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SUMMARY:
Magazine clipping profiling Miss Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, noting E. G. Boulenger’s move to direct the new aquarium and her prior work at the British Museum of Natural History. It also discusses the appeal and design of aquariums, referencing examples at Monaco and New York.

CONTENT:
THE
WORLD'S
WORK
SEPTEMBER 1923
MEN AND WOMEN OF
TO-DAY

A CURATOR OF REPTILES
ON the appointment of Miss Joan B.
Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., to be a
Curator of Reptiles at the London
Zoological Gardens the funny men,
from "Mr. Punch" downwards, had a great
day. There were any number of weak jokes
about the modern snake-charmer; and "Mr.
Punch" opined that the opportunity had at
last arrived for Woman to be revenged upon
the Serpent.
But, seriously, her assumption of this office
adds another to the many strange occupations
which are now open to, and have lately been
taken up by, women of to-day. Miss Procter
succeeded to her position because Mr. E. G.
Boulenger, who has been Curator of Reptiles,
has been appointed Director of the new
aquarium. For some time to come he will
exercise a general supervision over reptiles;
but he has of late been fully occupied by the
construction of the new aquarium; and when
the tanks are ready for occupation it is
anticipated that his new duties will leave
him little opportunity for work elsewhere.
Mr. Boulenger's family has long been asso-
ciated with Natural History, for he is a son
of Dr. G. A. Boulenger, who was for many
years Chief of the Department of Reptiles,
Batrachians and Fishes at the British Museum
of Natural History. It is due to his son that
the reptile house at the Zoo has been so
greatly improved, and that it contains one of
the finest collections in the world.
But, to go back to our subject, Miss Procter
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
of Natural History first as a voluntary
assistant to Dr. Boulenger, and, since his
retirement, in charge of the department.
There is no doubt whatever of her ability
and efficiency. She has written a large
number of papers on the anatomy, classifica-
tion and habits of reptiles and batrachians;
and has for a long time kept a private collec-
tion of living snakes and batrachians.
Although she is still working in the Reptile
Department in the Museum of Natural History
as its chief, she has also been assisting at the
Zoo in designing rockwork for the aquarium
tanks, which promise soon to be such an
attractive feature of London life.
No one familiar with the exceedingly
beautiful aquariums in the Oceanographical
Museum at Monaco or on the Battery at
New York can fail to realise the possibilities
of these institutions. Those who have not
seen them cannot imagine the beauty of
properly designed and decorated tanks set
in windows through which the light plays
not only upon gorgeously coloured fishes
and marine monsters in all shades of red and
grey, gold and silver, but also upon masses
of coral branches, deep-sea weeds and grasses
and shells of all shapes and sizes, both with

MISS JOAN B. PROCTER
325

SUMMARY:
Article by Chrystabel Procter profiling her sister Joan B. Procter's lifelong dedication to herpetology, including training under Dr. G. A. Boulenger, publications, and society fellowships. It notes her upcoming role as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens and her design work for aquarium rockwork at the Mappin Terraces.

CONTENT:
THE WOMAN'S LEADER.
AUGUST 10, 1923.

A WOMAN HERPETOLOGIST.

By CHRYSTABEL PROCTER.

Entomology and other branches of zoology can be, and often
are, begun comparatively late in life, but the herpetologist is
born a herpetologist.

As soon as she was old enough to express her thoughts, my
sister (Joan B. Procter) announced that she intended to spend
her life in the study of reptiles, and until now she certainly has
kept her word.

From ten to eighteen, she was educated at St. Paul's Girls'
School, where her ambition was treated sympathetically, though
I do not think anyone took it very seriously. She was
taught no biology—zoology was not included in the curriculum
until the term after she left, but she was allowed in the higher
forms to specialize in Geology, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathe-
matics. Out of school, almost the whole of her time was spent
in studying zoology.

She kept a large collection of reptile pets, from the time she
was a small child, and has always had the knack of taming them
very quickly. She believes she is safe with snakes, because
she has no fear of them. It is fear, she says, that makes the
danger. Young children are not, as a rule, afraid of reptiles
until made afraid by adults. At eighteen, her scientific education
began at the Natural History Museum, where she had the amazing
good luck to be trained for three years by Dr. G. A. Boulenger.
No other training could have fitted her so well for the work she
is doing now. I have heard her say many times that she owes all
her success to his patience and kindness. Dr. Boulenger was
the greatest living authority on reptiles, batrachians, and fish;
and in recent years has become a distinguished botanist.

My sister first met him when, as a child, she took a small
pet crocodile to the Museum to be named correctly. Other
visits followed and, when she left school, she went to work under
his supervision. Besides teaching her science, he encouraged
her to do independent research work, and instructed her in
the routine work of the Museum. She read papers before the
Zoological Society—the first when she was nineteen, and she
had much practice in the working out and naming of collections
from foreign museums.

When Dr. Boulenger retired in 1920, he arranged that she should
carry on his work, and this she has done ever since.

Her duties have included routine work such as the writing up
of reports, registers, and catalogues; the answering of letters
from all over the world on the subject of reptiles and batrachians;
the naming of museum and private collections; the describing
of new species, and the general supervision of students of
herpetology.

Some 3,000 specimens have passed through her hands; she has
published many scientific papers and compiled the Zoological
Record (Reptiles and Batrachians) for 1920 and 1921.

She is a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, the
Linnean Society, and the Bombay Natural History Society.

At home she has kept a private collection of living creatures,
which has latterly included rare and delicate batrachians from
collectors abroad.

Her work as Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens
will commence in November, and will include care of the living
collection and research. She is looking forward to it very much.
It is not usual in England for a woman to be offered such a post,
or to have enjoyed such training, and my sister feels herself to
be unusually fortunate. Abroad, however, especially in America,
there is more scope for women. A Miss Dickerson was for some
time head of the Department of Herpetology in the New York
Museum, and Dr. Nelly de Rooij now holds a similar position
in Leiden.

My sister is at present engaged in designing the rockwork
for the tanks in the new Aquarium, under the Mappin Terraces,
at the Zoo. This has, of course, nothing whatever to do with
her herpetological work. There are to be about sixty tanks,
all different, and each one geologically correct and suited to the
habits of the creatures which are to live in it. The designs
include studies in many kinds of natural rock. My sister makes
small models, scale two inches to the foot, and these are copied by
craftsmen.