PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 361 



such variations perpetuated ? It is here especially that we appeal to the 

 work of the cross-breeder. He, and he only, can answer this question : 

 Why do not nascent varieties become obliterated by crossing with the 

 type form ?" (p. 62.) 



It is interesting to note how^ completely Bateson's attitude to- 

 ward the phenomenon then known as "discontinuous variation" 

 had prepared him, as in like manner also De Vries was prepared, 

 to take the analytical point of view toward the hybridization 

 process, even before the publication of Mendel's results, as the 

 following quite remarkable passage clearly indicates: 



"The recognition of the existence of discontinuity in variation, and of 

 the possibility of complete or integral inheritance when the variety is 

 crossed with the type, is, I believe, destined to simplify to us the phe- 

 nomenon of evolution perhaps beyond anything that we can foresee. At 

 this time we need no more general ideas about evolution. We need par- 

 ticular knowledge of the evolution of particular forms. What we first 

 require is to know what happens when a variety is crossed with its 

 nearest allies. If the result is to have a scientific value, it is almost abso- 

 lutely necessary that the offspring of such crossing should then be ex- 

 amined statistically. It must be recorded how many of the offspring re- 

 sembled each parent, and how many showed characters intermediate 

 between those of the parents. // the parents differ in several characters, 

 the offspring must he examined statistically, and marshalled, as it is 

 called, in respect to each of those characters separately. . . . All that is 

 really necessary is that some approximate numerical statement of the 

 result should be kept." (Italics inserted.) (p. 63.) 



If Mendel's paper had never come to light, it is more than 

 probable that investigation would have ultimately been directed 

 to the crux of the method of inquiry, by this utterance of Bate- 

 son's, remarkable for the time, and noteworthy as being the first, 

 and indeed the only clear postulation of the terms of a scientific 

 basis for an investigation of the descent of characters, in all the 

 literature antecedent to the re-discovery of Mendel, viz : 



"That if the parents differ in several characters, the offspring must he 

 examined statistically, and marshalled, as it is called, in respect of each 

 of those characters separately!' (Italics inserted.) (p. 63.) 



This remarkable statement progressed beyond any point of 

 view theretofore expressed, and should be preserved as a memo- 

 rial to the prescience of Professor Bateson, the first champion of 

 Mendelism in the English-speaking scientific world. 



Bateson's standpoint is further illustrated by the following 

 statement : 



