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SUMMARY:
Multiple newspaper clippings from early September 1923 report Miss Joan Proctor’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo/London Zoological Gardens, noting her prior work with reptiles and aquarium rockwork design. One clipping discusses Miss Cheesman’s temporary withdrawal from the insect curator post for a South Pacific expedition and mentions related figures and institutions.

CONTENT:
SEPTEMBER, 1923
THE CHURCH MILITANT

Miss Joan Proctor, F.L.S., F.Z.S., has been appointed
Curator of the Reptiles at the Zoo, in which department she
has been working since 1916.

THE NEWS OF THE WORLD SEPT. 2. 1923.

THE ZOO LADY CURATOR OF REPTILES.
Miss Joan B. Proctor, who has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo. She
is seen wearing one of her charges as a necklet.

Cutting from the Worcester Daily Times
Address of Publication
Issue dated 4.9.23

In view of her appointment on the personnel
of the Scientific Expeditionary Research As-
sociation's coming expedition to the South
Pacific, Miss Cheesman, who in 1917 became
curator of insects in the London Zoo under
Professor Maxwell Lefroy, will be temporarily
withdrawn from that position. Miss Chees-
man 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 Society has
also quite recently appointed a lady curator of
reptiles, in the person of Miss Jean Proctor,
F.Z.S., F.L.S., who for several years she
worked in the reptile department of the Brit-
ish Museum as voluntary assistant to Dr. Bou-
lenger, and latterly in full charge. It was
curious that the only lady curators who
specialise in creepy-crawly forms of life.

Canadian
Lepto
Bosses Snakes
CANADIAN

Miss Joan Proctor, an English girl
of 25, has just been appointed curator
of reptiles at the London Zoological
Gardens. She is one of the best
known experts on snakes in the
world.

Cutting from the Liverpool Courier
Address of Publication
Issue dated 4.9.23

HER REPTILIAN FAMILY.
The second of the lady curators
appointed by the Zoological Society, Miss
Joan Procter, will take over her duties
in charge of the reptiles at Regent's
Park during the autumn.
Miss Procter has plenty of practical
experience of these strange pets, for,
apart from work which she has fulfilled
in the reptile department of the Museum
at South Kensington, she has for several
years kept a private collection of live
snakes and batrachians. She has designed
the whole of the rockwork for the new
aquarium at the Zoo.

SUMMARY:
Page reports Old Paulinas news, including telegrams from alumnae and updates on Joan Procter’s election to the Linnean Society, her aquarium design work, and her 1922 publications and Royal Society exhibit. A West Australian newspaper clipping notes that “Miss Jean Procter” was appointed Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, describing her early interest and training by Dr. Boulenger.

CONTENT:
PAULINA. July 1923

NEWS OF OLD PAULINAS.
The News of Old Paulinas this year was unfortunately com-
pressed into a very few minutes because business occupied
most of the Annual General Meeting. I therefore promised
disappointed Old Paulinas some of the news that has reached
me in the next issue of the magazine.
Telegrams came from MILDRED HOOKE, JEAN CHURCHMAN,
JANET BEVAN, and from MARY and DELPHINE SEAMAN in
Geneva.
JOAN PROCTER has been elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society.
Besides her work at the Natural History Museum she is at
present designing all the tanks for the big new Aquarium in
the Zoological Gardens. Her models include studies in red
granite with streaks of quartz, boulders, Yorkshire paving,
pulhamites, dark and light grey granite, waterworn limestone
and basalt columns (Giant's Causeway).
The new set of frog post cards (coloured) on sale at the
Natural History Museum are from Joan's water colour
drawings.

Her published works for 1922 are:--
"On a New Toad Cophophyne alticola collected by the
Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, 1921." (Annals
and Magazine of Natural History).
"Description of a New Typhlops from Tanganyika Terri-
tory" (Op.cit.)
"On a New Genus of Colubrine Snake from S.E. Brazil"
(Op.cit).
"On the Remarkable Tortoise: Testudo loveridgii Blyth, and
the Morphogeny of the Chelonian Carapace." (Proceedings of
the Zoological Society. 1922).
Reptiles and Batrachians in the Zoological Record.
Bibliographical Notices, and Reviews.
*Joan gave an Exhibition of the "Remarkable Tortoise" at the
Royal Society's Soirée in June, 1922.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA 26.7

West Australian Papers
July 1923

Miss Jean Procter, an English girl,
who is 25 years of age, has been ap-
pointed Curator of Reptiles in the Lon-
don Zoological Gardens. Miss Procter,
whose grandfather was a famous ento-
mologist, had her first pet snake when
she was 10 years old. One day she re-
ceived a crocodile as a present, and she
took it to Dr. Boulenger, the head of the
Department of Reptiles, in the Natural
History Museum in South Kensington
(London), and he offered to train her.
Miss Procter is now one of the greatest
snake experts in the world.
We cannot imagine that too many
eligibles will call upon Miss Joan Proc-
ter.

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.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
45-50, HOLBORN VIADUCT, E.C. 1.
TELEPHONE: HOLBORN 4815.

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:
A set of newspaper clippings reports Miss Joan Procter’s appointment as curator of reptiles at the Zoological Gardens and profiles her expertise with snakes. Additional short items cover women’s higher education at Cambridge, married women’s financial dependence, international peace efforts, and grants for women sculptors.

CONTENT:
FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1923. THE VOTE 235

WOMEN AT HOME AND ABROAD.

Empty Titles at Cambridge.
One hundred and twenty-two Cambridge women
students have recently received diplomas of the title
of the degree of B.A. Fifty belong to Girton, and
seventy-two to Newnham. Ninety-six women students
have received diplomas of the title of the degree of
M.A. Thirty-six belong to Girton, and sixty to Newn-
ham. Two Girton students have also obtained, respec-
tively, diplomas for Bachelor of Law, and one for Mas-
ter of Law. The number of students in residence during
the last Easter term were 180 at Girton, and 257 at
Newnham.

Woman Curator's Appointment.
Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has been ap-
pointed curator of reptiles at the Zoological Gardens,
and 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 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, frogs, and lizards.

Married Women's Dependence.
Speaking at a recent women's luncheon party at the
Lyceum Club, Mrs. Champion de Crespigny said that,
while the unmarried woman now had opportunities not
thought of in the last century, the married woman of
small means was cramped and nullified by her absolute
dependence. A married woman should be entitled to a
definite proportion of the salary of her husband, and it
ought not to be given as a favour.

Women and Peace.
At the recent meeting of the Board of Officers of the
International Council of Women, held at the House of
Cromar, Aberdeenshire, it was decided to hold a Con-
ference of women's international organisations next
March in London, to discuss the "Prevention of the
causes of War, and how women can promote World
Peace."

Grants for Women Sculptors.
It has been decided to use the money collected for the
Lady Feodora Gleichen Memorial Fund, amounting to
over £2,000, in giving grants to women sculptors for
the purpose of their work. The original object of the
Fund was to provide studios and materials for women
sculptors.

Cutting from the Birmingham Weekly Post
Address of Publication
Issue dated 28-7-27

English Lady Snake Charmer.
Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., who
has just been appointed curator of reptiles
at the Zoo, is English, and only twenty-five
years of age. She will have complete charge
of dozens of venomous cobras, deadly
pythons, boa constrictors, alligators and croco-
diles. Miss Procter, though unknown to the
world at large, is famous among zoologists
as one of the greatest snake experts of the
day, and her interest in the subject is
probably hereditary, as her grandfather was
a famous entomologist, and she had her
first pet snake when she was only ten years
old.

Cutting from the Hampstead Advertiser
Address of Publication
Issue dated 26-4-29.

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., has been
appointed curator of the reptile house at
the Zoological Gardens. She is regarded
as one of the greatest experts on snakes
in the world.

Cutting from the Manchester Evening News
Address of Publication
Issue dated 28-7-29

Eve and the Serpents.
AT the Zoo in London a girl has been
appointed curator of reptiles. This
unusual course has been adopted because
the lady, Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S.,
is one of the leading authorities on these
rather terrifying creatures. Ever since
she was a tiny child Miss Procter has
been fond of reptiles, and her list of pets were
of a nature to terrify the average person. She
read every book that dealt with snakes and
lizards, so that when she came in contact with
men who made a life study of reptiles they were
amazed at her knowledge. She adopted her
present career on leaving school, Miss Joan
Procter's fame has penetrated over the world.
The Zoological Society of Bombay made her a
Fellow, and American experts held her in high
regard. She is also one of the experts at the
Museum of Natural History at South Kensing-
ton, and loves and fondles dangerous serpents
as an average woman would pet kittens and
puppies.

SUMMARY:
Press clippings report that Miss Joan Procter, aged 25, has been appointed curator of reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, highlighting her lifelong expertise with snakes and her prior work at South Kensington. Coverage includes details of her scientific distinctions and international recognition.

CONTENT:
The Girls' Own Free Press

MEETS CRAWLY THINGS
FROM ZOO AS FRIENDS

Woman Appointed Curator of Rep-
tiles at London

Girls who are afraid of mice, spid-
ers, beetles, newts, snakes, and such
unfamiliar things may shudder at
hearing that Miss Joan Procter has
been appointed curator of the rep-
tiles at the Zoo in London, England.
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 eigh-
teen she became an assistant in the
reptiles department at South Ken-
sington.
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.

WINNIPEG, SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1923.
THE WINNIPEG EVENING TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1923

SNAKE EXPERT

Accordingly, as soon as
she left school she became Dr. Bou-
lenger's assistant, this at the age of
eighteen, and when he resigned she
was appointed to his post. Last year
the New York Zoological Society of-
fered her a job, but she would not
leave the Kensington Museum. Now,
of course, she will have to give up her
work there.

The young expert came into real
contact with the zoological society at
the age of nineteen when she read her
first paper, on pit snakes, before them.
A year later they made her F.Z.S.
At the beginning of July she gained
another distinction by being elected
F.L.S., Fellow of the Linnæan Society,
one of the foremost scientific organi-
zations in the world.
Being surrounded by snakes during
her attendance at the zoo apparently
is not enough for Miss Proctor, and
she keeps six Brazilian snakes in a
glass cage in her drawing-room. These
were sent her as a gift. Noted scien-
tists in South America and South
Africa have frequently sent rare and
deadly reptiles to England, knowing
her interest, and most of these she
keeps at her own home.

MISS JOAN PROCTOR, F.Z.S., F.L.S.
Miss Proctor has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoological
Gardens. She is 25 years old and
acknowledged to be one of the great-
est authorities on snakes in the world,
and the ease with which she handles
even the most deadly specimens is
astonishing. Her last post was that
of chief of the department of reptiles
at the Natural History Museum,
South Kensington. Miss Proctor re-
cently refused an offer from the Zoo-
logical Society of New York.
Miss Proctor does not shudder at
any kind of animal, for they are her
familiars, especially snakes. She be-
gan keeping snakes as pets when she
was ten. When she was 18 she be-
came an assistant in the reptiles' de-
partment at South Kensington.
Now 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.

New York Tribune.
5 AUG 1923

Reptiles Put
Under Care of
Woman Expert

Snakes Are Special Pets of
Miss Joan Proctor, Who
Has Been Appointed as a
Curator in London Zoo

LONDON,
Snakes and crocodiles are not per-
haps, the most pleasant creatures with
which to live, but Miss Joan Proctor
evidently thinks otherwise. This
young Englishwoman has just been
appointed curator of the reptile house
at the London Zoological Gardens,
where she will have entire charge of
the cobras, the pythons, the alligators
and all the other reptiles.
Miss Proctor's grandfather was a
famous entomologist, so possibly her
interest and aptitude in the subject
are inherited. It certainly looks as
though she is going to become as well
known as he was, for already she is
looked on by zoologists as one of the
greatest of snake experts.
When in her very early teens she
happened to visit the chief of the rep-
tile department at the South Kensing-
ton Natural History Museum and so
astonished him by her knowledge of
ophiology—she had kept snakes and
lizards as pets since her tenth birth-
day—that he offered to train her in
the subject.

SOUTH AFRICAN PAPER
FAMOUS SNAKE EXPERT

Girl Scientist Who Does
Not Advertise

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an
Englishwoman of 25 (who does not adver-
tise herself), has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the London Zoo. She will
have complete charge of dozens of venom-
ous cobras, deadly pythons, boa constric-
tors, alligators and crocodiles.
Miss Procter, unknown to the world at
large (for she does not advertise herself),
is famous among zoologists as one of the
greatest snake experts of the day.
Johannesburg
Sunday Times

Girl Is World Snake Expert

Miss Joan Proctor, the twenty-
three-year-old girl recently made
curator of reptiles in the London
Zoological Gardens, had her first pet
snake when ten years old and her
knowledge of crocodiles brought her
the assistance of Dr. Boulenger, head
of the department of reptiles, several
years ago. She was 15 when she be-
came his assistant and succeeded
him when he resigned. She is one of
the greatest snake experts in the
world.
AMERICAN PAPER
HARTFORD COURANT
ARIZONA, U.S.A.

SUMMARY:
Press clippings report Miss Joan Proctor’s appointment as curator of reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, highlighting her expertise with snakes and her work at the British Museum and South Kensington’s Natural History Museum. Items include notices from Ottawa, the New York Tribune, and the Adelaide Register dated October 1923.

CONTENT:
OTTAWA
BOSSES SNAKES.
City (Ottawa)

Miss Joan Proctor, an English
girl of 25, has just been appointed
curator of reptiles at the London
Zoological Gardens. She is one of
the best known experts on snakes
in the world.

RULES SNAKES

JEAN PROCTOR.
(Kadri & Herbert Photo.)
This young woman has special-
ized in the study of reptiles and is
said to be able to handle snakes
which would be enraged at the
touch of the ordinary person and
show the resentment by a poison-
ous bite. Miss Proctor recently be-
came curator of reptiles at the Lon-
don Zoological gardens.

from the
Press of Publication
dated
Register
Adelaide
Oct 16-1923

CURATOR OF REPTILES AT THE LONDON "ZOO," MISS
JOAN PROCTOR, WITH A FRIEND.

Preserving reptile to the daily occupation of Miss Joan Proc-
tor, F.Z.S., F.L.S. In her spare time she studies their habits. One
of the greatest experts on snakes in her day, Miss Proctor has
worked since 1916 in the reptile department at the British
Museum—first as a voluntary assistant, and then as expert in
charge. She is the author of a large number of papers on the
anatomy, classification, and habits of reptiles and batrachians,
and owns a private collection of living specimens.

Cutting from the
Address of Publication
Issue dated
Register
Adelaide
Oct 11/23

Her Reptilian Family.
The second of the lady curators ap-
pointed by the Zoological Society, Miss
Joan Proctor, will take over her duties
in charge of the reptiles at Regent's Park
during the autumn. Miss Proctor has
plenty of practical experience of these
strange pets, for, apart from work which
she has fulfilled in the reptile department,
of the museum at South Kensington, she
has for several years kept a private collec-
tion of live snakes and batrachians. She
has designed the whole of the rockwork
for the new aquarium at the Zoo.

NEW YORK
TRIBUNE
Reptiles Put
Under Care of
Woman Expert

Snakes Are Special Pets of
Miss Joan Proctor, Who
Has Been Appointed as a
Curator in London Zoo

New York Trib. LONDON,
Snakes and crocodiles are not, per-
haps, the most pleasant creatures with
which to live, but Miss Joan Proctor
evidently thinks otherwise. This
young Englishwoman has just been
appointed curator of the reptile house
at the London Zoological Gardens,
where she will have entire charge of
the cobras, the pythons, the alligators
and all the other reptiles.
Miss Proctor's grandfather was a
famous entomologist, so possibly her
interest and aptitude in the subject
are inherited. It certainly looks as
though she is going to become as well
known as he was, for already she is
looked on by zoologists as one of the
greatest of snake experts.
When in her very early teens she
happened to visit the chief of the rep-
tile department at the South Kensing-
ton Natural History Museum and so
astonished him by her knowledge of
ophiology—she had kept snakes and
lizards as pets since her tenth birth-
day—that he offered to train her in
the subject. Accordingly, as soon as
she left school she became Dr. Bou-
lenger's assistant, this at the age of
eighteen, and when he resigned she
was appointed to his post. Last year
the New York Zoological Society of-
fered her a job, but she would not
leave the Kensington Museum. Now,
of course, she will have to give up her
work there.
The young expert came into real
contact with the zoological society at
the age of nineteen when she read her
first paper, on pit snakes, before them.
A year later they made her F. Z. S.
At the beginning of July she gained
another distinction by being elected
F. L. S., Fellow of the Linnean Society,
one of the foremost scientific organi-
zations in the world.
Being surrounded by snakes during
her attendance at the zoo apparently
is not enough for Miss Proctor, and
she keeps six Brazilian snakes in a
glass cage in her drawing-room. These
were sent her as a gift. Noted scien-
tists in South America and South
Africa have frequently sent rare and
deadly reptiles to England, knowing
her interest, and most of these she
keeps at her own home.

SUMMARY:
Newspaper clippings report that Miss Joan Proctor was appointed curator of the reptile house at the London Zoological Gardens. The articles describe her expertise, training under Dr. Boulenger, election as F.Z.S. and F.L.S., her refusal of an offer from the New York Zoological Society, and her keeping of snakes at home.

CONTENT:
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
AUGUST 1923

SNAKE EXPERT OF LONDON
Miss Joan Proctor, appointed curator of
reptiles in London Zoological Gardens. She
is one of the world's greatest authorities on
the subject and recently refused an offer
from the New York Zoological Society to
come to America
Kadel & Herbert photo

Extract from
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
NEW YORK.
5 AUG 1923

Reptiles Put
Under Care of
Woman Expert

Snakes Are Special Pets of
Miss Joan Proctor, Who
Has Been Appointed as a
Curator in London Zoo

LONDON,
Snakes and crocodiles are not, per-
haps, the most pleasant creatures with
which to live, but Miss Joan Proctor
evidently thinks otherwise. This
young Englishwoman has just been
appointed curator of the reptile house
at the London Zoological Gardens,
where she will have entire charge of
the cobras, the pythons, the alligators
and all the other reptiles.
Miss Proctor's grandfather was a
famous entomologist, so possibly her
interest and aptitude in the subject
are inherited. It certainly looks as
though she is going to become as well
known as he was, for already she is
looked on by zoologists as one of the
greatest of snake experts.
When in her very early teens she
happened to visit the chief of the rep-
tile department at the South Kensing-
ton Natural History Museum and so
astonished him by her knowledge of
ophiology—she had kept snakes and
lizards as pets since her tenth birth-
day—that he offered to train her in
the subject. Accordingly, as soon as
she left school she became Dr. Bou-
lenger's assistant, this at the age of
eighteen, and when he resigned she
was appointed to his post. Last year
the New York Zoological Society of-
fered her a job, but she would not
leave the Kensington Museum. Now,
of course, she will have to give up her
work there.
The young expert came into real
contact with the Zoological Society at
the age of nineteen when she read her
first paper, on pit snakes, before them.
A year later they made her F. Z. S.
At the beginning of July she gained
another distinction by being elected
F. L. S., Fellow of the Linnaean Society,
one of the foremost scientific organi-
zations in the world.
Being surrounded by snakes during
her attendance at the zoo apparently
is not enough for Miss Proctor, and
she keeps six Brazilian snakes in a
glass cage in her drawing-room. These
were sent her as a gift. Noted scien-
tists in South America and South
Africa have frequently sent rare and
deadly reptiles to England, knowing
her interest, and most of these she
keeps at her own 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.

SUMMARY:
Magazine clipping from The Sketch featuring photographs and captions about Miss Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the "Zoo," succeeding Mr. E. G. Boulenger, with notes on her work at the British Museum and aquarium design. A note states the photos were published without her permission.

CONTENT:
Sketch
Aug. 29, 1923
Fond of Snakes:
THESE PHOTOS WERE
PUBLISHED WITHOUT
MY PERMISSION
The New Reptile Curator at Home.
DURING THE
SUMMER HOLIDAYS!

1. THE GREAT LADY REPTILE EXPERT: MISS JOAN B. PROCTER, F.Z.S., F.L.S., AND FRIEND.
2. A STUDY IN MISS PROCTER'S HOUSE: PUSSY, THE KYLON AND THE REPTILE.
3. THE LADY WHO HANDLES SNAKES WITH PLEASURE: MISS JOAN B. PROCTER, WHO HAS BEEN APPOINTED CURATOR OF REPTILES AT THE "ZOO."
4. ON THE FRIENDLIEST TERMS: MISS PROCTER AND A MEMBER OF HER PRIVATE COLLECTION.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., who has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the "Zoo," in succession to Mr. E. G. Boulenger, who has been appointed Director of the new Aquarium, is the greatest woman expert on reptiles of the day, and will assume her duties in the 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 retirement, as the expert in charge. She is the author of a large number of papers on the anatomy, classification, and habits of reptiles and batrachians, and owns a private collection of living specimens. 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."

PHOTOGRAPHS SPECIALLY TAKEN FOR "THE SKETCH" BY ALFIERI.

SUMMARY:
Newspaper article announcing Miss Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, noting her education, museum work, and scientific honors. It highlights other women in similar posts abroad, her research and design of aquarium rockwork, and mentions her reptile pets.

CONTENT:
THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1923.

Women in the News

A CURATOR AT
THE ZOO

(FROM A WOMAN CORRESPONDENT.)

FLEET STREET, FRIDAY.
Manchester readers will be especially in-
terested in the fact that Miss Joan B. Procter,
F.Z.S., F.L.S., has been appointed curator of
reptiles at the Zoological Gardens in London,
for Miss Procter is a granddaughter of Mr.
William Brockbank, of Didsbury, whose
wonderful gardens were famous more than
twenty-five years ago. Mr. Brockbank was a
well-known geologist, and was made a Fellow
of the Linnean Society at the time of the
"Daffodil" Conference. A similar honour
has just been conferred on his granddaughter,
who has inherited his scientific tastes and his
interest in geology. It was because of her
writings and research work in zoology that
the Linnean Society made her a Fellow.

She was educated at St. Paul's School for
Girls at Hammersmith, and it was not long
after she left school that Miss Procter went to
work in the reptile department of the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington, first as a
voluntary assistant to Dr. Boulenger. Since
his retirement she has been in charge of the
department, and she is still carrying on her
work there. A "Manchester Guardian" repre-
sentative who went to see Miss Procter at her
home to-day found her very unwilling to talk
about herself. Ever since she was a child, she
said, she had been interested in reptiles and
batrachia. It is a branch of zoology to which
much less attention has been paid in England
than in America and on the Continent. In
America it is very well worked, and each large
museum has several people devoting themselves
to the study of reptiles and nothing else. The
head of the department at the New York Museum
was a woman, a Miss Dickerson, who has now
retired, and in Leyden another woman, Dr. De
Rooy, holds a similar position. In England
there are only two specialists, Mr. E. G.
Boulenger, who is at present curator of rep-
tiles at the Zoo, and Miss Procter herself.

HER WORK AT THE ZOO.

As a curator at the Zoo Miss Procter will
have charge of the reptile-house and the
tortoises. She will keep on with the research
work she has been doing at the Museum, will
describe new species, and probably work out
their anatomy. "One is always coming across
new species," she said. "With some of these
invertebrate things you get a new species every
day. It is work of absorbing interest, and one
never knows what the anatomical research will
lend to."

Miss Procter endorsed what a speaker at the
Surgeon's Conference said the other day of the
importance to human surgery of research work
in other forms of animal life. At present Miss
Procter is engaged on designing the decorative
rockwork 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. Some of these
tanks will be as big as a room—the biggest
will be 30ft. in length. Instead of making
them all of Portland cement, which would
have a monotonous effect, the idea is to vary

them as much as possible—provide a setting
of natural rock, sometimes of red rock, but
mostly in shades of grey or yellow. The granite
boulders for the turtle tank have been brought
from Cornwall, and the coloured pebbles to
go with the red marble rocks in another tank
come from the Channel Islands.
From his island of Herm Mr. Compton
McKenzie has sent sacks full of the tiny white
and coloured shells that lie to a depth of
three feet on the beaches, and these are to
show off the navy-blue beauty of the lobsters
in their tank. In addition to the rockwork Miss
Procter has to find the appropriate shingles
and water weeds.

Miss Procter has her own reptilian pets, given
to her by collectors from abroad. The boa
constrictor lives at the Zoo, and when she
takes up her new post there Miss Procter will
transfer to the warmer temperature the small
snakes which at present live at her home. She
showed some of these to-day to the interviewer.
The two water snakes from Brazil and the small
snake, also harmless, from Tanganyika, were
in a semi-torpid condition, but they writhed
about in a bunch on her hand, laying their
flat heads along her arm and shooting out
their restless tongues. Realising that they
were harmless, one could understand some-
thing of their fascination.

MISS JOAN B. PROCTER,
F.Z.S., who has been ap-
pointed Curator of Reptiles
to the London Zoological
Gardens.

The Daily Mail

JULY 21, 1923.