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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:
Press clippings announce that Miss Joan Procter, aged 25, has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo. Articles describe her background, training under Dr. Boulenger, early expertise with reptiles, and recognition by scientific societies.

CONTENT:
THE "DAILY EXPRESS"
LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1923.

GIRL SNAKE EXPERT.

APPOINTED TO RULE THE ZOO REPTILES.

25 YEARS OLD.

INHERITED POWER TO CHARM.

MISS JOAN PROCTER, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an Englishwoman of twenty-five, has been appointed curator of reptiles at the Zoo. She will have complete charge of dozens of venomous cobras, deadly pythons, boa constrictors, alligators, and crocodiles.

Miss Procter, unknown to the world at large, is famous among

Mrs. Procter opened a glass cage in her drawing-room, and six beautiful Brazilian snakes, which were sent to her daughter as a gift, were brought out. She allowed them to climb and wriggle and coil round her arm.

"At the age of ten my daughter had her first snake as a pet," Mrs. Procter added. "She also kept many lizards, some of them remarkably tame. One day she received a large and valuable crocodile as a present, and we took it

to Dr. C. A. Boulenger, the famous chief of the department of reptiles at the Natural History Museum at South Kensington.

"He was astonished at my daughter's knowledge of ophiology, and offered to train her in the subject when she left St. Paul's School. She became his assistant when she was eighteen, and when he resigned she was appointed to his post."

Scientists in South Africa and South America have sent Miss Procter rare and deadly reptiles from jungles and swamps. Occasionally a crate of them has been overturned on arrival, and they have been spilled on the floor. Miss Procter, without the slightest fear, has collected the poisonous creatures from their hiding places.

She read her first paper, on the pit snake, before the Zoological Society at the age of nineteen. She was made a Fellow of the society at twenty. She was elected a Fellow of the Linnæan Society, one of the foremost scientific organisations in the world, a fortnight ago. She is also a Fellow of the Zoological Society of Bombay, and last year was offered a remunerative post by the Zoological Society of New York.

MISS JOAN PROCTER.
"Daily Express" photograph.

zoologists as one of the greatest snake experts of the day.

The large, airy room in the basement of the Museum of Natural History, South Kensington, in which she works, is filled with deadly snakes, some bottled and some alive.

"Her interest in the subject is probably hereditary," said her mother to a "Daily Express" representative yesterday. Her grandfather was a famous entomologist."
(AMATEUR GEOLOGIST)

DAILY CHRONICLE.
FRIDAY, JULY 20. 1923.

WOMAN AS CURATOR OF REPTILES.

Miss J. Procter'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.

CURATOR OF REPTILES.
Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo.
-(Daily Sketch.)

SUMMARY:
Clippings announce E. G. Boulenger’s promotion to Director of the new aquarium and Joan B. Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles, outlining her background and expertise. Additional coverage describes progress and features planned for the new aquarium.

CONTENT:
THE TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1923.

Mr. E. G. Boulenger has been appointed
Director of the new Aquarium at the Zoo,
and Miss Joan B. Procter has been appointed
Curator of Reptiles. (p. 9)

WOMAN CURATOR OF
REPTILES.

APPOINTMENTS AT THE
ZOO.

Mr. E. G. Boulenger, at present Curator of
Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens, has been
appointed Director of the new Aquarium.
He will continue to exercise a general super-
vision over the reptiles, but for some time he
has been very fully occupied with superintend-
ing the construction of the aquarium, and
when the tanks are ready for occupation it is
anticipated that his time will be almost com-
pletely engaged by his new duties. Mr.
Boulenger is a son of Dr. G. A. Boulenger,
F.R.S., for long chief of the Department of
Reptiles, Batrachians, and Fishes at the
British Museum of Natural History. Since
Mr. Boulenger has been Curator at the Zoo
the reptile-house has been greatly improved,
and the collection made one of the finest in
the world. During the war he served in
France with the balloons.

Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles, and will
assume her duties in late autumn. She was
educated at St. Paul's School for Girls, and
since 1916 has worked in the Reptile Depart-
ment 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 and batra-
chians. At present Miss Procter is still carry-
ing 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 Hull Daily Mail
Address of Publication.
Issue dated. 20.7.25

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an Englishwoman
of 25, has been appointed curator
of reptiles at the Zoo. She will have com-
plete charge of dozens of venomous cobras,
deadly pythons, boa constrictors, alligators,
and crocodiles. Miss Procter, unknown to the
world at large, is famous among zoologists as
one of the greatest snake experts of the day.

THE EVENING STANDARD.

ZOO AQUARIUM
PROGRESS.

NEW CURATOR ON WONDERS OF
COMING ATTRACTIONS.

£50,000 COST.

HOW LONDONERS WILL SEE
SEALS UNDER WATER.

Mr. E. G. Boulenger, the curator of rep-
tiles at the Zoological Gardens, who has
been appointed director of the new aquarium
which is expected to be completed at the
end of the year, gave some interesting de-
tails in an interview to-day of the progress
of the work.

Mr. Boulenger is a son of Dr. G. A.
Boulenger, F.R.S., formerly chief of the de-
partment of reptiles and fishes at the British
Museum of Natural History, South Kensing-
ton.

One of the Finest in the World.

"We began building the aquarium," he said,
"at the beginning of December. When it is
finished—we hope before the end of the year—
the aquarium should be one of the finest in
the world. It is being built under Mappin Ter-
races, and the tanks have been supervised by
myself and Miss Joan Procter, who has just
been appointed Curator of Reptiles, and is
taking over my duties in the autumn.

"The aquarium will be for fresh water and
marine animals, and the tanks will be faced
with plate glass 1¼ inches thick. This glass is
very expensive, and is a big item in the total
cost of £50,000.

"We are getting our sea-water from the Bay
of Biscay, and it will be brought in the ballast
tanks of large vessels to the docks and trans-
ferred there to barges, which will bring it up
along the Regent's Canal to the Zoo. It will be
piped from the barges into the tanks by means
of long fire hoses.

"Mr. Compton Mackenzie has given us a
quantity of shell sand from the Island of Herm
which he owns for some of the tank floors. This
shell sand is remarkable, for every grain is a
tiny shell.

Open Trout Pool.

"We will have an elaborate system of reser-
voirs, filtering arrangements, and plant for
heating, lighting, and ventilating, and the
aquarium, which will be 400ft. long, will be
divided into three parts.

"The fresh-water hall will have 25 tanks, the
marine hall 20, and the tropical hall 40. We
will have an open trout pool, a big octagonal
tank for marine turtle, and a tank for seals
under water.

"We will have a wonderful collection of
tropical fish brilliantly coloured and equal to the
finest in the world.

"Not even the New York Aquarium will sur-
pass it in the beauty of its contents."

The new aquarium, when it is completed, will
probably prove one of the biggest attractions at
Regent's Park.

Miss Procter, the new Curator of Reptiles,
was educated at St. Paul's School for Girls,
and since 1916 has worked in the Reptile De-
partment at the British Museum, first as volun-
tary assistant to Dr. Boulenger.

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.