Contemporary fragments from newspapers and books around the time of Gregor
J. Mendel’s famous experiments and lectures in Brno (Brünn) provide new evidence on the early
beginnings of his experiments and experimental design. The fragments show that his early
efforts were strongly focussed on plant breeding of varieties and at the time particularly
discussed in the context of acclimatization experiments. Further newly found sources highlight
that Mendel’s 22 pea varieties might have been already presented to the public at exhibitions
at the early beginning of his experiments in 1855. While Mendel was convinced that those
experiments had economical relevance, contemporaries anonymously expressed doubts on this
point. Criticism on his analysis in Brno also continued after the conclusion and presentation of
his experiments. Johann Nepomuk Bayer (1802–1870), a railway expeditor and botanist for
example doubted Mendel’s concept of dominant and recessive traits and published a sharp
comment in his final book on results of his own field trip. This previously unknown early
citation of Mendel’s article from 1866 is a particular oddity in the history of Genetics, because
there is a huge likelihood that it might be a missing link in the early citation network of
Mendel’s work in the 19th century that eventually ensured that it could be rediscovered in 1900.
The citation though also raises the question if this remark was only the tip of the iceberg in
a longer and continuing discourse between the two researchers.