238 WOMAN IN SCIENCE 



A contemporary of Anna Manzolini, who also distin- 

 guished herself in the preparation of anatomical models, 

 was the French woman, Mile. Biheron. Her facsimiles of 

 parts of the human body were^ according to Mme. de Gen- 

 lis, so true to nature that they could not be distinguished 

 from the originals. This led the facetious Chevalier Ringle, 

 after examining a specimen of her handiwork, to declare, 

 "Verily, it is so perfect that it lacks only the odor of the 

 natural object.' 7 



While yet prince royal, Gustavus of Sweden visited the 

 French Academy of Sciences in Paris. Here he was enter- 

 tained by a number of experiments in anatomy. The dem- 

 onstrator was Mile. Biheron, who is said to have had a 

 veritable passion for both anatomy and surgery. So im- 

 pressed was Gustavus with the extraordinary skill and 

 knowledge of this gifted daughter of France that he of- 

 fered her the position of demonstrator of anatomy in the 

 royal University of Sweden. 



Other branches of science, apparently quite as alien as 

 anatomy to women's taste and talent, are mineralogy and 

 metallurgy. Yet as early as the first half of the seven- 

 teenth century, the Baroness de Beausoleil had achieved a 

 great reputation by her investigations into the mineral 

 treasures of France. Indeed, she may, strange as it may 

 appear, be regarded as the first mining engineer of her 

 native land. She details the qualifications of a mining en- 

 gineer and tells us he must, among other things, be well 

 versed in chemistry, mineralogy, geometry, mechanics and 



to the inscription on her tomb, which seems to authenticate all the 

 claims made for her, expresses himself as follows: "In quoting this 

 document, I do not intend that my readers shall accord to it a 

 credence that I myself abstain from giving it, but only that they 

 may know of it, if for no other reason than to satisfy their curi- 

 osity. " Op. cit., pp. 30 and 362, note I. Should the traditions re- 

 garding this precocious girl be verified, it would be most gratifying to 

 the people of Bologna, for it would add one more to the long list 

 of her illustrious women. 



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