Dürfte man voraussetzen, dass bei diesen Versuchen die Entwicklung der Formen auf eine ähnliche Weise wie bei Pisum erfolgte, so würde der ganze Umwandlungsprocess eine ziemlich einfache Erklärung finden.
If one were allowed to presume that the development of forms in these experiments occured in a similar way to that in Pisum, then the entire process of transformation would find a fairly simple explanation.
development of forms = Entwicklung der Formen Bateson has “constitution of forms” (although Druery had “development of the forms”). We concur with Sherwood’s translation. On Entwicklung, see p. 3, s. 3, on Formen, p. 3, s. 8. Mendel refers back to the overall conclusion from his experiments on p. 32, s. 2, according to which the “law of combination of differing traits” found valid for Pisum can be explained by assuming that “hybrids produce germ- and pollen cells that correspond in equal quantities to all the constant forms that emerge from the combination of the traits that were united by fertilisation”.
If one were allowed = Dürfte man The past subjunctive expresses doubts about the probability of the conditional formulated here. This appears overly cautious, given that Mendel seems quite convinced to have found generalizable laws for Pisum. Mendel could simply have chosen the indicative.
process of transformation = Umwandlungsprocess See p. 43, s. 3.