PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 177 



however, unfortunate in Gartner's case that he was unable to 

 differentiate between endosperm color and pericarp color, which 

 latter he was actually dealing with. Consequently, his experiments, 

 while proving to his mind the fact that the immediate effect of 

 cross-fertilization did not appear in the case of the seeds of maize, 

 is, of course, wide of the mark, since the appearance of stripes 

 in the presumed "second" generation was the normal F^ appear- 

 ance of pericarp color. 



Gartner's work is noteworthy, not only for the remarkable 

 number of species with which he experimented, but for the scru- 

 pulous care which he exercised in his operations, if we may judge 

 from his own statements, as for example, the following : 



"For complete assurance of the purity and reliability of the products 

 of hybrid breeding, and for testing the conclusions derived therefrom, 

 we have repeated most of the experiments, especially the doubtful cases, 

 not only once, but several times, and put them to the test through cross- 

 ing of the same species; for, even with the most scrupulous foresight 

 and precision, individual and rare instances have still occurred in these 

 tedious and wearisome investigations, where the suspicion had made 

 itself felt of a mistake or error having crept in, either in pollination or 

 emasculation, since such results stood in direct contradiction to the usual 

 experiences and, on a repetition of the experiment, made themselves in- 

 controvertibly evident as an error. We believe it possible to attain no 

 higher degree of certainty in this branch of natural science, and to be 

 able to bring the conclusions derived therefrom to no higher proofs, 

 than through the precise coincidence of the forms of the products, by 

 repetition, under the same conditions with the same species, but with 

 different individuals and at different times." {ib., p. 675.) 



In closing this account of Gartner's work, it will be of interest 

 to note Focke's comment in his "Pflanzenmischlinge." 



"Gartner's 'Versuche und Beobachtungen' contains the essential con- 

 tents of the prize essay for which an award was offered by the Royal 

 Netherlands Academy of Sciences in 1830, and the contributions con- 

 tained in his scattered papers." (1, p. 438.) 



As Focke says : 



"The work, although rich in contents, is unfortunately of an extraor- 

 dinary clumsiness, and is therefore, on the one hand, insufficiently 

 known and, on the other hand, frequently overrated." {ib., p. 438.) 



"Concerning the reliability of the assertions, one can only with dif- 

 ficulty form a definite judgment, since the book swarms with numberless 

 inaccuracies and contradictions : A careful special study has forced upon 

 me the conviction that the errors in Gartner's work have proceeded from 

 an extraordinary lack of authorship, and the inability lucidly to arrange 

 the observations and facts." {ib., p. 438.) 



"So far as concerns the material which Gartner worked upon, his in- 



Qi^^iQAc 





