PROBLEMS OF HEEEDITY APERT. 407 



Pearson, a pupil of Galtoii, saw that to agree with the reality, that 

 formula was exact and conformed to observations only if there was 

 made to intervene in each generation a corrective coefficient varying 

 from the rest according to the subjects and characters considered, the 

 corrective corresponding in total to the " inneite *" of Lucas. On the 

 whole, the " biometric method "" of Gallon and Pearson, in spite of 

 the magnitude of their efiort, led to such complicated formulas that 

 they were unprofitable in practice. Besides, they gave simply form- 

 ulas of a general term not at all applicable to a particular case con- 

 sidered independently of all other cases. 



We are about to see that the formula of Mendel, which is much 

 more simple, explains the results empirically stated by Galton and 

 Pearson. The formulas of these last explain the proportion from the 

 results given by the laws of Mendel applied to the whole of an ex- 

 tended population. 



Mendel's laws are the foundation of the study of heredity to-day. 

 But we should not forget that the most important of these laws had 

 already been discovered by our compatriot, Naudin. Naudin, about 

 the middle of the last century, had undertaken the study of the phe- 

 nomena of hybridization, as Mendel had done, and had discovered 

 the phenomenal principles which a little later attracted Mendel's 

 attention, particularly the resemblance of some hybrids to one of its 

 parents and the disassociation of characters in the descent. Naudin, 

 who was deaf, and therefore isolated by his infirmity, did not know 

 how to make the most of what his works merited, and it is to Mendel 

 that the glory of establishing the remarkable laws which deservedly 

 bear his name is given. 



The fame of Mendel is of quite recent date ; it has only been a few 

 years that the learned world has known his name; and now it is 

 already famous enough to have societies named for it (" Mendel 

 societies '') and a periodical (Mendel Journal) devoted exclusively 

 to drawing from the discoveries of Mendel the inferences which they 

 bear. This glory is tardy. It was in 1868 that Mendel published his 

 discovery, but it was ignored, and it was not until 1900 that the 

 Dutch naturalist de Vries brought out Mendel's laws, and it was 

 not until then that the name of Mendel commenced to spread abroad. 



Mendel was a monk in a convent of Moravia near Briinn. In his 

 leisure hours he devoted himself to the study of natural history and 

 cultivated a little garden where he hybridized sAveet peas; it was 

 in this way that he discovered the laws of hybridization which he 

 published in a small local scientific paper, called "Bulletin de la 

 Reunion Scientifique de Briinn," and the}^ remained buried there. 

 After a time, Mendel was appointed superior of the convent; his 

 new occupations prevented him from continuing his work, and he 

 died without knowledge of the fame which awaited him. 



