Philippe De Vilmorin 
PHILIPPE LE- VEQUE DE VILMORIN, one of 
the most conspicuous figures in European 
genetics, died on June 30 at the age of forty- 
five. A reserve officer in the French Army, he had 
been attached to the Anglo-Indian Army in France 
as an interpreter, but no particulars of his death are 
given. 
Although identified with plant-breeding, M. de Vil- 
morin also carried on dog-breeding experiments for 
many years. His closest scientific affiliations were with 
William Bateson of England, whom he regarded as 
his mentor, and J. P. Lotsy, the Dutch botanist. He 
was secretary of the last International Conference on 
Genetics, and a life member of the American Genetic 
Association. He had made numerous trips to Amer- 
ica, had many friends here, and published a report for 
the French Government on agrictulture at the St. Louis 
Exposition. His published work is considerable in 
size and value, but his greatest contribution to genetics 
was, perhaps, his personal influence, which can only 
be understood by the help of a knowledge of his fam- 
ily history. 
As early as 1727 there was in Paris a seed store "An 
coqitc de la bonne foy," kept by Pierre Geoffroy, whose 
daughter and heiress married Pierre d'Andrieux, a bo- 
tanist. Their daughter in turn married, in 1774, 
Philippe-^''ictorie-Leveque de Vilmorin, a young botanist 
belonging to a Lorraine family which was identified with 
war and agriculture. Thus was founded the business 
still known as Vilmorin-Andrieux and Company, one of 
the most celebrated seed-growing and seed-selling estab- 
lishments in the world. 
The business was handed on from father to son, and 
the family grew in size and importance as did the busi- 
ness, the two being identified in a remarkable wav. Many 
de \^ilmorins have, in every generation, been identified 
with the progress of scientific agriculture in France, but 
none is so well known as Louis de Vilmorin (1816-1860), 
the producer of the sugar-beet. Of the three great con- 
tributors to the theory of genetics, in nineteenth-century 
France, de Vilmorin alone did work of great practical 
importance. Jourdan's study of the nature of species 
and Naudin's hybridization experiments which so nearly 
revealed the laws of Mendel, have been of first-rate im- 
portance ; but de \'ilmorin, the third of the trio, not only 
invented the centgener method of breeding, but revolu- 
tionized the sugar industry. His achievement is one of 
the stock examples in text-books of plant-breeding. 
Starting with a sweet yellow beet from Germany, he 
analyzed many roots, selected those which had the high- 
est sugar content (from 10 to 12 per cent.) and planted 
separately the seeds borne on each root. From the rows 
which produced the best yield, he again selected the roots 
with highest sugar content, and so continued until he had 
raised the average yield to about 18 per cent., a figure 
which has hardly been surpassed since his time. By 
growing this strain of beets, continental Europe was able 
to make sugar in competition with the cane-growing 
countries of the tropics. 
Louis de Vilmorin was succeeded as head of the fam- 
ily and of the business by his son, Henri, who made 
many contributions to the study of heredity, his work on 
wheat and potatoes being best known. He died in 1899, 
when Philippe de \'ilmorin, whose death has just been 
announced, succeeded him. By this time the large fam- 
ily had become one of the most important in France, 
scientifically, financially, and socially, and Philippe's po- 
sition as head of it carried a prestige which can hardly 
be understood in the United States. The business had 
also reached large proportions, seeds being grown in 
many parts of the world. A great farm at Verrieres-le- 
Buisson, near Paris, has been used since 1815 for seed- 
testing exi)eriments, and much experimental breeding 
has been done here in recent years by Hagedoorn, 
Meunissier, Mottet, and other geneticists in the employ 
of the firm. Adjoining it is the estate where Philippe 
spent most of his time engaged in his own genetic ex- 
periments, the active direction of the business having 
been taken over by his brother-in-law, Comte d'Etienne. 
Another very important figure in French agriculture is 
his uncle, Maurice, who, at Les Barres, has one of the 
greatest collections of shrubs and trees in Europe, and 
who has long been president of the Academic d'Agricul- 
ture. He published a book on "Horticulture in the 
United States" in 1894, and the monumental "Fruticetum 
\'ilmorinianum" in 1905. Henri, a younger brother of 
Philippe, has made several visits to the United States, 
the last just prior to the war, and has many friends here. 
The de X'ilmorin family has lived up to its military 
traditions in the war, Henri being an officer in the navy 
and the other four brothers having commissions in the 
army. Philippe's work as interpreter has been men- 
tioned. \'incent returned from China to join his com- 
pany and is understood now to be with the French ex- 
pedition at Salonika. Louis has commanded a section of 
automobile guns and won two medals and mention in 
dispatches for his gallant conduct. Jean was hit by four 
bullets at Peronne almost as soon as the war began, was 
captured by the Germans but exchanged, recovered, and 
is now believed to be in Macedonia with his regiment 
of cuirassiers. 
One of Philippe de A'ilmorin's great services to gen- 
etics was the organization of the Fourth International 
Conference on Genetics, held in Paris, September 18-23, 
1911. This conference was made possible largely by the 
de Vilmorin family, which fvirnished most of the neces- 
sary funds. Philippe was secretary, and on him fell a 
large share of the expense as well as work connected 
with meetings, entertainments, and publications. He is- 
sued for distribution to the members a pamphlet giving 
a brief history and bibliography of genetics, had bronze 
medals made for the foreign delegates, and edited the 
large volume of proceedings, the cost of publishing of 
which was defrayed by him personally. 
The most important of his published work in genetics 
has dealt with wheat. The breadth of his interest and 
information is shown by a publication on the beet-sugar 
industry of the L^nited States, another on the culture of 
ginseng in Corea and Manchuria, and another on the 
tobaccos of commerce. He took a keen interest in flower 
gardening, and was responsible for three important pub- 
lications of the firm : "Les Fleurs de Pleine Terre," "Le 
Manuel de Floriculture," and the "Hortus Vihnorini- 
anus." The two first are standard works on flower gar- 
dening in Europe, while the third is a large and valuable 
report on the appearance and behavior of little known 
plants which the firm has tested at its various gardens. 
While the influence of French workers in genetics has 
been large, the number of men actually engaged in this 
science has always been relatively small. Science can ill 
afford the loss of a man like Philippe de Vilmorin, who 
combined great wealth, high social position, and leader- 
ship in an immense business organization, with a pro- 
found enthusiasm for genetics, and who used all his 
possessions so freely to advance the science to which he 
had devoted his life. — Journal of Heredity. 
305 
