[Parmentier, potatoes and American pots].

The discovery of new agricultural and alimentary possibilities was one of the most important motives of the numerous scientific expeditions sent to America during the XVIIIth century. Some french scientists (naturalists, medical, botanical, etc.) undertook, during the second half of the Enlightenment century, an active campaign in favor of the potato consumption. The most well-known was the pharmacist Parmentier that settled his propaganda upon political arguments (the potato gives of eating all the population), economical (it is an easy plant of cultivating and of good efficiency), and scientific (excellent nutritious qualities).