Themes of Biological Inheritance in Early Nineteenth Century Sheep Breeding as Revealed by J. M. Ehrenfels

Among the so-called sheep breeders interested in biological inheritance in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and well before Gregor Johann Mendel, J. M. Ehrenfels (1767-1843) produced some of the most cogent writings on the subject. Although earlier in his career Ehrenfels was a strong advocate of environmental factors as influencers on the appearance of organisms, as a result of his discussions with Imre Festetics, he became convinced that whatever is passed from parents to progeny is more important and it is dependent on a "genetic force, the mother of all living things". The sheep breeders kept issues of inheritance at the forefront of the Central European cultural context late into the nineteenth century.