Diese Entwicklung erfolgt nach einem constanten Gesetze, welches in der materiellen Beschaffenheit und Anordnung der Elemente begründet ist, die in der Zelle zur lebensfähigen Vereinigung gelangten.
This development occurs according to a constant law, which is grounded in the material constitution and arrangement of the elements that attained a viable union in the cell.
law = Gesetz See p. 3, s. 6.
which = die The manuscript originally had welch[e], which was deleted and replaced by die.
grounded in = in […] begründet Bateson has “founded on”, Sherwood “based on”. Mendel’s exact wording indicates a more indirect relationship between the putative law and the constitution of the cell; cf. p. 32, s. 2.
constitution = Beschaffenheit See p. 24, s. 4.
elements = Elemente As with “factor” (Factor; see p. 24, s. 7), Mendel borrows a term from Carl Friedrich Gärtner here. While “factors” designates the parental types involved in hybridisation, “elements” refers to the dispositions for certain parental traits. Mendel underlined a corresponding statement in Gärtner’s book according to which the formation of hybrids can be explained from the “elements and traits” of their parent species; see Carl Friedrich Gärtner, Versuche und Beobachtungen über die Bastarderzeugung im Pflanzenreich (Stuttgart: Hering, 1849), Mendel Museum, Collection of the Augustinian Abbey, p. 250. Darwin used the same terminology of "reproductive elements"; see Charles R. Darwin, Über die Entstehung der Arten im Thier- und Pflanzen-Reich durch natürliche Züchtung, oder, Erhaltung der vervollkommneten Rassen im Kampfe um's Daseyn, 2nd ed., transl. by H. G. Bronn (Stuttgart: Schweizerbart, 1863), Mendel Museum, Collection of the Augustinian Abbey, p. 18. Element was also widely used in German chemistry, but the reference to “viable union” shows that Mendel, just like Gärtner, gave the term a biological meaning (see also p. 42, s. 4ff.). For the same reason, one cannot assume that Mendel thought of the “elements” in the cell as small particles. While Elemente may refer to particles, it does not have to. In its most general meaning it just designates any part or component of a whole.
viable union = lebensfähige Vereinigung The language Mendel employs here implies more than mere combination; Vereingung derives from the verb vereinigen, literally meaning “to become one thing”. We have translated this as “union” and “united” throughout, in order to distinguish from Verbindung (“conjunction”), which Mendel uses in other instances and which has a stronger sense of the joined parts retaining some individuality (see p. 10, s. 14). Both terms have political undertones that come to the fore in Mendel’s discussion of how some sort of “compromise” (Ausgleichung) has to take place when different elements come together in a hybrid cell; see p. 41, s. 8. In addition, Vereinigung and vereinigen also have sexual connotations.
attained = gelangten Bateson has “meet”. This not only distorts the meaning slighty, but also does not preserve the past tense. Why Mendel is using the past tense here is less clear, though; perhaps in order to express the contingency of the process.