Luther Burbank: Honorary Member of the American Breeders' Association

acquired characteristics even after the discovery of Mendel’s paper in 1900 and throughout the rest of his life. At the opening meeting of the American Breeders’ Association (ABA) at St. Louis in 1903, Burbank was unanimously elected to honorary membership. In the early proceedings of the association, a number of articles by him appeared under the titles ‘‘Heredity,’’ ‘‘Right Attitude Toward Life,’’ ‘‘Another Mode of Species Forming,’’ and ‘‘Evolution and Variation with the Fundamental Significance of Sex.’’ So why was Burbank held in such high regard in the early days of genetics? What happened to his reputation in his later years? And whatever became of the theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics?