﻿286 
  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  wait 
  long 
  for 
  the 
  keystone 
  with 
  which 
  the 
  generalizing 
  mind 
  can 
  

   support 
  an 
  edifice 
  of 
  useful 
  theory. 
  And 
  in 
  this 
  particular 
  instance 
  

   the 
  time 
  was 
  undoubtedly 
  extended 
  by 
  a 
  striking 
  aloofness 
  and 
  lack 
  

   of 
  a 
  spirit 
  of 
  cooperation 
  among 
  the 
  laborers 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  guilds. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  tier 
  of 
  foundation 
  stones 
  was 
  laid 
  by 
  the 
  breeder. 
  As 
  was 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  expected, 
  the 
  empiricism 
  of 
  a 
  practical 
  art 
  led 
  the 
  

   judicial 
  classification 
  and 
  the 
  inductive 
  reasoning 
  of 
  science. 
  One 
  

   has 
  only 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  wonderful 
  domestic 
  animals 
  in 
  the 
  paintings 
  

   and 
  reliefs 
  of 
  Babylonia, 
  of 
  Assyria, 
  of 
  Egypt, 
  to 
  realize 
  that 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  of 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  selection 
  has 
  been 
  extant 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  6,000 
  years, 
  

   perhaps 
  for 
  10,000 
  or 
  20,000 
  years. 
  And 
  Jacob's 
  little 
  scheme 
  to 
  

   mulct 
  his 
  father-in-law 
  of 
  the 
  ring-straked 
  and 
  spotted 
  cattle 
  shows 
  

   us 
  somewhat 
  of 
  the 
  older 
  theoretical 
  beliefs. 
  Jacob, 
  in 
  fact, 
  seems 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  as 
  advanced 
  a 
  geneticist 
  as 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  breeders 
  

   of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century, 
  since 
  the 
  textbooks 
  of 
  this 
  period 
  express 
  

   a 
  similar 
  belief 
  in 
  maternal 
  impressions 
  and 
  other 
  fables 
  and 
  con- 
  

   tain 
  not 
  a 
  single 
  conclusion 
  that 
  one 
  can 
  now 
  point 
  out 
  as 
  having 
  

   a 
  permanent 
  value. 
  

  

  Generally 
  speaking, 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  plant 
  breeding 
  gives 
  a 
  little 
  

   more 
  cause 
  for 
  pride. 
  True, 
  the 
  early 
  Semitic 
  knowledge 
  of 
  plant 
  

   sexuality 
  was 
  actually 
  lost 
  until 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  

   century; 
  but 
  having 
  rediscovered 
  this 
  fundamental 
  truth 
  through 
  

   the 
  work 
  of 
  Camerarius, 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  and 
  nineteenth 
  century 
  hy- 
  

   bridizers 
  did 
  leave 
  behind 
  them 
  several 
  legacies 
  well 
  worth 
  while. 
  

   Kolreuter 
  established 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  reciprocal 
  crosses 
  give 
  very 
  simi- 
  

   lar 
  results. 
  A 
  little 
  later 
  the 
  efforts 
  of 
  such 
  men 
  as 
  Sageret, 
  Wieg- 
  

   mann, 
  Gartner, 
  and 
  Naudin 
  placed 
  three 
  other 
  conclusions 
  on 
  a 
  

   firm 
  foundation 
  of 
  experiment 
  — 
  the 
  variability 
  of 
  hybrids 
  of 
  the 
  

   second 
  generation 
  when 
  compared 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  first, 
  the 
  domi- 
  

   nance 
  of 
  certain 
  individual 
  characteristics, 
  and 
  the 
  occasional 
  reap- 
  

   pearance 
  of 
  the 
  qualities 
  lost 
  to 
  sight. 
  Possibly 
  analogous 
  observa- 
  

   tions 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  previously 
  by 
  animal 
  breeders; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  cer- 
  

   tainly 
  within 
  the 
  truth 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  even 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  twen- 
  

   tieth 
  century 
  these 
  were 
  not 
  accepted 
  with 
  anything 
  like 
  the 
  una- 
  

   nimity 
  which 
  existed 
  in 
  the 
  botanical 
  field. 
  

  

  CONTRIBUTIONS 
  OF 
  MORPHOLOGY. 
  

  

  Morphology, 
  with 
  a 
  much 
  later 
  start, 
  got 
  down 
  to 
  essentials 
  a 
  great 
  

   deal 
  more 
  quickly 
  than 
  experimental 
  breeding. 
  Indeed, 
  morpholo- 
  

   gists 
  built 
  so 
  rapidly 
  during 
  the 
  Victorian 
  era 
  they 
  nearly 
  reached 
  a 
  

   pinnacle 
  of 
  success 
  that 
  would 
  have 
  given 
  us 
  a 
  different 
  day 
  to 
  cele- 
  

   brate. 
  They 
  lacked 
  but 
  the 
  inspiration 
  to 
  put 
  their 
  " 
  ifs 
  " 
  to 
  the 
  

   test 
  of 
  calm 
  experiment. 
  

  

  