PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 61 



upon the knobs of the stigmas. In the meanwhile, the stigmas had grad- 

 ually withdrawn from one another, drawn outward, and finally turned 

 back on their outer halves against the base of the flower. Their glisten- 

 ing effect disappeared again gradually with their moisture, and they 

 became finally covered by the closing and wilting petals." (p. 262.) 



The above is given in full for the sake of its natural history 

 interest, as a type of observation none too common, and for the 

 sake of showing what Kolreuter's spirit was at its best. The 

 graphic, narrative, and even poetic style of the account should 

 render it a classic among natural history observations. This closes 

 an attempt, extensive and somewhat detailed, to give as complete 

 and exact a presentation of the Kolreuter material as possible. 

 If the account is somewhat disproportionately extended, it is 

 nevertheless desirable to have the data from Kolreuter's slightly 

 difficult and sometimes a trifle obscure German rendered as ac- 

 cessible as possible in English. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



1. Kolreuter^ Joseph Gottlieb. 



(a) Vorlaufige Nachricht von einigen das Geschlecht der 

 Pflanzen betreffenden Versuchen und Beobachtungen, 

 nebst Fortsetzungen 1, 2, und 3 (1761-66). W. Pfeffer, 

 in Ostwald's Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften, No. 

 41. Leipzig, 1893. 



(b) Historic der Versuche iiber das Geschlecht der Pflanzen; 

 No. 17 in Mikan's Opuscula Botanici Argumenti. Prag, 



1797- 

 Note: From 1770-1775, thirty-one articles by Kolreuter, chiefly on zool- 

 ogical subjects, appeared in the "Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum 

 Imperialis Petropolitanae" (Vols. XV-XX, inc.). Of these, one only (in 

 Vol. XX) was upon hybrid plants. In the "Acta Academiae Scientiarum 

 Imperialis Petropolitanae," 1777-1782, appeared seven articles by Kol- 

 reuter on hybrid plants, and in the "Nova Acta" of the same Academy, 

 1783-1796 (Vols. I, III, XI, XII, XIIl), five further papers were published 

 on the subject of plant hybrids. Unfortunately, it has been impossible 

 to secure access 'to the St. Petersburg papers of Kolreuter in time for 

 their inclusion in the present volume. 



2. Sprengel, Christian Konrad. 



Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur Im Bau und in der Be- 

 fruchtung der Blumen. (1793), ed. Paul Knuth. In Ost- 

 wald'^ Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften, No. 48, 4 vols. 

 Leipzig, 1894. 



