[WOMEN IN SCIENCE / GENETICS]. On a Discontinuous Variation Occurring in Biscutella laevigata (Offprint from Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. 62, 1897)

London: Royal Society, 1897. First Separate Edition. Very good. OFFPRINT. 8vo., pp. [11]-26 pp. Original printed wrappers. In excellent condition, suitable for exhibition and study. RARE OFFPRINT OF ONE OF THE FIRST PAPER ON INHERITANCE BY ELIZABETH SAUNDERS WHOSE IMPORTANCE IN THE SCIENCE OF GENETICS HAS BEEN ONLY RECENTLY BEEN FULLY ACKNOWLEDGED. NOW CONSIDERED TO BE "THE MOTHER OF BRITISH PLANT GENETICS," HER REPUTATION WAS OVERSHADOWED BY WILLIAM BATESON, THE PIONEERING BRITISH MENDELIAN AND ORIGINATOR OF THE TERM GENETICS.

Edith Rebecca Saunders (1865-1945) was one of the first women to pursue a scientific education and research career (truncated) at Cambridge University in an era when women were excluded from formal lectures and prevented from graduating with a degree. Nonetheless, she became a formidable teacher and an extraordinary researcher, eventually becoming director of the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women in Cambridge. With her colleague William Bateson, Saunders went on to make important contributions to the nascent field of genetics through her meticulous plant-breeding experiments, as are seen herein.

This is a rare offprint of her FIRST PAPER ON HEREDITY, focusing on the inheritance of dominant and recessive traits of the Biscutella laevigata plant. Because women were excluded from membership in the Royal Society, the paper had to be conveyed through Bateson’s agency, although the findings were entirely her own. Saunders' paper was read by Bateson to members of the Royal Society on June 17, 1897.

As is well known, the importance of Mendel's models of inheritance (1865) was completely unrecognized during his lifetime and indeed it took 35 years for science to "rediscover" his work. Saunders, writing here in 1897, provides critical data that controverted the prevailing "Blending Theory" of inheritance, while supporting "Discontinuous Variation" as termed by Bateson in his "Materials for the Study of Variation Treated with Especial Regard to Discontinuity in the Origin of Species" (1894).

BACKGROUND: In 1895 Saunders had planted a mixture of hairy and smooth Biscutella (also known as buckler-mustard) in the Cambridge Botanical Garden and let them cross-breed the following year. The results -- reported in the present offprint -- were striking: rather than seeing plants with an intermediate level of hairiness, which might have been predicted from the "Blending Theory," Saunders only ever saw hairy or smooth plants – a perfect example of Discontinuous Variation.

Bateson, one of the "co-rediscoverers" of Mendel's brilliant conclusions, seized upon the significance of Saunders' work that independently supported his own still-controversial and largely unaccepted theories. Together, Saunders and Bateson co-authored a number of important articles on heredity, with Saunders' name (but not first name) alongside Bateson's, who always considered her his colleague, never his "assistant." And indeed, in his preface to "Mendel's Principles of Heredity" (1909) Bateson championed Saunders' work thusly: "A beautiful series of results, especially relating to the heredity of stocks (Matthiola), has been the fruit of her labours exclusively. Not only have these results greatly advanced our knowledge of geneti phenomena, but I think that at a time when Mendelism was, in England at least, regarded with suspicion, the obvious precision of her work and the persistence of her advocacy did much to convince the scientific world of the reality of our assertions."

Another important achievement in Saunders' career is her founding of the Genetical Society (later Genetics Society), often attributed to Bateson himself. Indeed, Bateson himself conceded that "it was Miss Saunders who forced the Genetical Society upon us." (Source: Alison Woollard, "100 Years of Genetics" in: Heredity [Edinburgh] July 2019, vol. 123 no. 1, pp. 1-3).

CONCLUSION: "Due to the findings of Saunders, we are now able to predict the occurrence of genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis which is caused by recessive alleles and Huntington’s disease caused by dominant alleles. Saunders was a pioneer for modern genetics and her work has contributed to modern medicine by helping us understand and prevent genetic disorders as well as how genes are passed down from parents to offspring." (Source: Contributed by: Chloe Pak et al., "Edith Rebecca Saunders, Discontinuous variation occurring in Biscutella laevigata" in: Project Biodiversify: Tools for Promoting Diversity & Inclusivity in Biology Classrooms, online).

SELECTED LITERATURE: Marsha L. Richmond, "A Lab of One's Own": The Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women at Cambridge University, 1884-1914, in: Isis, vol. 88, No. 3 (Sep., 1997), pp. 422-455. Idem., "Women in the Early History of Genetics: William Bateson and the Newnham College Mendelians, 1900-1910" in Isis vol. 92, no. 1 (April, 2001), pp. 55-90. Kat Arney, "When 'Becky' Met Bateson: Edith Rebecca Saunders, the Mother of British Plant Genetics" in: Geneticsunzipped, online). Christine Alexander, "A Celebration of Edith Rebecca Saunders" in: University of Cambridge, Department of Genetics, online.

PROVENANCE: Inscription on front wrapper of Prof. Walter S. Flory, Jr. (1907-1988), "outstanding geneticist" at Wake Forest University according to his obituary provided by the Virginia Academy of Science which he served with distinction for many years. (Inventory #: 4263)