580 THE PROBLEMS OF HEREDITY AND THEIR SOLUTION. 



a principle which may be extended from hybridization to liercdit}" in 

 general, that the laws of each new case must be determined by separate 

 experiment. 



As regards the Mendel ian principles, which it is the chief aim of 

 this introduction to present clearly before the reader, a professed 

 student of A^ariation will easily be able to till in the outline now indi- 

 cated, and to illustrate the various conceptions from phenomena 

 already familiar. To do this is beyond the scope of this short sketch, 

 but enough perhaps has now l)cen said to show that l^y the applica- 

 tion of those principles we are enabled to reach and deal" in a compre- 

 hensive manner with phenomena of a fundamental nature, lying at the 

 very root of all conceptions not merely of the physiology of reproduc- 

 tion and heredity, l>uteven of the essential nature of living organisms; 

 and I think that I used no extravagant words when, in introducing 

 Mendel's work to the notice of readers of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's Journal. I ventured to declare that his experiments are 

 worthy to rank with those which laid the foundation of the atomic 

 laws of chemistrv. 



