Now, argues our doctor,--and this is a signal illustration of his method of drawing conclusions from insufficient premises,--if the vapour of bread could sustain the fleeting spirit of Democritus,--then the still more invigorating outbreathings of little maidens will prolong life indefinitely;--for only consider how much better are little girls than soft pap! At the startling results of this discovery:-- Non parum mirantur physici; therefore ye-- Posteri, sic vitam ducite! THE BARONESS DE BEAUSOLEIL “Madame de Beausoleil, astronomer and alchemist in the seventeenth century, who came from Germany to France in the exercise of her profession, was incarcerated at Vincennes in 1641, by order of Cardinal Richelieu; the date of her death is unknown.” Such is all that the great French biographical dictionaries have to say concerning a woman of surprising talent, indomitable perseverance, and a martyr of science. She was the first to draw attention to the mineral resources of France, and to indicate the profit which might accrue to the treasury by the working of the mines. And how did France repay her services? By despoiling her of her private wealth, by casting her into prison, and leaving her to perish forgotten in its dungeons. And even now her very name and services are passed over and ignored. A sad chapter is that in the history of science which relates the names of its martyrs, and records their services and the ingratitude and ignominy with which they have been repaid. Among these martyrs the good Baroness of Beausoleil deserves commemoration, and merits now the attention that the age in which she lived refused to yield to her.