new and is almost de- serted. It is enclosed hy double walls, flanked with towers, and protected by a strong castle. Carcaso was the chief town of the Voles Tectosages, who were conquered by the Ro- mans. The Visigoths probably built the inner line of the walls, and part of the castle. These fortifications, however, did not prevent the storming of the town by the Saracens. From the 9th century till 1247 Carcassonne was gov- erned by its own counts. In 1209, in the cru- sade against the Albigenses, it was taken by Simon de Montfort after a severe siege, and 450 of the inhabitants, who refused to abjure their heresy, were burned. In 1262 it suffered se- verely in a revolt against the king. In the church of St. Nazaire is the tomb of Simon de Montfort. CARDAMOM, a name rather vaguely applied in commerce to the aromatic seeds of various East India plants, of the natural order zingibe- racece. The o/iu/iov of Dioscorides and amomi uva of Pliny is probably the round cardamom of Sumatra, Java, &c., the fruit oi amomum car- damomum (Willdenow's Linn.). The variety from Madagascar is known as the great carda- Rcnealmia cardamomum. mom, hut other varieties from Java and Cey- lon are also called by the same name by some authorities. The cardamom of the pharma- copoeias, and the best known in this country, is that from Malabar. It is the product of the renealmia cardamomum of Roscoe, a peren- nial plant with a tuberous root, growing wild in the mountains, and cultivated by the na- tives. The seeds are exported in their cap- sules, which are also aromatic, but are not used in medicine. Cardamom seeds are valued for their aromatic and pungent qualities, and are much used to flavor various medicines and cordials. The natives of the East nse them as a condiment. One variety, known as grains of paradise, Guinea grains, and Malagueta pep- per, is imported in seeds from Guinea, and also from Demerara, where the negroes have intro- duced and now cultivate it. The plant is prob- ably the amomum Melegueta of Roscoe, though one of the varieties found in the English mar- kets is from the A. grana paradui of Sir J. E. Amomum grann paradlsi. Smith. The negroes nse the seeds as season- ing for food, and in Africa they are highly es- teemed among spices. Their flavor is highly pungent and peppery. In England they are extensively used for giving a factitious strength to adulterated gin and other liquors, and fre- quently appear as one of the ingredients of the so-called " gin flavorings." (See GIN.) They are also administered as medicine in veterinary practice. Cardamom enters into the composi- tion of the pulvis aromaticus, and is also used in medicine in the form of tincture. CARDAN, Jerome (GIEOLAMO CARDANO), an Italian scholar and physician, born at Pavia, or according to some authorities at Milan, Sept. 24, 1501, died in Rome, Sept. 21, 1576. He was the illegitimate son of a distinguished scholar of Milan, Facio Cardano. At the age of 22 he ac- quired no little distinction by lectures on math- ematics and metaphysics, and by his remark- able attainments in the study of the sciences. He resided alternately in Milan, Venice, and Pa- dua till 1533, when he was appointed professor of mathematics in Milan, and a few years later of medicine in Pavia. Difficulties with regard to his salary soon caused him to return to Milan, where he enjoyed at this period a considerable fame. Shortly after his return he published his mathematical treatise, Are Magna, and in 1550 his De Subtilitate, both adding greatly to his reputation, which was thus far grounded on actual desert. The king of Denmark made him an offer of a large annuity if he would reside at his court, but Cardan refused, and continued to lecture and practise medicine, rendering valuable services to the cause of science, and enjoying a popularity which was apparently rapidly increasing. But he now began that extraordinary career of vice, eccen-