SUMMARY OF THE WORK 313 



who were enterprising enough to do so, now find 

 themselves fully prepared to supply the great 

 and ever-increasing demand which has followed, 

 and are reaping rich rewards for the small invest- 

 ment of enterprise and coin which they then 

 made." 



It will appear from this quotation that the 

 announcement of the new fruits and flowers 

 created an altogether exceptional interest, and 

 that this interest was not confined to any one class 

 of people. Although the announcement had been 

 made for the benefit of practical horticulturists 

 and nurserymen, it found its way into the hands 

 of the general public and of theoretical biologists 

 as well, and it would be hard to say which class 

 of people were most exercised over it. 



If we briefly review the causes that underlay 

 this widespread interest, and, considering one 

 class of the public after another, attempt to ex- 

 plain just what its attitude was toward the new 

 work, we shall at the same time be able to present 

 an outline of the work itself and interpret it in 

 the light of the mental environment of the time 

 at which the work appeared with reference to the 

 broad problems of heredity. 



Let us then attempt a brief analysis of the 

 attitude of (1) horticulturists in general, (2) the 

 public at large, (3) scientific biologists, and (4) 



