A contemporary of Anna Manzolini, who also distinguished herself in the preparation of anatomical models, was the French woman, Mlle. Biheron. Her facsimiles of parts of the human body were, according to Mme. de Genlis, 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."
While yet prince royal, Gustavus of Sweden visited the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. Here he was entertained by a number of experiments in anatomy. The demonstrator was Mlle. Biheron, who is said to have had a veritable passion for both anatomy and surgery. So impressed was Gustavus with the extraordinary skill and knowledge of this gifted daughter of France that he offered 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 seventeenth 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 engineer and tells us he must, among other things, be well versed in chemistry, mineralogy, geometry, mechanics and hydraulics. As for herself, she assures us that she devoted thirty years of unremitting study to these divers branches.
To Mme. de Beausoleil is also attributed the glory of awakening her countrymen's interest in the mineral resources of France, and of showing them how their proper exploitation would inure not only to the credit of the nation abroad but also to its prosperity at home.
She was the author of two works which prove that she was a woman of rare attainments combined with exceptional breadth of view and political acumen. She was deeply concerned in the development of the mineral resources of her country and foresaw how greatly they could be made to contribute to the augmentation of the nation's finances.
Her work entitled La Restitution de Pluton is a report on the mines and ore deposits of France, and is a document as precious as it is curious. It was addressed to Cardinal Richelieu, and shows how the French monarch could, if the subterranean treasures of the country were properly developed, become the greatest ruler in Christendom and his subjects the happiest of all peoples.
Another report by this energetic and enthusiastic woman is in the same strain. In it she proves how the King of France, by utilizing the underground riches of his country, could make himself and his people independent of all other nations.[168]
In these two productions Mme. de Beausoleil treats of the science of mining, the different kinds of mines, the assaying of ores and the divers methods of smelting them, as well as of the general principles of metallurgy, as then understood. But, unlike the majority of her contemporaries, this enlightened woman had no patience with those who believed that the earth's hidden treasures could not be discovered without recourse to magic or to the aid of demons. She was unsparing in her ridicule of those who had faith in the existence of gnomes and kobolds, or thought that ore deposits could be located only by divining-rods or similar foolish contrivances which were relics of an ignorant and superstitious age.