A RECORD OF MERIT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 85

A RECORD OF MERIT.

SUCH PROOF | As Ko Imitations Can Show* Tho O*e* of " Mrs. A. CHURCHILU (»T A SPtCIAL RKPO&TZR.) However modest our meant, w« can all help someone do something if wewill'bute. consider hoir. To perform a laudable act»_ I great wealth is not always imperative^' j though, of course, it ia sometimes useful g~ ' but in matters similar to tho.se referred'to* I by Mrs. Annie Churchill, of Kensington* street, South Dunedin, ll is only a consider^ ate disposition that is needed to enable us> to place before the general reader something that should prove both interesting aud profit* able. At the commencement of her narra* . tive, Mrs. Churchill said :—: — "Two years come April I was in verj dire straits with my kidneys, and had bee» io for about three years previously. It vas a dreadful feeling that always' affected me— as if I wanted to do nothing else but sleep; I was living in Christchurch when I was. token ill, and .people there could tell yon/ ; how dreadful my sufferings were. I oouldj ! not eat, l could not sleep-»even though I was continually in such a drowsy and depressed; : condition— for it happened that when I rq- | tired to bed the inclination to sleep wentaway^ owing to my brain becoming active with the* most unhappy thoughts, and I could onlw turn about in a stas» of .restlessness tile ; morning. Never without a bitter taste inu my mouth in the mornings, the desire for*) food was entirely absent, so I had to.maksr myself eat .a litte ; but how .did I have tW suffer for,it afterwards ? Goodness me'! if \'' only took a cup of tea I was nearly out ofi; my mind with pains, and any food I had ' seemed to turn sour, and .cause me, to b« inflated with wind.^T was then persecuted with what people call windy spasms; an*' oh, dear ! how terribly severe they were kf " What were you taking to check youEk sufferings? " ; inquired a special reporter. -jj " What was r taking? Why, pretty well everything in the medicine line that a person could take ; but as much cold watee would hare done the same good, for I. wasp not benefited at ail. My Jiead r often/ turned so giddy that I used to think I was'^ping to tumble down in the street, and my loins) ached so badly that it was really painful tct stand. I* dared not move any more than I could help for the violent pains thati were fixed between my shoulders, but ~ I think my chest troubles were. as bad as any. The heavy pains there almost had a Bufjfocating effect. It seemed tome that something bad got blocked in'my chest, with the resulh that as I drew my breath I had to lift ». weight that caused me pain in the operation?] My limbs ached again simply from sheer., weakness, and to- show you how thin £ got I' may as well tell you that I went from ten stone odd down to eight stone seven." ' " A loss oi nearly two stone," interrupted the writer. G I t» " Yas. Wasn't that awful. And x got s* utterly nervous that I became excited and timid at the least noise, and could not beas, to be in the house by myself at nights. -NoW that I have told you so much, can yoti} wonder at my great appreciation of Clements) • Tonic for sending away from my life\ alf|; those physical persecutions? Several people : advised me to try it, bub I thought it was a< lot of nonsense doing so, because I had taken so many medicines before for nothing. Xhexsj some German friends wrote and advised m« . to take Clements Tonic, and between them* all I was at length persuaded. Thank GodC - I was ! as I got such wonderful ease from my > agonies after taking two or three bottles of Clements Tonic that the world was brighter to me than it had been for nearly three years. Before long the pains about my back and chest had vanished. I atarted oating well, and the effect of Clements Tonic on my ' digestion was marvellous. So with mjr nervous system, and I was so delighted to find that; giddiness was nob troublipg in», and that my strength had^all come bjkek. ' There was such a pacifying influence 'apoub Clements Tonic that I could always sleep' well, and to that medicine alone I owe. my thanks for quite curing me of my terrible . ailments." " Have I your permission to use theft remarks ? " You are at liberty to publish them in aof form you want." — £"v, STATUTORY DECLARATION. *, .. I, Akkii Chokchili,, of Kensington •» tret t, Soatb DuDidin, in the Colony of New Zsaland, do solemnly > and ainctrely deolir* that I h»ve carefully read the annexed document, coniiiting of two folioi, and consecutively numbertd from one to two, and that , It oontulm and ie a true and faithful account of my Illbes* and cure by Clement* Tonic, and alio contains my full permintoD to publish in any way m> lUteoitnll— which I givt roluntarily, without r«< - oeiring any payment ; and I male* this soUmc declaration conscientiously believing the ifl,me to b< - true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act tf Out Qeniral Assembly ot N«w Zealand* ialitulcd "Ib/ Juitictt of Feact Act, 1182." Declared at Duntdln, this Unth.diy of March, «F> tbouiAUd nlm hundred adJ tbrse, before me, JUB. BftOWp, iiV.?,'

jfcton of the islands. I need not mention £n*\ otter species or refer to species con,<frp»s& to -our outlying islands, but come- tosie birds which are responsible for, my .yenturingrto address yjo'uf to-night. Among out passeres or* perching binte js<t §m&fl tamify of v tits, the Paridae, which includes in .oiler parts' of the world- tne- American chickadee and the. English titmice. With as' this .family contains three distinct genera, eaolr with on« species, and each species ..found' in New .Zealand alone. *;inehia, . formerly Qerthinarus N,Z.-, the ferown creeper, Certbiparus,. formerly jprthonyx, later Clitonyx albicapilTa, the Vrjhitehead or North Island canary, antl <3&onua, formerly Orthonyx ochrocephala, the jellbw-headed canary. " Now, these two Jbjrds, formerly considered two species of dse genus,. Clitonyx, and as such recogfn>ed by Sir Walter Buller in his latest supplementary volumes, are by Captain aTucton in his " Animals of New Zealand " separated' into the two genera on account of a slight difference in the comparative length of the bill to the ■ hind claw. No idoubt this is a very important point in tanithologioal classification from a. strictly scientific point of view, but surely something of the life bistarj and habits of the ipxds should be considered before separating, them into distinct genera, both of jrtych. are confined to New 'Zealand alone »nd do not in any way interfere with idtjsaiflcation of birds elsewhere. I protest against this separation for the following' reasons : — The birds are first of all neanifestiy alike in size, shape, and distrijbjxtion of colour, their nests are identical lift, construction, in the choice of fcrees fox nest construction the whitehead selects thick, stumpy mao.'olGa. or hollow Avoadleaf where- available. H/edsohek rfeeeoribee the, neat as seat, < made of twigs, t-and _grae», lined- -with feathers, , from > I6ft from, the ground, in. very trees of manuka. At the end of sr the "female 'lays four egge of a rim nip h colour, with fight brown spots; ijp also-f ound eggs m December. The yeHowhead eamrr selecte hollow broadleaf- trees, where it places it* nest in. a - crevice of the wood, «hd where euob igxes fs6 not available, as in many parts of , Canterbury, invariably chooses the manuka. fEher following is ft description, or a nest ta£en by me, 'October 3Q, 1880, from a j-hntir manuka bush in Richardson's Glen, bear Ouferam. The nest was in a fork «bbtn>>Bft from, the ground. " Yellowliead's ja*a*r feathers, fine hoy, thistle down, cobwrefes, wool; diameter of nest, 3Jin; depth, diameter of cavity, 2in; depth of canty, lifn; eggs r fouf in colour 'of .a ripb reddish purple-, with browix spots." j In. the same notebook are records of nests found on October 10 and December 12. , ■the) eggs of tho two species are really : identic&T in -size ana shape. The North Island bird is Popokaitea;the South Island; bird is Popokatea to the Maori. The movements qf the birds are identical, they are Quick, lively and inquisitive, and will come- round you immediately if you whistle rto- them. They are sociable, and in the jbijsh can be- seen travelling- in flocks. This '4» not at all a common, trait among our birds. I can' call few other instances to my mind among our percbers, and few in any -of our birds, except the cuckoos, ducks, «ncL snags, and some seabiarde, the Tyhiteye from Australia, and the near relative of* these birds, the brown creeper. Tlie iwhiteheaxfo forage for insects in flocks ftinonz the tree tope, and advance through the bush' in & Jine, followed by numbers of wh&fceeyes -wihich -evidently participate in the- host of insects disturbed by the canaries, flor Drummond, in his recent account of th© Barrier Sanctuary, adds that fcuntails also accompany and are very friendly with the wMteheeds. Ilhave written to Sir Elsdon ®9»t to find out what he -can tell me of rtnese birds, and whether the saddleback lhas been observed in attendance on the .whitehead. This is what Mr W. W. Smith says of the yellowheads near Lake Brunner : "I had travelled up the bed of the creek, and on -reaching the top of a gully I ibeard the shrill ringing notes of a flock of yellowheads. I moved on gently until I was under the trees to which they were advancing. They numbered about 200. and were ' in rich .plumage. They fed eagerly among the branches, end then-, |Utsering their.. cal*, they flew forward some yards tad began to feed', until they again sounded the signal to advance, repeating at- at short intervals, and passing on through fche bush in. thia order. Before *b» y«llowheads had quite disappeared I Iheard the rich flute notes of a flock of saddlebacks advancing. They advanced in .tttja line of the yellowheads; they were <axceedingly tame, and moved with great Activity Beardhing carefully for food amonjr jtoe ferns end* mosses. They "remained tot about seven minutes, and- then dis appeared slowly in th« track of the vellowiejads. Just as^ there are tie two distinct ones of the Tsllowhced, one a shrill ringixgg «cd fainy, lengthy chirrup, and the pthar * distinct and easily recognisable call. «jtf» dbubt known io many of you, six short hotes, en 3 tSsn two long ones, !ik« sir," ?.ir, afar* sir, dr, air,, yiu, vlu. So Mr Reiachek feiv**- an ' almost identical description of tfo.- AMiiitg notes of the whi tehea,d, and <& its peculku- call- He writes it viu, via, jiifafc iir,_ jot, e\t, six. One of oar eariiesi Qfego reeideota, an Ajj^Ko-IndlaE, with no <Jtyubt memories of Sfatury o»yB, on niy asking him *bo»fc the bird, 'said: "Oh, you mean fche Htle bird yrhioh calls oat ' Come to Jellallabad !' 80, no/ Pinaily-sKjooxdiufr to Mr Elsdon !B«Jss. the ohief hose tA the longrfeiil^d ouckoo . sn $u± .North IsUmd-is the whitehead, and ipf my own- inyestfgarian» I know thair tihe enacts Hk.9 *axn« ro!« in our

-South Island. I think many will agree with "me that such significant facts in the life histories of two birds should be considered' of' as much importance as a slight difference in comparative length of bill ; &nd! claw, and that their separation into ■two distinct genera was, to say the least of ■ it, unnecessary." THE COORDINATION OF SCIENCES. It is instructive to listen to lectures . given by men who have made a special study of some particular subject, and more so when we find, men working on lines- of- thought comijng to the same general conclusions. Dr Fulton, by bird study,' shows how New Zealand was connected with- other areas; Dr Marshall, by studying rocks and fossils^ arrives at the same end ; and Mr Thomson, in his many botanical contributions, is forced to the same conclusion. I cannot recall at the present moment an instance in which Dr , Benham shows a like trend, but I dare \ cay his biological studies go the same way. If our teachers could only give our senior pupils a. general idea of the teaching of- these and- o&her gentlemen, there yf-no saying to what extent the hobbies or serious studies of many of them might be influenced. But, somehow, in spite of a more rational syllabus, we seem j incapable of getting away from the striv- | ing for immediate result and looking for- I ,ward to the time when the seed now sown will develop with the ripened judgment of the minds in which they are planted. UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LECTURES. - When listening to Dr Fulton on his hobby. "Birds," and to Dr Marshall on the geology and climatology of OarropbellLsland, I asked myself the question, Why , isn't something done to get these gentlemen, Mr, G-. M. Thomson, 1..F.5., who knows his botany so well, and Dr Benham. who- has three or four scientific but popular ' lectures; JMJr A. Hi Burton, -who' knows' his Dickens and his Thackeray 6O well, and others, -to • give & series of lectures in the Otago centres? Will country ""teachers try to arrange sets for 'next winter? Perhaps the Otago Educational Institute could help. I am sure that organised sets of lectures- would be a great ' success. __ CORRESPONDENCE. Mr Clark, the guard on the Kaitangata train-, ha» promised to get me a lump o£ | the sandstone from Castlehilh It had ' not come, however, on Monday evening. ! I shall ba glad of a piece for mysgrlt, and several lads connected 1 with one of our ( schools are forming little museums of their ., owii and will be -glad of a chip or two also.' The last month was a good one to illus- , trate the difference between an inland and a coastal climate. The data ©ent by Mr j Roberts shows 32deR of frost at Ran- | furly, and Belle's record shows lOdeg at ! Croydon. [What baa become of "Alidk"? And has my Waipahi correspondent disI a.pp3a.rc<dV3 Dunedin, as far aa I j know, there hais. not been more than two 'or three degree* of fro&t. Dr Marshall | j gave, on Tuesday night, some interesting ! figures on temperaturee. While Dunedin i gave aa average of 49deg, Campbell Island gave 44deg; and the- differences, between day And night temperatures wore 13dejr and lOdeg respectively. W/ith us the land temperature is lower than that of the surrounding see; but on Campbell Island it is the same. Mr Roberta gives 46deg of frost for July 17, 1903. Surely that is a record for i New Zealand, isn't it? That, however, is still a few degrees short of what Nan- j sen registered in his " Farthest North," j j for he experienced 80deg of frost! I • have forgotten what the " Farthest South" | j records are. Not far short, I imagine. I "" Croydon, August 4. i Dear " Magister," — I enclose the weather 1 observations fox the month. — I remain, j Bki/iyb Biggab. 1 Average maximum temperatnre, 60.56ueg; maximum temperature, 79deg, on 12t)J. i Average minimum temperature, 80.9deg; ■ minimum temperatuce, 22deg, on sth. Rami fall, a.3osin; highest rainfafi, .68in, on 21fet. ! Kain fell 6s. 20 days, and fiost occurred on 13 nights. ' . . Th« kowhai is now , tv flower m Kelvxn. i'Bush, and. the thrust is louiiding its neat. This is due to a mild wiater and early spiiivg. Raufurly, August 3. DearT " Magister,'' —^Tli« -undermentioned are the meteorological records for the month 1 of July. You will notice that the thermometer reached zero on tho SOth, this "being the , lowest record since July 17, 1903, -when it ! went down to lddeg below zero, or 46deg of ! frost.— Yours truly A. "W. Roberts.-^ j Temperature in screen — Maximum. 4A&ez, 1 on th© 20th; minimum, 2deg, on th» SOth". i Minimum tempera listp on grouad (terrestrial ! radiation). .Ofleg. on "the 30th. Averag* maximum in 6crg«n, 33.12deg; average minimuoi in screen. 50.45deg; average minimum, (terrestrial radiation),, 17.93deg. Number of nights on which frosts occurred, 29 in screen aad 30 on. tha grounds Rainfall, 3.50 in on. II day 3; maximum fall, 1.50 in, on the 7th. Sainfal' io date, 12.19 in on 72 days. * ; r | "What's" yoar verdict?" in a fury I Asked t^j« counsel of the jury i Though 'two* somewhat premature lie Could no more endure ! j "What's our verdict?]' said the foreman ; ] "We've all colds through that door, man ! j Giva us what wo a^ked before, man, ' Woods' Great ' Peppermint Cure."