92 THE NEXT GENERATION 



Different governments asked themselves these questions 

 as they watched the steady advance of the tireless travelers. 

 Fortunately Europe knew how to save herself. Her weapon 

 was scientific information about the beetle itself, about its 

 power to eat all sorts of green and growing things, and about 

 the way it travels. Full directions were given as to what 

 must be done at once if any beetle showed itself in Europe. 



In Germany schoolmasters taught the facts to the chil- 

 dren in the schools and gave public lectures to older people. 

 France printed an elaborate bulletin for everybody to read. 



Then, in 1876, came the expected test. Beetles had ar- 

 rived. They had crossed the Atlantic by ship from America. 

 They were found in England, Sweden, and Norway. But, 

 thanks to the bulletins, the school-teachers, and the children, 

 people recognized them at once, captured them, and killed 

 them. Science saved the country then and will keep on saving 

 it so long as the people are vigilant. But what if vigilance 

 should let go ? 



Dr. Tower says that "when this happens, the beetle will 

 spread as it did in this country, until it is found in all the 

 countries of Europe in which it is possible to live." 



Such is the meager outline of the history of the migration 

 of the potato bug from Omaha in the west to Europe in the 

 east ; and it points the lesson of environment. By what they 

 did these beetles proved that they could live in any surround- 

 ings where they could find food enough. 



It mattered not whether the place was hot or cold, damp 

 or dry, covered by shadows or exposed to sunshine ; whether 

 it were on a mountain top, on a wide plain, or in a valley. 

 Nothing mattered to the beetles except their food. Wherever 

 there was food enough, there they multiplied fastest; and 

 where they multiplied fastest, there they provided the largest 



