Page:Mendel's principles of heredity; a defence.pdf/14

Rh of the present article has indeed been written in consultation with her. The reader who seeks fuller statement of facts and conceptions is referred to the writings of other naturalists who have studied the phenomena at first hand (of which a bibliography is appended) and to our own Report.

I take this opportunity of acknowledging the unique facilities generously granted me, as representative of the Evolution Committee, by Messrs Sutton and Sons of Reading, to watch some of the many experiments they have in progress, to inspect their admirable records, and to utilise these facts for the advancement of the science of heredity. My studies at Reading have been for the most part confined to plants other than those immediately the subject of this discussion, but some time ago I availed myself of a kind permission to examine their stock of peas, thus obtaining information which, with other facts since supplied, has greatly assisted me in treating this subject.

I venture to express the conviction, that if the facts now before us are carefully studied, it will become evident that the experimental study of heredity, pursued on the lines Mendel has made possible, is second to no branch of science in the certainty and magnitude of the results it offers. This study has