ABSTRACT
From 1762 to 1763, Frenchman Jean Baptiste Christophore Fuseé Aublet (1720-1778) explored French Guiana for the king of France. Aublet was not just a botanist, but also was trained as an apothecary’s apprentice in Spain, had served in the medical branch of the army, helped prepare prescription drugs at the Charity Hospital in Paris, and worked as “Botanist and First Apothecary” of the Company of the Indies at Ile de France (Mauritius). He had just spent 9 years in Mauritius before he ventured to French Guiana at age 42. In the New World, he served as the king’s apothecary-botanist.
