Das Verhältniss 3 : 1, nach welchem die Vertheilung des dominirenden und recessiven Characters in der ersten Generation erfolgt, löst sich demnach für alle Versuche in die Verhältnisse 2 : 1 : 1 auf, wenn man zugleich das dominirende Merkmal in seiner Bedeutung als hybrides Merkmal und als Stamm-Character unterscheidet.
The proportion of 3 : 1 according to which the distribution of the dominating and recessive characteristic occurs in the first generation, thus resolves itself into the proportion 2 : 1 : 1 in all experiments, if one all along distinguishes the dominating trait in its meaning as a hybrid trait and as a parental characteristic.
The manuscript has a note by the printer on the right margin, indicating a page break between wenn and man. Mendel underlined part of this sentence (from demnach to auf, i.e. what we translate as “thus resolves itself into the proportion 2 : 1 : 1 “), but the emphasis was not reproduced in print.
proportion = Verhältniss See p. 3, s. 8.
dominating = dominirende See p. 10, s. 14.
recessive = recessiven See p. 10, s. 14.
characteristic = Characters See p. 7, s. 8.
first generation = ersten Generation Refers to what we would call F2 today (see p. 12, s. 3).
all along = zugleich The meaning of this qualification is obscure. Mendel probably intended to say that the ratio of 2 : 1 : 1 results, as soon as, or as long as, one keeps in mind that dominant traits can be distinguished according to the non-manifest criterion of their transmission behaviour.
in its meaning = in seiner Bedeutung This sentence is highly significant, since it clearly defines “hybrid” by the behaviour of traits in offspring, i.e. by the fact that the offspring exhibits segregation of traits, rather than by visible traits themselves; see p. 15, s. 1.
hybrid trait = hybrides Merkmal See p. 15, s. 7.
parental characteristic = Stamm-Character In this sentence, the expressions “character (Character)” and “trait (Merkmal)” are used synonymously. Mendel had tested the varieties he was working with for their constancy (see p. 6, s. 7). “Parental characteristic” here thus not only refers to the manifest trait of an individual, but also to the fact that this trait remains constant while being transmitted from generation to generation in a population. A more precise translation would be “ancestral characteristic”, but like Bateson and Sherwood we prefer “parental”, since this has become quite a common locution among geneticists. On the prefix Stamm-, see p. 5, s. 10.