Gregor Mendel both his professors at the Palacký University, Olomouc (Friedrich Franz and Johann Karl Nestler), and his colleagues at the monastery (such as Franz Diebl) to study variation in plants. In 1854, Napp authorized Mendel to carry out a study in the monastery's experimental garden, which was originally planted by Napp in 1830. Unlike Nestler, who studied hereditary traits in sheep, Mendel used the common edible pea and started his experiments in 1856. After initial experiments with pea plants, Mendel settled on studying seven traits that seemed to be inherited independently of other traits: seed shape, flower color, seed coat tint,
Johann Gregor Thalnitscher Johann Gregor Thalnitscher Johann Gregor Thalnitscher von Thalberg (10 March 1655 – 3 October 1719; less often known by his Slovene name "Janez Gregor Dolničar") was a Carniolan lawyer, scholar of ancient inscriptions, chronicler, and historian. Thalnitscher was born in Ljubljana on 10 March 1655 to Johann Baptist Thalnitscher and Maria Anna née Schönleben. His father was a Ljubljana judge and mayor, and made it possible for his son to study and travel throughout Germany and Italy, where he developed an enthusiasm for Baroque art. He studied in Ingolstadt and Bologna, and became a doctor of law in Bologna in