96 GENETICS 





that reached hardly more than a local public. Here 

 Mendel's investigations were buried, so to speak, because 

 the time was not ripe for a general appreciation or 

 evaluation of his work. 



At that time neither the chromosome theory nor the 

 germplasm theory had been formulated. Moreover, 

 much of our present knowledge of cell structure and 

 behavior was not even in existence. Weismann had not 

 yet led out the biological children of Israel through the 

 wilderness upon that notable pilgrimage of fruitful 

 controversy which occupied the last two decades of the 

 nineteenth century, and the attention of the entire 

 thinking world was being monopolized by the newly 

 published epoch-making work of Charles Darwin. 



Mendel died in 1884, and his work slumbered on 

 until it was independently discovered, almost simul- 

 taneously, by three botanists whose researches had 

 been leading up to conclusions very much like his own. 

 These three men were deVries of Holland, von Tscher 

 mak of Austria, and Correns of Germany. Their con 

 tributions were published only a few months apart c 

 1900 and were closely followed by important papers 

 from Bateson in England, Cuenot in France and., 

 Davenport and Castle in America, extending Mendelisr^ 

 to animals, with a rapidly increasing number from ot 

 biologists the world over. To-day the literature uj 

 this subject has grown to be very large, and the end 

 by no means yet in sight. 



Castle has well said: "Mendel had an analyti 

 mind of the first order which enabled him to plan an 

 carry through successfully the most original and in 

 structive series of studies in heredity ever executed." 



