Libya in search of mammals that 
serve as hosts of insect para- 
sites and disease carriers. The 
country is large .ly desert , and 
its mammals are nearly all small 
creatures adapted through millen- 
nia for survival under desert 
conditions. 
The biped rats are the jer- 
boas, animals 7 to 8 inches long 
with big bushy tails, which ordi- 
narily progress on their hind 
legs, somewhat after the fashion 
of kangaroos. They are probably 
the best-known creatures of the 
northern desert. 
Jerboas have adjusted to 
desert conditions primarily by- 
becoming seed gatherers. Through 
most of the year vegetation in 
the Libyan desert is very scant, 
but it becomes quite abundant 
after one of the infrequent rains 
and sets its seed very quickly. 
The jerboas gather seeds and 
store them in subterranean cham- 
bers. They are also, however, 
avid eaters of whatever vegeta- 
tion they can find. 
Other Libyan animals col- 
lected by Dr. Setzer are the 
mouselike gerbils and the desert 
hedgehogs that are related to 
the shrews and are quite similar 
to European hedgehogs. 
FORMER CURATOR HERE 
Dr. E. A. Chapin, former 
curator of insects, is at the 
Museum arranging a collection of 
Coccinellidae ( lady beetles, to 
most of us). Dr. Chapin arrived 
at the end of March for about a 
10 -day stay. 
YOU AND YOUR JOB 
You can be heard in Wash- 
ington. The National Federation 
of Federal Employees is your voice. 1 
For the past thirty-four years the 
N.F.F.E. has been the leader in rep- 
resenting Federal employees in all 
matters affecting their welfare. 
The National Federation of Fed- 
eral Employees was organized in 
September, 1917 of, by, and for Fed- 
eral employees to enable them to 
better their working conditions and 
to improve the whole standard of the 
Federal service. 
The leadership by N.F.F.E. in 
this immensely important task is 
widely acclaimed. It is the broadest, 
most intensive effort of its kind 
ever undertaken. It utilizes every 
medium of communication and the cam- 
paign is a continuing one: that of 
carrying on a continuous campaign of 
public education, bringing a new con- 
cept of the Federal service and a 
sympathetic attitude toward Federal 
employees in their efforts to improve 
conditions of employment. 
Through this activity the N.F. 
F.E. tells the people of this coun- 
try the facts about Federal employ- 
ment and the men and women who are 
making a career of public service. 
It tells the truth and it refutes 
misstatements, misrepresentations , 
and distortions wherever and when- 
ever they occur. 
Our united strength is neededl 
You, as a Federal employee and as 
a patriotic American citizen, have 
a vital stake in the truth campaign 
carried on by the National Federation 
of Federal Employees. By joining 
the N.F.F.E. you immediately become 
an active participant in this work, 
so essential to the welfare of the 
Federal service and to your own pro- 
gress as a Federal employee. 
