Letters to the Editor

Dear Sir

A couple of years ago, I reviewed the Institute’s excellent book marking the centenary of the rediscovery of Mendelism. In the review I suggested that the reason for Mendel’s obfuscation, evident in the bound volume here of the Proceedings of the Brno Scientific Society which contains the original paper, was the preoccupation of virtually every other paper in the volume with Darwinismus. I suggested that Darwin condemned Mendel to obscurity.

I recently discovered in the Royal Society Evolution Reports, 1902 I, 6 that W. Bateson and Miss E.R. Saunders, seeking an explanation for the passing over of Mendel in 1866, noted that “....at the time of publication (of Mendel’s original paper), the announcement of the principle of Natural Selection had almost completely distracted the minds of naturalists from the practical study of evolution. The labours of the hybridists were believed to have led to confusion and inconsistency, and no one heeded them any more.”

Miss Edith Rebecca Saunders was one of our earliest lady Fellows, elected on 16^th March 1905.

John Marsden
Linnean Society of London

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Dear Sir

A mystery! Humans are among the most promiscuous of mammal species. Indeed, I have attended court cases when the victims are cattle, ducks, even a sea gull. Most invading groups rape the women and although the Saxons always murdered them afterwards (see Offa’s Dyke) generally a little DNA gets through.

Regarding neanderthals and sapiens, only one questionable boy has been reported although Mount Carmel used to be thought of as a hot-bed of hybridisation.

Now sheep and goat hybrids can hardly get beyond the blastula stage but sometimes a cross can get through. I cannot see how neanderthal and sapiens could have separated so quickly. It may be that the chromosome set of only one of the species had reduced to 46 from the ape 48, but that would have been progressive.

We already know that ape/human crosses have at least been brought to term so why no mule humans? All the old fairy/horror stories tell of cross-connections between goblin and man and these surely reflect history.

Patrick F James