SUMMARY:
Press clippings report Miss Joan Procter’s appointment as Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo, her work caring for reptiles, and an appeal for ‘golden’ cockroaches to feed chameleons, followed by a note on a chameleon’s recovery. A brief Manchester Guardian reference dated 3 November 1927 also appears.

CONTENT:
Thursday, November 1, 1923.
THE EVENING STANDARD.
WOMAN GUARDIAN
OF REPTILES.
ANIMATION IN THE ZOO AT HER
ARRIVAL.
NURSING THE SICK.
Miss Joan Procter, the newly appointed
Curator of reptiles at the Zoo, took over
for duties there to-day.

This is the first time that a woman has under-
taken such work, but Miss Procter has a special
instinct for the handling of such unpleasant
things as poisonous snakes, snappy monitors, and
those miniature alligators that look almost harm-
less, but could bite off a careless finger without
much difficulty.

"One of my principal duties," Miss Procter
said to-day, "will be to
look after the health of
the inmates of the rep-
tile house. All the new
arrivals have to be
examined, and as a
general rule are put in
quarantine in the sana-
torium for some time,
among parrots, squir-
rels, or whatever new-
comers there may be,
until they are found
permanent quarters.

"There is no room
for them all in quaran-
tine, but we can deal
with the suspects.
What Snakes Suffer.
Miss Joan Procter.
"Sickness," Miss Procter went on, "is quite
common among the reptiles, and it is chiefly
caused by parasites. The snakes are very sub-
ject to diseases of the mouth, although we do
not quite know why. They get a sort of ulcera-
tion, and if not properly attended to they will
die. Our method of cure is to bathe them with
a disinfectant as strong as they can stand.

"When treating the poisonous varieties for
sickness one has naturally to be very careful
not to be bitten, and in the case of mouth disease
it is practically impossible to give them a wash.

"The keepers are expert at handling them
for the usual sores on the body, but if the mouth
had to be treated it would be necessary to hold
them in such a way that they would be almost
sure to bite."

In a visit to the reptile house to-day one could
almost detect a stir among the specimens as if
in excitement over the arrival of the new
mistress. One of the crocodiles was observed to
move his head twice in the course of fifteen
minutes, which betokens unusual animation in
such undemonstrative creatures.

NOVEMBER 2. 1923.
FRIDAY, The Daily Mail
ZOO'S NEW WOMAN
CURATOR.
HUNT FOR THE "GOLDEN"
COCKROACH.
Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., F.L.S.,
took up her appointment yesterday as
Curator of Reptiles at the London Zoo-
logical Gardens.

In spite of her youth, Miss Procter is
a recognized authority in this branch of
science, and till now has been in charge
of the Reptile Department at the British
Museum of Natural History.

In the midst of "moving" troubles
yesterday one of her first anxieties may
be instanced as showing her attitude to
her new charges. "I have lost my
supply of golden cockroaches," she said,
"and I would be grateful if any of your
readers could tell me where they can be
found in any numbers."

These yellow or "golden" cock-
roaches are the finest food for many rare
reptiles, including chameleons. Miss
Procter was able to obtain them from
the basement of a certain public build-
ing until a catastrophic spring-cleaning
with limewash wiped out the whole
colony.

Chameleons, with their wonderful
"lashing" six-inch tongues, select
them as targets even should there be
only one cockroach among 50 blue-
bottles, and the best hope of nursing
such creatures through the coming win-
ter is to find the "golden cockroach"
at once.

Should anyone know of a colony of
these small yellow insects a post-card ad-
dressed to Curator of Reptiles, Zoo-
logical Society's Offices, Regent's Park,
N.W., would be much appreciated—
especially by the chameleons. The ordi-
nary black cockroach is too big, tough,
and indigestible as a diet.

the Manchester Guardian
Publication
3.11.27.

NOVEMBER 8, 1923.
THURSDAY, The Daily Mail
ZOO CHAMELEON
ENDS ITS FAST.
WILL TO LIVE RESTORED
BY NEW DIET.
The Zoo's Basilisk chameleon desires
to thank the Daily Mail reader who
saved his life by collecting and forward-
ing a tin of "golden" cockroaches.

Last Friday it was stated in these
columns that meal-worms and the big
black cockroaches had failed to tempt
the chameleon to go on living. Only the
small "golden" cockroach could save
him, but no supply of these insects had
been found.

It was quite a pathetic bedside scene
before the post brought the life-giving
insects. Showing evidences of his six
weeks' fast, the chameleon had scarcely
the strength to turn
black in the face
when the same old
mealworms were
offered at break-
fast-time. Billows
waves of yellow
mottled skin when
an ordinary mag-
got was served up
as an alternative.
He turned a shabby
green and began to squint. The
chameleon is the world's most gifted
squinter. His eyes work quite indepen-
A Chameleon.
dently of each other. One eye may
be seen riveted on the ceiling while the
other idly swivels round like the second
hand of a watch going the wrong way.
Then the golden cockroaches arrived.
He unpacked his elastic tongue with its
sticky tip, and slashed it out for a full
six inches. The first cockroach vanished.
In ten minutes 21 insects went the same
way.

This was "hearty" for a chameleon
in a decline, and no further bulletins will
be issued.
L. G. M.

THE NEXT FEW DAYS
BROUGHT ME ABOUT
THE WHEREABOUTS OF
GOLDEN ROACHES ALSO

Miss Joan Procter, F.Z.S., the
girl snake expert, has started
duty as curator of reptiles at the
London Zoo,