L'Espagne, apothicaire de l'Europe. L'exploitation médico-commerciale des ressources végétales américaines à la fin du XVIIIe siècle

The expansion of the utilitarian science and the accession of the Bourbons to the throne had a great impact on the Spain of the Enlightment Era. While most of the actions undertaken across the Pyrenees, were in imitation of the French enterprises, the exploitation of the natural resources of the New World did not follow the physiocratic standards peculiar to France. The Spanish efforts concentrated on studying American vegetables with medicinal virtues, in order to get the commercial monopoly of some plants - like cinchona - essential to the treatment of some diseases. This singular and utopian plan, its history, its development and its conclusion are examined here, and the obtained results are estimated with regards to the original programmes, worked out by the persons in charge of the Spanish scientific policy of the second half of the 18th century

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