More distinguished for her astronomical work than either of these two women was Maria Cunitz, a Silesian, who, from her tenderest years, displayed extraordinary zeal for study and who eventually became mistress of seven languages, among which were Latin, Greek and Hebrew. She also cultivated poetry, music and painting; but her favorite studies were mathematics and astronomy. At the solicitation of her husband, she undertook the preparation of an abridgment of the _Rudolphine Tables_. Her work, under the name of _Urania Propitia_, was published after her death by her husband, and gained for the talented authoress the name of "The second Hypatia."[136] Shortly after the completion of _Urania Propitia_, a French woman, Jeanne Dumee, distinguished herself by writing a work on the theory of Copernicus entitled _Entretiens sur l'Opinion de Copernic Touchant la Mobilite de la Terre_. So far as known, this work was never published, but the original manuscript is still preserved in the National Library of Paris. The authoress deems it necessary it apologize for writing on a subject that is usually considered foreign to her sex and to explain why she was ambitious to discuss questions to which the women of her time never gave any thought. It was that she might "prove to them that they are not incapable of study, if they wish to make the effort, because between the brain of a woman and that of a man there is no difference."[137] How often before had not women endeavored to prove the equality of brain power of the two sexes, and how often since have they bent their efforts in this direction! And yet the majority of men still remain skeptical about such equality. Among the contemporaries of Jeanne Dumee were two other women who gained more than ordinary distinction by their attainments in astronomy. These were Mme. de la Sabliere, in France, and Maria Margaret Kirch, of Germany. Mme. de la Sabliere evinced from an early age a special aptitude for science, especially for physics and astronomy. She studied mathematics under the eminent mathematician, Roberval, and at the age of thirty was famous. Her home became the resort of learned and eminent men, including some of the most noted characters of the age. Among these was Sobieski, King of Poland. But it is as the friend and protectress of La Fontaine and as the object of Boileau's satire that she is best known.