MENDEL'S LIFE AND WORK 17 



wealthy, his father being but a small peasant 

 proprietor. 



In 1843, Mendel, being then twenty-one, obtained 

 admission to the Augustine monastery, known as 

 the Konigskloster, at Briinn, the capital of Moravia. 

 For the next eight years he was largely engaged in 

 taking part in the educational work which in those 

 days formed an important part of the functions of 

 the " Kloster." During this period he was ordained 

 a priest (1847), and he also commenced to make 

 experiments on plants in the garden of the monastery, 

 a line of work which was to prove so fruitful a few 

 years later. 



From 1851 to 1853 Mendel went through a further 

 course of study in mathematics, physics, and the 

 natural sciences at the Vienna University, being 

 aided in this case by the Konigskloster, another 

 proof, if one were needed, that he was a man of 

 marked ability. On his return to Briinn he again 

 took up his educational duties, acting as a teacher 

 in the " Realschule," ^ sphere, of work in which he 

 is said to have been very successful. At the same 

 time he devoted himself with extraordinary strenuous- 

 ness to various lines of scientific investigation, 

 especially to experimental work on the hybridisation 

 of plants. It was during this period, 1854-1868, 

 that all his most important scientific work was done. 

 In 1868 Mendel became Abbot or Pralat of the 

 Konigskloster, and, owing to the increased respon- 

 sibilities of his new position, and especially to the 



