The following paper by C. C. Hurst, of England, was read by the Secretary: 



NOTES ON MENDEL'S METHODS OF CROSS-BREEDING 



By Charles C. Horst, Borbage, Hinckley, Eng. 



The first hybrid plant, raised by hand, appears to have been recorded by 

 Richard Bradley, in 1717, an a cross between the Carnation (Dianthus caryo- 

 phyllus. ?) and the Sweet William {D. barbatus. S) ; it was raised by Thomas 

 Fairchild, of the Hoxton Nurseries, near London. (Ref. i.) 



Since then many hybrids and crosses, in many genera, have been raised by 

 many persons, in many countries. Among others, the names of Kobreuter, 

 Knight, Herbert, Gartner, Godron, Nandin and Darwin stand pre-eminent. 

 The culminating point of all these being the experiments, reasearches and broad 

 generalizations of Charles Darwin, which mark off a distinct epoch. The new 

 epoch seems to have begun actually in Darwin's time, though apparently quite 

 unknown to himself and to his contemporaries. 



In 1866 (about two years before Darwin published his monumental work 

 on the "Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication") Gregor 

 Mendel published, at Briinn, the records of his remarkable experiments in 

 cross-breeding distinct races of the Garden Pea (Pisum sativum). (Ref. 2.) 



Curiously enough, this work remained in obscurity until 1900, when it was 

 brought to light, almost simultaneously, by the experiments and researches of 

 De Vries in Holland, Correns in Germany, Tschermak in Austria, and Bateson 

 in England. So that, although 1866 marked the beginning of the new epoch, 

 yet it was not until the last year of the nineteenth century that any marked 

 advance was made. The psychological moment had apparently arrived, and 

 during the past two years the progress in certain directions has been phe- 

 nomenal. Experiments with various kinds of plants and animals, carried out 

 on Mendelian lines, have yielded large numbers of facts, which, on the whole, 

 practically confirm the results obtained by Mendel, though, at the same time, 

 it is only fair to state that apparent exceptions are fairly numerous. 



In face of these exceptions, and notwithstanding the many confirmations of 

 Mendel's results by different observers in different kinds of plants and animals, 

 it is quite possible that it is too early yet to regard Mendel's principles as 

 capable of general application. At the same time, there is no doubt that 

 Mendel's experiments and those of his disciples are a great advance on what 

 has been done before, and will probably prove a stepping-stone towards the 

 final solution of the problems of inheritance. For the present it may be wise 



(i) "New Improvements of Planting and Gardening," 1717; cap. ii., p, 22. 



(2) "Versuche uber Pflanzen — hybriden," abhandl. d. Naturf. Vereins in Brunn, 1866, 

 iv., pp. I — 47. (See also English translation of above by the Royal Horticultural Society 

 of London, in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1901, .xxvi., pp. 1—32.) 



