DARWIN'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE 

 OF HYBRIDIZATION 



HERBERT F. ROBERTS 

 University of Manitoba 



The period from 1859 until the re-discovery of Men- 

 del's papers in 1900 was so strongly colored by the views 

 of Charles Darwin, and so dominated by the magnitude of 

 his work, that it sometimes seems as though originality 

 and initiative had been abandoned, and as though, so far 

 as evolution were concerned, the scientific world had re- 

 mained content simply to quote Darwin. 



It is the purpose of the present paper to present the 

 contributions of Darwin to the knowledge of hybrids. To 

 this end it seems desirable, so far as possible, to let Dar- 

 win's words speak for themselves, and hence, although 

 the paper may seem burdened with extracts, yet, for those 

 interested in tracing the history of ideas in genetics, it 

 will perhaps be of service to assemble such a resume of 

 Darwin's work and thought in the field of hybridization. 

 Brought together in such a way, an author V contribution 

 may be more successfully valnatt-d at leisure by tliux- who 

 may be interested. The writtT has. thtMcforc. >oimlit to 

 bring together, in somewhat connected and eoluM-ciit form, 

 the various views, conclusions and experimental data on 

 the subject of hybrids and hybridization, found in Dar- 

 win's different writings. 



It is also the purpose of the writer to bring into relief 

 certain fields of investigation opened by him, but in whicli, 

 so far as appears, there has been little or no research 

 since his time. 



On November 24, IR.IO, ai^pcarcd the \\v>t odWum of 

 ''The Origin of Species (1), antedati.ii>- l.y >,.vcii yrars, 

 the appearance of the pai)ers of ^NFendel. 



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