What was the hypothesis for heredity before Mendel? How was it disproven?

- In the 1800s, the explanation of heredity was the “blending” hypothesis (when they believed that physical traits were a mix of the parents traits) - BUT when Mendel crossed contrasting, true-breeding white- and purple-flowered pea plants, all of the F1 hybrids were purple​ (not a mix of white and purple!) - This result was not predicted by the blending hypothesis - When Mendel crossed the F1 hybrids, many of the F2 plants had purple flowers, but some had white - Mendel discovered a ratio of about three purple flowers to one white flower in the F2 generation