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.

From The General Press Cutting
Association, Ltd.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
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.
ATLANTIC HOUSE,
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:
  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.

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.

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 cuttings report that Miss Joan Proctor/Procter, aged 25, has been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens. Articles describe her background at the British Museum/Museum of Natural History, her expertise handling venomous snakes, and her work designing aquarium tanks and contributing to antivenom research.

CONTENT:
who ever lived. Praise she merits, but
Cutting from the Daily Post
July 19th
One Woman's Speciality.

Not to every woman would the curatorship
of reptiles at the Zoological Gardens
appeal, but to have received the position is
an honour decidedly. This honour has
fallen to Miss Joan Proctor, who will take
up her work in the autumn. Educated at
St. Paul's School for Girls, Miss Proctor
has been in the reptile department of the
British Museum for seven years, and may
be said to know her job backwards. Not
content with studying the habits, anatomy,
and little ways of reptiles and batrachians
in working hours, she keeps a collection of
the living creatures at home. She is at the
moment designing rockwork for the
aquarium tanks at the Zoo.

From the Soho News July 21st
CHAMPION GIRL SNAKE EXPERT.

Miss Joan Proctor, F.L.S.
Miss Proctor, aged 25, as already
described in the "Echo," is one of the
greatest snake experts in the world, and has
been appointed Curator of Reptiles at the
Zoological Gardens. She handles the most
deadly reptiles with the greatest ease.

Cutting from the Belfast Telegraph
Address of Publication
Issue dated 20. 7. 21

GREAT SNAKE EXPERT.
GIRL'S CHARGE OF REPTILES.
CAN HANDLE DEADLY SERPENTS.
Miss Joan Proctor, F.Z.S., an English
girl 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 Proctor, unknown to
the world at large, has for several years
gained fame 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 bottled and occasionally
live specimens of the most deadly snakes in
the world.

Miss Proctor is now engaged in designing
the 60 tanks to form the most wonderful
aquarium in the world, which are being con-
structed at a cost of £50,000, under the
Mappin Terraces in the Zoo. Miss Proctor
is making models of each tank to scale from
her studies of rocks and seaweeds made
during holidays at the seaside. Miss
Proctor has performed work of incalculable
value while at the Museum of Natural
History by preparing a complete series of
the teeth of poisonous snakes for the School
of Tropical Medicine. Her researches have
enabled the school to prepare antidotes for
the bites of various deadly snakes.
Miss Proctor is resigning in the autumn
from her present position as chief of the
department of reptiles at the British
Museum of Natural History at South Kens-
ington. She has already won many honours
that are only as a rule bestowed after a
life-time of research work. She read her
first paper on the pitsnake before the Zoo-
logical Society at the age of 19. She was
made a Fellow of the Society at 20. She
was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society,
one of the foremost scientific organisations
in the world, a fortnight ago. She is also
a Fellow of the Zoological Society of Bom-
bay, and last year was offered a remuner-
ative post by the Zoological Society of New
York.

Cutting from the Dundee Courier
Address of Publication
Issue dated 21. 7. 20

GIRL AS SNAKE EXPERT.
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 complete charge of dozens of venomous
cobras, deadly pythons, boa constrictors, alli-
gators, and crocodiles. Miss Procter, un-
known to the world at large, is famous
among zoologists as one of the greatest
snake experts of the day. 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 col-
lected the poisonous creatures from their
hiding places.

SUMMARY:
Clippings report on women’s achievements and fashions and profile Miss Joan Proctor, Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens. They describe her creating a heated nursery in the Reptile House for baby crocodiles and alligators from the West Coast of Africa.

CONTENT:
JANUARY 1. 1924.
Evening News.
Cutting from the Evening News
Publication
20.2.24

WOMEN LAST YEAR—AND THIS.
Consolidation the Keynote. No New Stars. Some Notable Feats.
dated 24.2.24

ZOO BABIES.
A keeper at the Zoo with the baby crocodiles which have just arrived from the West Coast of Africa. Miss Proctor, the curator of the reptiles, is making a special nursery for them.

A Young Expert.
Another case in which a woman has been given an entirely new appointment is that of Miss Joan Proctor, F.Z.S., F.L.S., who, at 25, is Curator of Reptiles at the Zoo, and, although unknown to the world at large, is famous among zoologists as one of the greatest experts on reptiles.

In 1929 the first woman—Mrs. Annie Swynnerton—was elected to the Royal Academy, since the time of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

In legal matters the right of a woman to divorce her husband for unfaithfulness without cruelty is one of the most important things that has happened to women since the passing of the Married Women's Property Act.

The Fashion World.
In the world of dress the most conspicuous of the successful fashions is the low heel for shoes and the maintenance of that silhouette which needs a "natural" or no corset.
The Women's Golf Union have decided to have a club of their own colours. So, probably, that will mean fewer woollen jumpers and more shirt blouses among golfing fashions of 1924. Miss Cecil Leitch has always been faithful to the shirt-blouse mode.

Literature and the Stage.
In the social sense the opening of so many men's clubs to women has marked an advance in the so-much-valued "equality." In literature no new stars have arisen on the firmament of women: at least, if they have risen we have not yet noticed them. Out of the thousands of books published during 1923 there has been no novel by a new author that is indubitably epoch-making.

"NURSERY for Baby Crocodiles," says a headline. A lover of children says he's going to write to the N.S.P.C.C. about it.

NURSERY FOR BABY
CROCODILES

—AND A WOMAN AS "NURSE"
AT THE ZOO.

THREE MEALS A WEEK.

Miss Joan Proctor, Curator of Reptiles at the Zoological Gardens, is very busy just now making a nursery for baby crocodiles.
Six of these have just arrived from the West Coast of Africa, and as they are only eighteen months old and very small and tender they need a lot of care.
Miss Proctor's nursery will consist of a special tank with rockwork and other decorations dear to the heart of the juvenile crocodile. To compensate the new arrivals for the loss of the African sunshine, and to make them feel as much at home as possible, a radiator is being buried in the sand under the bottom of the tank, and by this means the temperature of the water will be kept at 85 degrees.
Young crocodiles like to be kept warm.

LEISURELY GROWERS.
The tank will be fixed in the Reptile House and is to be officially known as "The Nursery."
When first hatched these baby crocodiles were only six inches long, but if they keep fit and well, and make normal progress, they may reach a length of thirty feet in time, though no one now living is likely to be here to see them then.
These crocodiles, which are similar to those found in the Nile, live to a tremendous age, and go on growing for years and years.
The biggest crocodile now in the reptile house is getting on for 10. He is about 14 feet in length, and still has a long way to go. The older he gets, the less often does he feed. At present he only has a meal once a fortnight. It generally consists of a pound of meat.

NO HUSTLING FOR THEM!
Young crocodiles, however, need feeding two or three times a week, and the lusty youngsters who have just arrived at the Zoo are doing very well on a diet of chopped meat and small fish. All being well, they will grow quickly at first, and two years will make an appreciable difference to their size.
But when they are about 6 feet long they will slow down and begin to take life easily. From then onwards their rate of growth will be about an inch a year!
That is the way of crocodiles. You cannot "hustle" them.

BABY ALLIGATORS
Two of the six baby alligators which have arrived at the Zoo and are in a special nursery designed by Miss Joan Proctor.

ILLUSTRATED SUNDAY HERALD, FEBRUARY 24, 1924.