PROBABLE ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION. 12 
between many of the chinch bugs of his own locality and those found 
in any of the last-mentioned States, and will probably be able to 
satisfy himself of their identity only by the similarity of their vile 
odor. Again, he will probably be equally at a loss to understand 
why it is that his own timothy meadows are overrun by these pestifer- 
ous insects and destroyed, while in other localities, perhaps less than 
100 miles away, similar meadows are left untouched, the injury 
there being confined to the wheat and corn fields. 
If wondering leads to questioning, as it often does among the 
constantly increasing number of educated and up-to-date farmers, 
it will not satisfy him to receive an evasive or obscure reply to his 
query as to why such differences exist, for if he can not get a clear 
explanation he will want ideas, theories, or possibilities. He wants 
the best explanation possible to give until some one finds out a better 
one, realizing that had mankind been perfectly satisfied with the 
knowledge that a stroke of lightning would split a tree or destroy 
human life, and had stubbornly refused to listen to possibilities or 
to anything but facts, we would not now be able to understand and 
utilize electricity in the many ways that we do at the present time. 
Such men understand perfectly that the solution of most problems 
in natural science must of necessity commence with theories which 
must be patiently tested and adopted or rejected as the results 
demand, while the scientific man knows that the solution of one 
problem often opens up the way for the solution of another, the 
last not infrequently having an entirely different application from 
the first. 
The science of applied entomology is growing rapidly and becoming 
both broader and deeper, and it is not enough simply to tell the hus- 
bandman what an insect is and how to kill it. He must have some- 
thing along with that information to set his own mind to thinking, to 
work out problems or improve upon the solutions already given him, 
otherwise it is much like giving money to a professional beggar. If 
we can not give facts based upon demonstrations, then give the best 
explanation possible, even though it be a theory which is only ex- 
pected to stand until some one does better. It is for the thoughtful, 
progressive farmer, as well as the student of geographical distribu- 
tion, that this possible solution of the problem of the chinch bug has 
been prepared, and while the full practical value of the ideas ad- 
vanced has yet to be demonstrated, this of itself can not be urged as 
sufficient grounds for not sending it forth for study and consideration. 
Thanks to the careful observations of Professor Sajé, on the Euro- 
pean species of chinch bug, Blissus doriw, it is now for the first time 
possible to compare the habits of this species with our own. 
