Die Resultate, zu welchen die vorausgeschickten Versuche führten, veranlassten weitere Experimente, deren Erfolg geeignet erscheint, Aufschlüsse über die Beschaffenheit der Keim- und Pollenzellen der Hybriden zu geben.
The results, to which the preceding experiments led, induced further experiments, the success of which seems suited to provide insight into the constitution of the germ- and pollen cells of hybrids.
It is interesting to note that Mendel obviously thought that it was only the back-crossing experiments, which are the subject of the section that this sentence opens, could reveal anything about the “constitution” of germ- and pollen cells. The reason may simply be that the experiments he reports on in the preceding sections build on spontaneous self-fertilisation of the hybrids. The results of these experiments, especially the segregation ratios obtained, could therefore not reveal anything about the individual genetic constitution of the plants involved. They might as well have represented statistical trends only. The back-crossing experiments, in contrast, involved artificial fertilisation of a hybrid plant (itself produced by artificial pollination from the parental plants) with one of its respective parent plants.
trial = Versuch See p. 3, s. 6.
constitution = Beschaffenheit This German word does not designate the structure or composition of a thing, but rather its quality and overall texture. The expression thus remains quite vague about what it is exactly that makes the difference between two entities that differ in their Beschaffenheit. It is derived from the verb schaffen (“to create”) and literally means the state of being created in this or that particular way.
germ- and pollen cells = Keim- und Pollenzellen Bateson has “egg cells”, Sherwood “seed cells” for Keimzellen, which today in German designates cells that give rise to male and female gametes, just as the English word “germ cell”. In line with contemporary botanical usage, Mendel applies the term to female gametes, however, even if a more general meaning of Keim had become common in the German speaking world since the late eighteenth century already; see Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, online-edition, s.v. “keim” (1865). We decided to retain this outdated terminology in our translation, since it resonates with older preformationist notions that the female egg contains the rudiments of the embryo.
success = Erfolg Bateson has “result”, Sherwood “outcome”; see p. 7, s. 9.
of hybrids = der Hybriden The manuscript originally had welche von den Hybridpflanzen entwickelt werden (“that are developed by the hybrids”), which Mendel deleted and replaced by der Hybriden.