THE PROBLEMS OF HEREDITY AND 

 THEIR SOLUTION* 



AN exact determination of the laws of heredity will 

 probably work more change in man's outlook on the 

 world, and in his power over nature, than any other 

 advance in natural knowledge that can be clearly fore- 

 seen. 



There is no doubt whatever that these laws can be 

 determined. In comparison with the labour that has been 

 needed for other great discoveries we may even expect 

 that the necessary effort will be small. It is rather 

 remarkable that while in other branches of physiology 

 such great progress has of late been made, our knowledge 

 of the phenomena of heredity has increased but little ; 

 though that these phenomena constitute the basis of 

 all evolutionary science and the very central problem 

 of natural history is admitted by all. Nor is this due 

 to the special difficulty of such inquiries so much as to 

 general neglect of the subject. 



* The first half of this paper is reprinted with additions and 

 modifications from the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 1900, vol. xxv., parts 1 and 2. Written almost immediately after 

 the rediscovery of Mendel, it will be seen to be already in some 

 measure out of date, but it may thus serve to show the relation 

 of the new conceptions to the old. 



B. 1 



