CHAPTER VII 



THE WORK OF CHARLES DARWIN 



29. Darwin s Contribution to the Theory of Hybrids. 



THE period from 1859 until the rediscovery of Mendel's 

 papers in 1900 was so strongly colored by the views of 

 Charles Darwin, and so dominated by the magnitude of 

 his work, that it sometimes seems as though originality and initia- 

 tive during that period had been considerably abandoned, and as 

 though, so far as evolution was concerned, the scientific world 

 had remained content simply to quote the work of Darwin. 



It is the purpose of the present chapter to present the contribu- 

 tions of Darwin to the knowledge of hybrids. To this end it seems 

 desirable, so far as possible, to let Darwin's words speak for 

 themselves, and hence, although the text may seem burdened with 

 extracts, yet, for those interested in tracing the history of ideas in 

 genetics, it will perhaps be of service to assemble such a resume 

 of Darwin's work and thought in the field of hybridization. 

 Brought together in such a way, an author's contribution can be 

 more successfully evaluated at leisure by those who may be in- 

 terested. The writer has therefore sought to bring together, in 

 somewhat connected and coherent form, the various views, con- 

 clusions, and experimental data on the subject of hybrids and 

 hybridization found in Darwin's different writings. 



On November 24, 18^9, appeared the first edition of "The 

 Origin of Species" (la), antedating by seven years the appear- 

 ance of the papers of Mendel. 



One of the primary questions concerning crossing that inter- 

 ested Darwin was the matter of sterility and fertility in hybrids. 

 Investigators before Darwin's time had been to a considerable 

 extent obsessed by the species question, which crossing was sup- 

 posed to solve. If a cross succeeded, or produced fertile offspring. 



