Empirical genetic laws published in Brno before Mendel was born

Abstract

The Sheep Breeders Society of Brno held debates from 1816 to 1819 on the relative benefits of inbreeding and crossing races, and how to associate various wool traits (elasticity, fineness, density, length, and color) into effective combinations. Members differed on the value they attached to inbreeding. J. M. Ehrenfels believed that constancy of inheritance was under climatic influence and that inbreeding would do nothing but increase the rate of degeneration in a race removed from its ancestral climate. E. Festetics and R. Andre believed a race's properties to be intrinsic, capable of being 'concentrated' by inbreeding. Ch C. Andre agreed on the potential value of inbreeding, but also stressed the usefulness of crossing to generate heterogeneity 'in reciprocal reaction' to produce 'new products with more significant, stronger actions, construction and forms.' He called upon Festetics to define more clearly his own position, which he did in four 'genetic laws' (1819). He connected heredity with health and vigor, rejected a climatic influence on heredity, recognized that different traits had to be integrated into a 'healthy whole,' and stressed that inbreeding could be practiced safely only when accompanied by stringent selection of breeding stock. The quest for a theoretical underpinning of breeding practices is discussed in relation to Mendel's motivation for his hybridization experiments with peas.

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