442 
serve them. But he knew equally 
that as long as their education re- 
miaitied what if is, it was a duty 
likewise not to consult them. He 
had no doubt that at length the 
advantage of his plans would be 
appreciated. And one of the for- 
tunate things attending his old age 
was to see the almost complete 
success of his perseverance. ‘* The 
potatoe has now only friends,” 
~ he wrote in one of his last works, 
*¢ even in those cantons from which 
the spirit of system and conten- 
tion seemed anxious to banish it 
for ever.” 
But Parmentier was not one of 
those persons who occupy them- 
selves exclusively with one idea. 
The advantages which he had per- 
eeived in the potatoe did not make 
him neglect those offered by other 
vegetables. 
- Maize, the plant which, next to 
the potatoe, gives the most econo- 
mical food, is likewise a present of 
the New World, although in some 
places it is still obstinately called 
Turkey-corn. “It was the princi- 
pal food of the Americans wien 
the Spaniards visited their coasts. 
ft was brought to Europe much 
earlier than the potatoe; for Fuchs 
describes it, and gives a drawing 
of it, in 1543. It was likewise 
spread more quickly; and by giv- 
ing to Italy and our southern 
provinces, a new and abundant 
article of food, it has greatly con- 
tributed to, enrich them, and to 
increase their population. 
Parmentier, therefore, in order 
to encourage its culture, had need 
only to explain, as he does ina 
very complete manner, the precau- 
tions which its cultivation requires, 
and the numerous uses to which 
it may be applied. He wished to 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 
exclude buck wheat, which is so’ 
inferior, from the few cantons 
where it is still cultivated. 
The acorn, which they say nou- 
rished our ancestors before they 
were acquainted with corn, is still 
very useful in some of our pro~ 
vinces, chiefly about the centre of 
the kingdom. M. Daine, Intend- 
ant of Limoges, induced Parmen- 
tier to examine whether it was 
not possible to make from it an 
eatable bread, and capable of be- 
ing kept. His experiments were 
unsuccessful; but they occasioned 
a complete treatise on the acorn, 
and on the different preparations 
of its food. 
Corn itself was an object of long 
study with him; and perhaps he 
has not been of less service in ex- 
plaining the best methods of grind- 
ing and baking, than in spreading 
the cultivation of potatoes. Che- 
mical analysis having informed 
him» that bran contains no nou- 
rishment proper for man, he con- 
cluded that it was advantageous to 
exclude it from bread.—He de- 
duced from this the advantages of 
an economical method of grinding, 
which, by subjecting the grain re- 
peatedly to the mill and the sieve, 
detaches from the bran even the 
minutest particles of flour; and he 
proved likewise that it furnished, 
at a lower price, a white, agreea- 
ble, and more nutritive bread. 
Ignorance had so misunderstood 
the advantages of this method, that 
laws had long existed to prevent it, 
and that the most precious part of 
the grain was given to the cattle 
along with the bran. 
Parmentier studied with care 
every thing relating to bread; and 
because books would have been 
of little service to millers and 
bakers, 
