This essay situates the French Jesuit missionary Joseph-François Lafitau's (1681–1746) ‘discovery’ of Canadian ginseng within its social, commercial and religious contexts, and illustrates how the missionary's upbringing and education in France shaped the way he perceived nature in the New World. It elucidates the manner in which Lafitau ‘Galenized’ Canadian flora, fauna and peoples. It explores the role of Lafitau's dual enculturation in both a mercantile household and later the Society of Jesus in his application of Galenic categories to Canadian nature. The essay then examines the tensions between localism and universalism in Galenic medicine in the eighteenth century. It links these dichotomies to Lafitau's Galenization of Canadian ginseng. Finally, it suggests that since the Jesuits were prohibited from trading goods they had purchased, they sold medicinal plants they had cultivated themselves, which played a central role in financing the Society's missions in a manner they believed to be morally acceptable.

本文介绍了法国耶稣会传教士约瑟夫·弗朗索瓦·拉菲陶（1681-1746）在其社会，商业和宗教背景下对加拿大人参的“发现”，并阐释了法国传教士的成长和教育如何塑造了他在新世纪对自然的认识世界。它阐明了Lafitau对加拿大动植物，动植物和民族进行“加化处理”的方式。它探讨了拉菲陶的双重文化在商业家庭和后来的耶稣会在将加仑式类别应用于加拿大自然中的作用。然后，本文考察了十八世纪加利尼医学中的地方主义与普遍主义之间的紧张关系。它将这些二分法与Lafitau对加拿大人参的Galenization进行了关联。最后，这表明既然耶稣会士被禁止买卖商品，购买后，他们出售了自己种植的药用植物，以他们认为在道德上可以接受的方式，在资助协会的任务中发挥了核心作用。