24 THE NEXT GENERATION 



Mendel himself died in 1884, and it is reported that many 

 times before he died he was heard to say, " Meine Zeit wird 

 schon kommen " (" My time will yet come "). Then at last 

 it did come for in 1900, sixteen years after he had been 

 buried and apparently forgotten, his priceless papers were 

 discovered by younger scientists, and news of the discovery 

 was telegraphed to all parts of the world. 



To-day every book that discusses inheritance takes Mendel 

 and his laws into account. Every breeder who studies in- 

 heritance in rats, rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, and men builds 

 on foundations which Mendel laid over fifty years ago in his 

 Austrian gardens. Every intelligent man who raises plants 

 and animals for the market improves his stock according to 

 laws which Mendel discovered. 



Indeed, in these days the whole subject of inheritance is 

 stamped with his name. We speak of " Mendel's laws of 

 inheritance" and of " Mendelism," which means the same 

 thing. The truth is, the laws given in the last two chapters 

 are nothing but Mendel's laws as we see them working 

 through families of fowls and guinea pigs. 



Study the following statements carefully. Compare them 

 with the diagram of Andalusian fowls, and see how well they 

 go together. 



MENDEL'S LAWS STATED IN SIMPLE TERMS 



1 . When pure-breds are mated with other pure-breds like 

 themselves, every one of their offspring will be pure-bred. 

 Moreover, so long as pure-bred continues to mate with pure- 

 bred, the descendants of every generation will continue to 

 be pure-bred. 



2. When a pure-bred of one kind is mated with a pure-bred 

 of another kind, every member of the next generation is hybrid. 



