SUMMARY:
Two press clippings profile Miss Joan Procter, newly appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens, highlighting her fearless fascination with snakes and her expertise despite her youth. They note her studies and work with Dr. Boulenger at the Natural History Museum and mention reptiles kept at her West Kensington flat.

CONTENT:
Cutting from the Leeds Mercury
Address of Publication
Issue dated. 24-4-23

WOMEN AND SNAKES.
A Zoo Curator Who Loves
Reptiles.

From a Scientific Correspondent.
The attitude of men, and still
more of women, to snakes is strangely
illogical. To most people they are
extremely repulsive objects. Even those
which are harmless inspire a loath-
ing, which seems unaccountable in
view of the beauty of their markings
and colour. This feeling of disgust is
not fear, though no doubt fear enters
into it. That much more dangerous
animal, a tiger, excites our highest
admiration.

On the other hand there are a
few people for whom these reptiles have
a singular fascination; they handle
them entirely without fear and keep
some of the most deadly varieties as
pets. To this category belongs Miss
Joan Proctor, who at the early age of
25 has been appointed curator of
reptiles at the Zoo. She seems to be
entirely devoid of fear where snakes
are concerned, and her remarkable gift
was noticeable even in her early child-
hood.

She is one of those happy indi-
viduals whose natural bent is so
pronounced that they are never in
doubt as to the proper sphere of their
life's work. Her natural qualities
have been improved by earnest study
and she is now one of the greatest
experts on reptiles in the world.

How is it possible to account for
such strange differences in the feelings
aroused by these creatures? They are,
we believe, without a parallel. Both
the loathing and the fascination
appear to be instinctive and not due
to training or experience. Both alike
are entirely unreasonable.

For the loathing it may be possible
to account by assuming that our remote
ancestors lived for hundreds of genera-
tions in regions swarming with deadly
reptiles. Under such circumstances
the only children who would survive
would be those who felt a mortal and
unreasoning terror of these creatures,
prompting them to shrink away at
their every appearance. Though the
conditions have long since passed away
the unreasoning loathing persists in
every generation.

The fascination presents a more
obscure problem. There is reason to
believe that it is strongly hereditary,
and it may be possible that while the
majority found safety in excessive fear,
here and there individuals established
a somewhat mysterious affinity for
these creatures which protected them
from attack, and which likewise has
persisted through generations.

From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
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Cutting from the Daily Graphic
Address of Publication
Issue dated. 24.4.25.

SNAKE CHARMER
OF THE ZOO.
Woman Takes Charge of
the Creepy Things.
YOUTH AND PLUCK.
Not Afraid of the Boa
Constrictor.

By A WOMAN REPORTER.
LOOKING after snakes and other
creepy things hardly sounds a
woman's job, but young Miss Joan
Procter is taking it on.

Miss Procter—who is entitled to write
F.Z.S., and F.L.S. after her name—has just
been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoological Gardens.

After a vain search at the Zoo and at the
Natural History Museum yesterday, I was at
last able to track her
to the West Kensing-
ton flat she shares with
her mother.

“I hope to be back
at work soon,” she told
me, “but at present, as
you see, I have to stop
in bed and am on sick
leave.”

The thing that strikes
one most about Miss
Procter is her extreme
youth. Propped up
among the pillows, she
looked so small and
frail that you would
imagine she had not
Miss Joan Procter,
the courage to face a mouse, let alone a python.
Her pale, elfish face has a look of determination
about it, however, and there is a glint in her
eye that would quell the spirit of the most un-
ruly boa constrictor.

Snakes Instead of China.
Round Miss Procter's bedroom hang snake
skins of every kind. On the table was a half-
made snake skin bag, on the floor lay snake skin
shoes.

Ever since she was a child, not so very long
ago either, Miss Procter has been interested in
reptiles. As soon as she left St. Paul's School
for Girls at Hammersmith she became voluntary
assistant to Dr. Boulenger at the Natural History
Museum.

Her love of keeping reptiles as pets, acquired
as a school girl, has not left her yet, and anyone
who strays unawares into her drawing-room is
apt to get a shock.

You look into one of those low glass-fronted
cabinets, in which one expects to find Crown
Derby or Chinese ivories, and you recoil before
a couple of water snakes from Brazil, or a small,
harmless native of Tanganyika. They are being
kept only temporarily at the flat.

SUMMARY:
Press cuttings report Miss Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo, outlining her background at the British Museum and work on the new aquarium. Another clipping notes related staff changes, including Miss Cheeseman’s temporary replacement during a South Pacific expedition.

CONTENT:
For
DURRANT'S PRESS CUTTINGS
St. Andrew's House, 32 to 34 Holborn Viaduct
and 3 St. Andrew Street Holborn Circus, E.C. 1
TELEPHONE: CITY 4963.

Pall Mall Gazette and Globe
25 Tudor Street, E.C.4.

Cutting from issue dated. 19 JUL 1929

CURATOR OF REPTILES.

WOMAN'S APPOINTMENT AT
THE ZOO.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S.,
F.L.S., has been appointed Curator
of Reptiles at the Zoo, and will as-
sume her duties in late autumn. She
was educated at St. Paul's School for
Girls, and since 1916 has worked in
the Reptile Department at the British
Museum, first as voluntary assistant
to Dr Boulenger, and, since his re-
tirement, in charge.
She is the author of a large num-
ber of papers on the anatomy, classi-
fication, and habits of reptiles and
batrachians, and for many years
(says the "Times") has kept a
private collection of living snakes and
batrachians.
At present Miss Procter is still car-
rying on the work of the Reptile De-
partment at the Museum, but is also
engaged in designing the rockwork
for the aquarium tanks at the Zoo.

25 AUG 1923

An English girl of twenty-five has been
appointed curator of reptiles at the London
Zoo. When one considers how badly
woman managed the first serpent in history,
the appointment seems a little surprising.
Cutting from the People
Address of Publication
Issue dated. 22. 7. 23

WOMAN'S SNAKE PETS.

HANDLED REPTILES FROM
CHILDHOOD.

A woman has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the Zoo and will, from
November next, be responsible for
those creeping and crawling things that
are so fascinating and attractive—be-
hind the thick glass. She is Miss Joan
B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., and is recog-
nised among scientists as one of the
foremost authorities on snakes.
As curator she will have in her care
deadly cobras, pythons and boa con-
strictors, alligators and crocodiles.
Miss Procter is taking the place of
Mr. F. G. Boulenger, who becomes the
director of the new aquarium.
Seen at the Zoo, Miss Procter was
too busy, she said, and seemed too
retiring and diffident to discuss off-
hand her special interests. She was
consulting over the rockwork of the
new aquarium now being built under
the Mappin Terraces at the Zoo.
Her grandfather was a noted au-
thority on insects, so that her own in-
terest in reptiles is probably heredi-
tary.
At her home in South Kensington she
has quite an extensive collection of
living creatures. At ten years of age
she had a pet snake, and has had
presents of six Brazilian snakes and a
crocodile.
When only nineteen she read a paper
before the Zoological Society, and was
made a Fellow the next year.
Cutting from the Yorkshire Post
Address of Publication Leeds
Issue dated. 3-9-25

Zoo's Lady Curators.

In view of her appointment on the per-
sonnel of the Scientific Expeditionary Re-
search Association's coming expedition to
the South Pacific, Miss Cheeseman, who
in 1917 became curator of insects in the
London Zoo under Professor Maxwell
Lefroy, will be temporarily withdrawn from
that position, and replaced by Mr. L. C.
Bushby, of the Royal College of Science.
Miss Cheeseman enjoys the distinction of
having been the first lady curator
appointed by the Zoological Society, and
during her tenure of the post she has
created almost a revolution in the beauti-
ful insect house presented some years ago
by the late Sir William Caird. The build-
ing took the place of a much older one
which for many years had been specially
associated with insect life, and which stood
close to the south entrance to the Gardens.
The Society has also quite recently
appointed a lady curator of reptiles, in the
person of Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S.,
F.L.S., who for several years has worked
in the reptile department of the British
Museum as voluntary assistant to Dr.
Boulenger, and latterly in full charge.
She is expected to take over her new duties
in the course of the coming autumn.

• SUMMARY:
  Newspaper clippings from July 20, 1923 report Miss Joan Procter/Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo, outlining her lifelong interest in reptiles and her keeping of snakes, a crocodile, lizards, and axolotls. Articles also note her work at the British Museum, experiments transforming axolotls, and Mr. E. G. Boulenger’s move to oversee the new aquarium at the Mappin Terraces.

CONTENT:
THE EVENING STANDARD
Friday, July 20, 1923.

JOAN & HER QUEER
PALS.

BOA CONSTRICTOR & CROCODILE
AS PLAYMATES.

YOUNG ZOO CURATOR.

TRANSFORMATION FROM WATER
TO LAND CREATURE.

Miss Joan Proctor, the young girl who has
been appointed curator of reptiles at the Zoo,
is somewhat shy to talk about her life work,
which has been the study of creatures from
which the average person turns with a
shudder.

A slightly built, smiling girl, with a pleasant
expression, she was busily engaged to-day in the
new aquarium in course of construction at the
Zoo.

It was with reluctance that she admitted her
identity. Asked when
she began to be inte-
rested in snakes, she re-
plied:

"I never did begin.
I have always been inte-
rested in them. I have
worked among them
since the time I left
school. I have been at
the Natural History
Museum so far, and I
aim coming to my new
post here in November.

Miss Joan Proctor.
"Yes, I have kept a
great many pets of all
sorts" she continued.
"Which is the most
unusual? Oh, they are
all considered unusual. Among them was a boa
constrictor. It is in the reptile house now—
five feet long, and perfectly tame. I kept
it at home and usually had it loose. It was
shut up only at night. Of course, I did not
allow it to be about in the same room with
the cat. It would have eaten pussy.

"I have also had a crocodile, an alligator, and
all sorts of snakes and lizards. I have never
had the slightest trouble with them. They were
all great pets and quite tame."

When asked if she had trained any of her
peculiar pets to do tricks, Miss Proctor merely
smiled and said she did not want anything
theatrical to be said about her and her pets.

She thinks, however, that the reptile house is
one of the most popular places in the Zoo, es-
pecially with children.

"Children," she said, "are not afraid of the
reptiles."

Transformation.

Miss Proctor's own collection of animals, it
may be added, is a considerable one. The croco-
dile to which she referred was her playmate
when she was quite a little girl of seven years
old. It, however, only lived two years.

To see her making friends with a Brazilian
house snake, which is one of her favourites at
present, would scare the ordinary girl. A small
python is also one of her present possessions,
and she has a number of lizards.

Recently she succeeded with certain experi-
ments in regard to axolotls. She managed
to change the habits of one of them by scientifi-
cally reducing his allowance of water, and
transformed it from a water creature to a land
creature.

FRIDAY, The Daily Mail JULY 20, 1923.

WOMAN'S REPTILE
PETS.

SNAKES, LIZARDS, AND
A TOAD.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., who has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles to the
London Zoological Gardens, has been in-
terested in such creatures since she was
seven years old.

At that age she had a crocodile as a pet,
which she cared for during its two years
of life. At present Miss Procter is carry-
ing on the work of the Reptile Depart-
ment of the British Museum, but she by
no means confines her observations to
preserved specimens.

Her present collection of living reptiles
includes a Brazilian house snake, which
is very keen on being handled and petted.
These benevolent serpents are used in-
stead of cats in some parts of South
America, and are most effective in keep-
ing a place clear of rats and mice. Miss
Procter has also some axolotls, and in
the past has succeeded in transforming
one of them from a water-creature to a
land salamander by scientifically reduc-
ing its allowance of water. Prof. Hux-
ley's thyroid-gland experiments pro-
duced the same results.

Some lizards and a small python are
also included in her collection, while at
the British Museum she has a fire-bellied
toad which she has owned for the past 10
years.

Miss Procter is succeeding Mr. E. G.
Boulenger, F.Z.S., at the Zoo's Reptile
House in the autumn. Mr. Boulenger is
in charge of the £50,000 aquarium which
is now being constructed under the Map-
pin Terraces at the Zoo.

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DURRANT'S PRESS CUTTINGS,

St. Andrew's House, 32 to 34 Holborn Viaduct,
and 3 St. Andrew Street Holborn Circus, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE

• CITY 4963.

The Westminster Gazette
104 Shoe Lane, E.C.1.

Cutting from issue dated 20 JUL 1923

WOMAN CURATOR.

Miss Proctor is to be Curator of Rep-
tiles at the Zoo in succession to Mr.
Boulenger, who becomes Curator of the
new Aquarium now in process of comple-
tion.

Miss Proctor, educated at St. Paul's
School for Girls, has worked in the Rep-
tile Department of the British Museum
since 1916, and was at one time Mr.
Boulenger's assistant,

SUMMARY:
Newspaper clippings from July 1923 announce Miss Joan Procter/Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo, succeeding Mr. E. G. Boulenger, and note her work at the British Museum, education at St. Paul’s School for Girls, and private snake collection. One clipping also highlights other women’s milestones, including Miss M. O. Collins, Miss Margaret Kidd, and Miss Helena Normanton.

CONTENT:
M Miss Proctor No.

From The General Press Cutting
Association. Ltd.
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45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4815.

Cutting from the Sheffield Independent
Address of Publication
Issue dated.

20. 7. 23

Woman Who Likes Snakes.
One of the most remarkable positions as
yet taken up by a woman must be that of
Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoologi-
cal Gardens, a post to which Miss Joan
Proctor, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has recently been
appointed. She has worked in the Rep-
tile Department at the British Museum
for a number of years, and has a private
collection of living snakes. Another
woman has entered the ministry, the con-
gregation of the North Bow Congrega-
tional Church having invited Miss M. O.
Collins to become their minister, while a
Scottish lady, Miss Margaret Kidd, has
just been admitted a member of the
Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh. Miss
Helena Normanton, in wig and gown, was
this week the first woman barrister to
take her seat among counsel at the Old
Bailey.

Cutting from the Yorkshire Post
Address of Publication
Issue dated.
19 7 23

Woman Curator of Reptiles.
Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the
London "Zoo," to succeed Mr. E. G. Boulenger,
who becomes director of the new Aquarium.
Since 1916 she has worked in the Reptile De-
partment at the British Museum, first as volun-
tary assistant to Dr. Boulenger, and, since his
retirement, in charge.
She is the author of a large number of papers
on the anatomy, classification, and habits of
reptiles and batrachians, and for many years has
kept a private collection of living snakes and
batrachians. At present Miss Procter is still
carrying on the work of the Reptile Department
at the Museum, but is also engaged in design-
ing the rockwork for the aquarium tanks at the
Zoo.

Cutting from the Daily Chronicle
Address of Publication
Issue dated.

20. 7. 23

WOMAN AS CURATOR
OF REPTILES.
Miss J. Proctor's Appointment
at the London Zoo.
Miss Joan Proctor, F.Z.S., F.L.S.,
will take up in November the position
of curator of reptiles at the Zoo, in
place of Mr. F. G. Boulenger, who is
to become director of the new
aquarium.
Miss Proctor, who was educated at
St. Paul's School for Girls, worked for
some years with Dr. G. A. Boulenger.
The newly appointed curator told a
"Daily Chronicle" representative last
night that she has been interested in
reptiles and frogs since her school days,
and keeps her own collection now in
tanks in her Kensington home.

Cutting from the Press Journal Aberdeen
Address of Publication
Issue dated.

20. 7. 23

Lady's Collection of Snakes.
The "Times" announces that Mr. E. G.
Boulenger, at present curator of reptiles
at the Zoological Gardens, has been ap-
pointed director of the New Aquarium. Miss
Joan B. Proctor, F.Z.S., F.L.S., who has
been appointed as his successor, will assume
her duties in the late autumn.
Miss Proctor was educated at St Paul's
School for Girls, and since 1916 has worked
in the reptile department at the British
Museum, first as a voluntary assistant to Dr
Boulenger, and since his retirement, in
charge. She is the author of a large num-
ber of papers on the Anatomy, Classifica-
tion, and Habits of Reptiles and Batrach-
ians, and for many years has kept a private
collection of living snakes and batrachians.
At present Miss Procter is still carrying
on the work of the reptile department at
the museum, but is also engaged in design-
ing the rockwork for the aquarium tanks
at the Zoo.

Cutting from the Westminster Gazette
Address of Publication
Issue dated.

20. 7. 23

WOMAN CURATOR.
Miss Proctor is to be Curator of Rep-
tiles at the Zoo in succession to Mr.
Boulenger, who becomes Curator of the
new Aquarium now in process of comple-
tion.
Miss Proctor, educated at St. Paul's
School for Girls, has worked in the Rep-
tile Department of the British Museum
since 1916, and was at one time Mr.
Boulenger's assistant,

SUMMARY:
Newspaper cuttings (1921–1927) report Miss Joan Procter’s appointment and work as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo, highlighting her background at the Natural History Museum and her early interest in reptiles. Articles also note her education at St. Paul’s School for Girls and collaboration with Dr. G. A. Boulenger, as well as her design work for new aquarium tanks.

CONTENT:
Cutting from the Children's Newspaper
Address of Publication
Issue dated 4.8.21

FRIEND OF THE CRAWLY
THINGS
Miss Procter of the Zoo
Ladies who are afraid of mice, spiders,
beetles, newts, snakes, and such un-
familiar things may shudder at hearing
that Miss Joan Procter has been ap-
pointed curator of the reptiles at the Zoo
in London.
Miss Procter does not shudder at any
kind of animal, for they are her familiars,
especially snakes. She began keeping
snakes as pets when she was ten. When
she was eighteen she became an assistant
in the reptiles' department at South
Kensington.
Now, at 25, she goes to the Zoo to be
the friend of all the crawly and cold-
blooded things, as she is the friend of the
collection she keeps in her home.

Cutting from the Schoolmistress
Address of Publication
Issue dated 2.8.27

CURATOR AT THE ZOO.
Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., who, on
account of her writings and research work
in zoology, was recently made a Fellow of
the Linnean Society, has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoological
Gardens. For several years Miss Procter
has been a worker in the Reptile Depart-
ment of the Natural History Museum at
South Kensington, and she hopes to keep
on with her research work there, in addition
to taking charge of the reptile houses and
the tortoises at the Zoo. At present she is
engaged on designing the decorative rock-
work for the new aquarium tanks at the
Zoo. She makes models of the tanks on a
scale of two inches to a foot, and the work-
men carry out her designs. The largest of
the tanks will be 30 ft. in length. The
tanks are being made partly of natural
rocks, such as Cornish granite, and partly of
Portland cement.

M Miss Procter No.

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Association, Ltd.
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45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4015.

Cutting from the Suffragette Telegraph
Address of Publication
Issue dated 10.8.23

The newest profession for women is an extra-
ordinary one, in which there will be little
competition. Few women would care to spend
their working hours among reptiles, yet it is a
lady, Miss Joan Procter, who has been appointed
Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo. Miss Procter
was educated at St. Paul's School for Girls, and
has worked in the Reptile Department as assis-
tant of Mr. Boulenger, who now becomes
Curator of the New Aquarium.

M Miss Joan Procter No.

From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
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45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4015.

Cutting from the Machinery Market
Address of Publication
Issue dated 3.8.23

Woman Curator of Reptiles.
Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., will take
up in November the position of curator of rep-
tiles at the Zoological Gardens. Miss Procter,
who was educated at St. Paul's School for
Girls, worked for some years with Dr. G. A.
Boulenger, who is relinquishing the position.
She has been interested in reptiles and frogs
since her school days and keeps a collection in
her Kensington home.

SUMMARY:
Press clippings announce Miss Joan B. Procter's appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens/London Zoological Gardens, noting her work at the British Museum and her private reptile collections. Articles reference Mr. E. G. Boulenger, Dr. Boulenger, Prof. Huxley, and the new aquarium under the Mappin Terraces.

CONTENT:
Miss Procter
No.
From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE HOLBORN 4815.
Cutting from the Illustrated London News
Address of Publication
Issue dated 28. 4. 23

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., who is to be Curator of Reptiles at the "Zoo,"
is already known to readers of "The Illustrated London News" through her
work on the tanks for the new Aquarium, illustrations of which were given in
our issue of July 14 last. She is twenty-five.

THE ZOO'S NEW CURATOR OF
REPTILES: MISS JOAN PROCTER.

Cutting from the Times Weekly Edition
Address of Publication
Issue dated 26. 4. 23
A Woman Zoologist.

The position of Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoological Gardens would not appear, at first
sight, to be one likely to appeal to a woman,
but Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., who
has been appointed to succeed Mr. E. G.
Boulenger in that office, is a recognized autho-
rity on the subject. She has worked in the
Reptile Department at the British Museum
since 1916, first as voluntary assistant to Dr.
Boulenger, and, since his retirement, in
charge. She is the author of a large number
of papers on the anatomy, classification, and
habits of reptiles and batrachians, and for
many years has kept a private collection of
living snakes and batrachians. At present
Miss Procter is still carrying on the work of
the Reptile Department at the Museum, but
is also engaged in designing the rockwork for
the aquarium tanks at the Zoo. Mr.
Boulenger has been appointed Director of the
new aquarium which is under construction.
He has made the reptile collection at the Zoo
one of the finest in the world.

Cutting from the Camberwell & Peckham Times
Address of Publication
Issue dated 28 / 4 / 23

Miss Joan Procter, a young lady of 23
years, who is entitled to write goodness only
knows how many initials after her name, has
been appointed curator of reptiles at the Zoo.
Her charges will include cobras, pythons, boa
constrictors, alligators and crocodiles. We
don't know that we should care about the
job. But then, woman always was a charmer.
Even man, the most deadly of reptiles, suc-
cumbs to her charms.

Cutting from the Daily Mail
Address of Publication
Issue dated 28. 7. 23
GIRL SNAKE EXPERT.
TO TAKE CHARGE OF ZOO
REPTILES.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., who has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles to the
London Zoological Gardens, has been in-
terested in such creatures since she was
seven years old.
At that age she had a crocodile as a pet,
which she cared for during its two years
of life. At present Miss Procter is carry-
ing on the work of the Reptile Depart-
ment of the British Museum, but she by
no means confines her observations to
preserved specimens.
Her present collection of living rep-
tiles includes a Brazilian house snake,
which is very keen on being handled and
petted. These bene-
volent serpents are
used instead of
cats in some parts
of South America,
and are most effec-
tive in keeping a
place clear of rats
and mice. Miss
Procter has also
some axolotyls, and
in the past has
succeeded in trans-
forming one of
them from a water-
creature to a land
salamander by
scientifically reduc-
ing its allowance
of water. Prof. Huxley's thyroid-gland
experiments produced the same re-
sults.
Some lizards and a small python are
also included in her collection, while at
the British Museum she has a fire-bellied
toad which she has owned for the past
10 years.
Miss Procter, who is 25, is succeeding
Mr. E. G. Boulenger, F.Z.S., at the
Zoo's Reptile House in the autumn. Mr.
Boulenger is in charge of the £50,000
aquarium which is now being con-
structed under the Mappin Terraces at
the Zoo.