CHAPTER SEVEN 



MENDELISM 



FIG. 10. Gregor Johann Mendel, at about 

 the age of 40. 



i. GREGOR MENDEL Life of 



was born on July 22, 

 1822, in Austrian Si- 

 lesia. As a boy he so 

 distinguished himself in 

 school that his parents 

 decided to give him 

 unusual advantages, 

 though at considerable 

 sacrifice to themselves. 

 His younger sister con- 

 tributed part of her 

 dowry that he might 

 continue his education. 

 The result was that, 

 instead of becoming a 

 farmer like his father, 

 he was admitted into 



the Augustinian house of St. Thomas at Briinn, where 

 he was expected to take part in the educational work 

 of the institution. In 1847 he was ordained a priest. 

 As a teacher he was so successful that at the expense of 

 the cloister he was from 1851 to 1853 sent to the Univer- 

 sity of Vienna, where he studied mathematics and the 

 natural sciences. He studied under the entomologist 

 Kollar, and in 1853-1854 published two short papers on 

 insects. Returning to Briinn, he not only continued his 

 teaching, but carried on experiments with plants and 

 honeybees. Although it is known that his experiments 

 in hybridizing bees were quite extensive, the results 

 were never published and have apparently been lost. 



4 1 



