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:
A 1923 Toronto Star feature profiles Miss Joan Proctor, curator of reptiles at the London Zoological Gardens, highlighting her methods of handling venomous snakes through kindness and understanding. The article notes her role in designing a new reptile house and references Raymond L. Ditmars of the New York Zoo.

CONTENT:
1923.
Toronto Star

Her Pets Are Ugly King Cobras
Deadly Reptiles Won By Kindness

Miss Joan Proctor, Curator of
Serpents in London Zoo-
logical Gardens, Tells How
She Overcomes Her Terri-
ble Playmates.

THE first woman in the world was on sociable
terms with a serpent, and the world knows
what came of that.
But here is one of Eve's youngest daughters
handling, petting and caring for innumerable de-
scendants of that wily snake of old. Her name
is Joan Proctor and her official title is curator
of reptiles of the London Zoological Gardens.
The feeling that soft, purring, cuddly little
kittens awaken in other small girls came to Joan
when, as an inquisitive ten-year-old, she first
made the acquaintance of a shining, wriggling
green garter snake, and that strange fondness
for the first enemy of man has grown and grown
until her greatest joy in life is playing foster-
mother to all the alligators, toads, turtles and
reptiles in London's famous zoo.
The family in which Joan belonged didn't ex-
actly favor the predilection of its youngest mem-
ber for crawling things when that first slimy,
glassy-eyed creature was introduced into their
happy home. But Joan was a positive little per-
son. She made it plain that her motto was "Love
me, love my snakes!" and presently the whole
Proctor clan progressed from abhorrence to in-
difference. They could put their hands into a
presumably empty vase on the living-room table,
touch the cold coil of a snake and not fall in a
faint.
From indifference, the Proctors went on until
they began to share Joan's uncanny affection for
creeping things, and now her home would not be
home without at least three boa constrictors
draping themselves about the furniture.
When Joan was seventeen she read her first
paper about snakes before the Royal Zoological
Society—a paper that attracted serious attention.
A few years later she became the unsalaried as-
sistant of the curator of reptiles at the British
Museum of Natural History—truly a labor of
love. In the museum laboratory she worked and
studied amid hundreds of jars and bottles con-
taining creeping things. And all the time at
home she watched over the boas, the bushmasters,
the asps and the black snakes that succeeded each
other at home as the darlings of her heart.
So it was that when the council of the Royal
Zoological Society found it necessary to engage a
new custodian for its great collection of living
reptiles, Joan, whose paper on snakes read before
that august body so early in her career had made
such an impression, was unanimously decided
upon as the logical recipient of the honor.

"It's a very simple thing to get on with rep-
tiles of any sort," says the new curator, illus-
trating her point by using one of her favorite
poisonous-tongued friends as a neckpiece. "By
using a handkerchief to make sure of my grip
on his tail, he can't get too playful, you see. The
dear things do love to twist themselves about
people's necks, and then sometimes they squeeze
too hard." Which, it may be clearly seen, is not
so good for the neck.
"Kindness and real understanding are back of
success with snakes," decrees the only woman
occupant of a position of such scientific note in
Great Britain.

So great is the confidence reposed in this
young woman by those who know that she
is not only to care for the huge creeping things
of the jungle, but has been empowered to design
the new home for reptiles at the London Zoological
Gardens, and is now engaged in deciding just
where, what and how big the quarters for her
favorites shall be.
"Woman snake-charmer!" shrieked local news-
paper headlines, when this announcement was
made.
"I'm not!" contradicted Miss Proctor, showing
a surprising little glint in her eyes—a glint that
may be the secret of her power over the descend-
ants of that serpent that tempted Eve.
"You might call me a 'snake-keeper,' if you
will, but not a snake-charmer. Do you know
what a snake-charmer is? Some queer voodoo
sort of person with supernatural powers. Of
course, I'm not that! It's so easy to get on with
snakes. Why, if you've learned the way to deal
with a two-foot garter snake you know how to
cope with an eight-foot python! They are all so
much alike." The foster-mother of London's rep-
tiles caressed the flat head of the amazingly
powerful boa constrictor just then draped about
her neck.
A neck, Miss Proctor explains, is an ideal
"warmer" for a tropical snake. There's nothing
he likes better than to coil about it. Coping
with Mr. Boa in this case means keeping a firm
grip on head and tail so that his enthusiasm
the human heater doesn't carry him too far.
There are many problems for this little wo-
man with the big nerve to solve, for snakes who
come from other lands as captives are likely to
behave as erratically as human beings under
similar circumstances. They go on hunger strikes.
They commit suicide. They demand one certain
kind of food—usually expensive and difficult to
obtain—and that only will they swallow.
How to combat this suicide tendency in rep-
tiles will probably engross Miss Proctor as it en-
grosses most curators of these temperamental
creatures. Raymond L. Ditmars, of the New
York Zoo, reports that a continual offender in this
regard is the bushmaster.

TORONTO
STAR
PRESS

SUMMARY:
The text describes Miss Proctor safely handling a small but powerful boa by securing its head and tail. It recounts a king cobra at the Bronx Zoo that refused to eat until offered a coach whip snake, after which long, thin strips of beef were cut to mimic its preferred food.

CONTENT:
The neck of a human being is just the sort
of a "warmer" that a tropical snake loves to coil
about—and squeeze—so Miss Proctor adopts
the simple "Safety First" measure of holding
the head and tail securely as she handles this
small but surprisingly powerful boa.

King cobras are another variety of Miss
Proctor's charges likely to become obnoxious at
times. Or, at least, that has been the experience
of other curators.

WHEN this monarch among snakes arrived
at the Bronx Zoo he registered his dis-
like of the institution and his objection to re-
maining in it by refusing to eat at all. As he is
a cannibal he was offered every species of crawl-
ing thing the authorities had ever heard of a
cobra eating. But no! Nothing doing! Never
in this world, so said the cobra in question, if
his expression mirrored his thoughts.

At length a "coach whip," a nice, five-foot
appetizing morsel, was sent in for the rebel's
breakfast. That hit the spot. The king cobra
ate and demanded more of the same. And there
the scheme struck a snag, for coach whips cost
three dollars each and aren't to be had at all
times for a striking monarch's fastidious taste.
What was to be done? The diet of coach whip
had been kept up while the curator engaged in
thought, and now long, thin strips of beef were
cut in the length of the favorite food

SUMMARY:
Newspaper cuttings report record attendance at the Zoological Society's Gardens, the near-completion of the Aquarium, and staffing changes including Miss Joan Procter becoming Curator of Reptiles. Articles from The Times, Cape Argus, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), and Yorkshire Post highlight new zoo arrivals and Procter's expertise with reptiles.

CONTENT:
THE TIMES, SATURDAY,
DECEMBER 29, 1923.

THE ZOO IN 1923.

RECENT ADDITIONS.
Although there is still the attendance on
Sunday and the attendance and gate money
of Monday to be placed to the credit of the
year, 1923 has already established a "record"
in the history of the Zoological Society. The
number of visitors has been over 1,600,000—
that is to say, larger than the total of 1920,
which until now was the largest attendance in
any one year. The gate money has increased
in proportion also, and the total number of
Fellows, as well as the number of new Fellows
elected, and the receipts from subscriptions,
are also the largest in the history of the
Society.
There have been, too, an unusual number
of important additions to the collection, so
that now there is an exceptionally fine display
of mammals, birds, reptiles, and batrachians.
Among the additions of special interest are a
young African elephant presented by Sir
Horace Byatt, two young giraffes, purchased
from the Sudan and South Africa respectively,
two great anteaters, purchased from South
America, and the recently acquired walrus.
There have been important changes of staff.
Mr. R. I. Pocock, formerly superintendent,
has retired on pension on attaining the age
of 60, and has been replaced by Dr. G. M.
Vevers; Mr. D. Seth Smith, formerly Curator
of Birds, has been promoted to be Resident
Curator of Mammals and Birds; Mr. E. G.
Boulenger has left the Reptile House to be-
come Director of the new Aquarium, and has
been succeeded by Miss Joan B. Procter, who
was formerly in charge of the reptiles and
batrachians at the British Museum. The staff
of keepers has been subjected to careful sur-
vey, and there have been rewards and promo-
tions for the more competent, while some of
the older men have been retired on pension.
The Council and the Garden Committee
have made great efforts to improve the general
condition of the animals and of the gardens,
and much more than has been possible in
recent years has been done to improve the
general hygienic conditions and to repair and
redecorate houses and enclosures. The largest
and most expensive work of the year has been
the construction of the Aquarium. This is
now practically completed, only minor details
of lighting and decoration being still in hand.
The difficult business of stocking has begun,
and it is anticipated that it will be opened
to Fellows and the public in the first fort-
night of April.

ZOO VISITORS: A RECORD.
During 1923 the visitors to the Zoological
Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, numbered
1,613,125, an increase of 185,276 as compared
with 1922.
The number of visitors last year was the
largest in the history of the Society.

from the Yorkshire Post
of Publication Leeds
Dated. 24.12.29
HOLIDAYS IN LONDON.

HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE
CHILDREN.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
"NO," the clerk in a large theatre
office told me, "they don't dare
to try new Christmas plays in the
West End. The old favourites are good
enough for them. You must go to the
theatres further out if you want something
new in the way of plays for the children
this Christmas."

The morning is often a difficult time to
entertain children in London, but the Zoo is
always open, and several new and interest-
ing inmates have arrived since last holidays.
Small boys frequently have a liking
for creepy beasts, and the new reptile
house, presided over by that young snake
charmer, Miss Joan Procter, should give
them the necessary thrills. Baby animals
to rejoice the heart of the motherly little
girl are also plentiful at the Zoo this
Christmas. There is Percy, the six-
months-old pigmy hippopotamus, already
becoming quite friendly with visitors,
while in a pen close by is the slightly older
African baby elephant. It is amusing to
see Andy, the youthful walrus, being fed,
for, although he is five months old, he has
not a single tooth, and his food—cut up
strips of cod fish—is placed in his mouth
by his attendant. For sheer grace and
agility, the baby antelopes surpass any-
thing I have ever seen, and one can under-
stand their having an audience round their
cage quite as enthusiastic as that which
greets the Fairy Queen in the pantomime.

Telephone No. Central 7980.
International Press-Cutting Bureau

14. New Bridge Street, London, E.C.4.

Extract from
CAPE ARGUS
CAPE TOWN.

Date

13. DEC 1923

Girl Curator of Reptiles.—The new
Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo-
logical Gardens is a young woman. Miss
Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., is a
recognised authority in this branch of
science: in fact, she is said to know
more about snakes and reptiles than
any woman in the world. Until now
she has been in charge of the Reptile
Department at the British Museum of
Natural History. Miss Procter has a
special instinct for the handling of
poisonous snakes. She has not the
slightest dread of any kind of reptile.

International Press-Cutting Bureau,

Extract from
SUNDAY MAIL
BRISBANE.

Date 4 NOV 1923

CURATOR OF REPTILES

Woman Appointed

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S., an
Englishwoman of 25, has been appointed
curator of reptiles at the Zoo in London.
She has 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 zoologists as
one of the greatest snake experts of the
day. The large, tiny room in the base-
ment 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 pro-
bably hereditary," said her mother
a Press correspondent. "Her grandfather
was a famous entomologist."
Miss Procter opened a glass cage in
her drawing-room and six beautiful
Brazilian snakes, which were sent to her
daughter as a gift, she allowed them to
climb and wriggle and coil around her arm.
"At the age of ten my daughter had
her first snake as a pet." Mrs. Procter
added. "She also kept many lizards, most
of them remarkably tame. One day she
received a large and valuable crocodile
as a present, and we took it to Dr. G. A.
Boulenger, the famous chief of the de-
partment 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 on the subject when she left
St. Paul's School. She became his assis-
tant when she was 18, and when he re-
signed 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 for 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 Pygmy
Snake," before the Zoological Society at
the age of 19. She was made a Fellow of
the society at 20. She was elected a
Fellow of the Linnaean Society, one of
the foremost scientific organisations in
the world, last August. She is also a
Fellow of the Zoological Society of Bom-
bay, and last year was offered a remu-
nerative post by the Zoological Society of
New York.