PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 283 



erning the second generation of hybrids, based on the results of 



a carefully planned experiment, considerable in extent, and with 



the data definitely classified in a statistical, and to that extent a 



quantitative manner. 



A rather interesting statement of a more or less Mendelian type 



is made in the concluding portion of the paper. 



"We have begun investigations with a view to ascertaining whether 

 these quantitative laws extend to hybrids between other groups of wheat 

 varieties, and whether, when a composite is formed from several varie- 

 ties, all the types will appear that could be formed by combination of 

 parent characters. It is interesting to note the possibilities that are open 

 to the breeder should this prove to be the case. We could then produce 

 anything we desire if we can find varieties possessing the characters we 

 wish to combine." (p. 94.) 



The concluding statement is : 



"In work of this character, the larger the number of individuals, the 

 greater the probability of finding any desired combination of characters. 

 It is therefore desirable to secure as many grains of each cross as pos- 

 sible, and to raise all their progeny. Those who are familiar with the 

 details of such work, will realize that this entails an enormous amount 

 of labor, and one can hardly hope for success without both patience and 

 enthusiasm, coupled with some training." (p. 94.) 



This concludes the discussion of a paper that has been perhaps 

 considerably overlooked, but which represents a very definite at- 

 tempt to analyze the data of heredity upon a rational and indeed 

 almost a Mendelian basis. 



This closes the survey of the work of the students of hybrid- 

 ization, from the date of the appearance of Mendel's papers in 

 1865 until their reappearance to the scientific world in 1900. 

 This period, while important for the imposing names of Darwin 

 and Galton, was also important for the propounding of the law 

 of the disjunction of hybrids by Naudin, which, as we have seen, 

 led Darwin to theoretical conclusions regarding the behavior of 

 the characters in the sexual cells in the case of hybrids, similar in 

 general character to the conclusion which Mendel's investigation 

 established. 



To the modern student of breeding, it seems exceedingly 

 strange that to none of those who carried on the earlier experi- 

 ments in hybridization it should have occurred to determine, 

 whether the second or "variable" generation of hybrids was any- 

 thing other than a disorderly congeries of forms ; whether, beneath 

 this apparent disorder, there might not be concealed some law. 



