(Cirsotrema zelebori).

A pure white shell up to 1 in. in height, beautifully ornamented in ladderlike patterns. The empty shell is often washed ashore in great numbers on our ocean beaches.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Curling, which can be likened to bowls on ice, is one of the rarer New Zealand sports. It was introduced from Scotland by gold miners who came to Otago in the early 1860s. During the winters in the interior, which were sometimes severe, sharp and continued spells of frosty weather put a temporary check on mining, but provided ideal conditions for curling. It is possible that improvised stones were used at first, but soon there were genuine curling stones in the Maniototo district, brought in by some enthusiasts. By 1873 three curling clubs were in existence. They were formed in the Naseby, St. Bathans, and Blackstone – Mount Ida – Upper Manuherikia areas. In that year the New Zealand Province became affiliated to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club of Scotland, which still controls the game. Ten years later two more clubs had been formed in Central Otago and in the following seven years another three came into being. There were no new clubs until 1934 when, from that year, the increased number of motor cars and better roads brought curling within the reach of many more people. By 1963 the New Zealand Province incorporated 25 clubs, 23 in Otago and two in Canterbury. Most of the 23 were in the Maniototo Plain, but curling was also played at Idaburn, Oturehua, Alexandra, and Lake Ida (Canterbury).

Each year, if conditions are favourable, there is one bonspiel, as a meeting of the clubs is known, called when the ice is right. It must be thick enough to hold the weight of many players standing close together, and must be smooth. Clubs usually have 10 members, so that two four-man rinks can be entered in the bonspiel. The only equipment needed, apart from warm clothes, are the heavy granite stones which are propelled by hand across the ice, and brooms to sweep a path in front of them. If a stone is to be kept moving, vigorous sweeping melts the ice slightly, thus decreasing the friction enough to achieve the desired result. The circle, into which the stones are slid, is scratched in the ice with a 7 ft slick. The tee, which is in the centre of the circle, need only be a mark on the ice.

Curling stones, imported from Scotland, are carefully shaped and smoothed pieces of granite fitted with a handle which can be changed from top to bottom. The reason for this is that the two sides are prepared differently for varying ice conditions. The stones vary in weight, although an average would be about 25 lb. If they are not broken they will last for generations. By skilful propulsion and the use of the natural imperfections, or bias, in the ice, the stones can be manoeuvred towards the tee and at the same time the other stones avoided. The course of the stone is also influenced by the members of the rink who will sometimes sweep furiously to assist its progress.

Behaviour on the ice, the ethics of the game, and the observance of the rules are governed by a very strict code. Not the least enjoyable part of a bonspiel is the dinner held afterwards. “Beef and greens” are followed by “court” where young curlers are initiated into the more secret and subtle aspects of the sport. As with ice skating, ski-ing, and other winter sports, modern motor transport has made participation in curling much easier than in the past. No longer do curlers have to start out for a bonspiel the day before it is to be held. But the season, because of the conditions required, is short, and this minimises the number of those able to play. Again, a succession of mild winters sees the sport temporarily in abeyance.

by Ross Anthony Waby, Journalist, Dunedin.

Curio Bay Fossil Forest is exposed on the tidal platform and in the sea cliffs at Curio Bay, on the seaward side of South Head, Waikawa Harbour, south-eastern Southland. The geology of the area has been described by Park in 1887 (New Zealand Geological Survey, Reports of Geological Explorations, 1886–7, No. 18, pp. 141–153), and Arber in 1917 described and illustrated the fossil forest (New Zealand Geological Survey Palaeonto-logical Bulletin 6).

The fossilised trees occur in green sandstones, alternating with blue shaly clays containing plant impressions. Silica has replaced the entire woody structure of the trees and rendered them extremely resistant to erosion. Thus they withstand the action of the sea much longer than the surrounding rocks and are exposed in relief by the erosion. In the past, erect tree trunks have been found standing in the face of the sea cliffs, with their entire root systems exposed in the underlying beds. The sandstones are almost flat lying and at low tide form wide shelving ledges over which are strewn many tree stumps and prostrate trunks. On occasion many trunks over 50ft in length have been measured and some have exceeded 100 ft. Fossil wood has been obtained at intervals along the Waikawa coast for some 8 miles and also inland near Waimahaka, indicating that the fossil-forest beds were probably of considerable extent. The blue shaly clays associated with the fossil forest have yielded abundant impressions of fernlike plants, and these have been described by Arber (loc. cit.) and Edwards (Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Ser. 10, Vol. 13, pp. 81–109).

Some of the fossil trees are related to the modern kauri and Norfolk Island pine, and they and the associated plant impressions have been dated as middle Jurassic, about 160 million years old. Plant beds of about the same age occur elsewhere in southeastern Southland and southern Otago – at Mataura Falls, Gore, and Owaka (Catlins).

by Graeme Roy Stevens, M.SC.(N.Z.), PH.D.(CANTAB.), Paleontologist, New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt.

(1849–1916).

Social worker and feminist.

A new biography of Cunnington, Eveline Willett appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Eveline Willett Cunnington was born in Wales on 23 April 1849 the twelfth daughter of Mary (née Willet) and Valentine Leach, a landed proprietor of Denvizes, Wiltshire. She was educated at Queen's College, London, and in 1875 emigrated to New Zealand In 1883, after the death of Cabel Baines, her first husband, she married an engineer, Herbert James Cunnington, of Christchurch, and commenced then her social reform work which lasted till her death. Under the influence of the feminist movement she agitated for the abolition of the Criminal Diseases Act, for the raising of the age of consent for girls, for the women's suffrage, and for the entry of women to Parliament.

Concerning the National Council of Women, which she helped to found in 1896, she advocated particularly the introduction of women police and the right of women to serve as justices and jurors, for which causes she undertook a large amount of letter writing and public speaking. In 1896 she and Eliza Collings of Auckland were appointed the first women prison visitors in New Zealand. A sincere Christian socialist, Eveline Cunnington founded at Christchurch in 1896 the first Fabian society in the country. In regular correspondence with the English Fabian Society she wrote Fabian notes for the Lyttelton Times and contributed socialist articles to the Maoriland Worker till her death. Another large interest in her life was the question of adult education. Early in the 1900s she began holding classes for young adults and encouraged the girls to study seriously a wide variety of subjects. She was the prime mover in the foundation of the Workers' Educational Association in 1915. Eveline Cunnington died at Sumner, Christchurch, on 30 July 1916.

A woman of most forceful personality, Eveline Cunnington wielded considerable influence in the many spheres to which she turned her attention She lived to see the success of much of her work, particularly with regard to the position of women, and the development of adult education. Her influence on the early labour movement of the country. though difficult to assess, need not be considered any less significant.

by Patricia Ann Grimshaw, M.A., Auckland.

• The Press (Christchurch), 31 Jul 1916 (Obit).

(1892–1962).

Plant pathologist.

A new biography of Cunningham, Gordon Herriot appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Gordon Herriot Cunningham was born on 27 August 1892 at Moa Flat, a Central Otago high-country sheep station where his father was manager. After attending local schools he worked on farms both here and in Australia, gaining extensive practical experience in sheep farming, fruitgrowing, and forestry. During the First World War he served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, but was invalided home with wounds received at Gallipoli. Debarred by injuries from further service with the armed forces, he joined the Department of Agriculture as an orchard instructor in 1917 and was transferred the following year to the Department's Biological Laboratory at Weraroa, near Levin, to specialise in plant pathology.

When the Biological Laboratory was moved to Wellington in 1920 Cunningham studied at Victoria University College. During the next eight years, while fulfilling normal duties as plant pathologist, he passed the University Entrance Examinations and gained the degrees of B.Sc. (1924), M.Sc. (1925), and Ph.D. (1927). He also published his first book Fungous Diseases of Fruit Trees in New Zealand (1925), wrote 30 papers on plant pathology, 32 on taxonomic mycology, and initiated an herbarium of New Zealand fungi. In 1924, on the recommendation of Dr E. J. Butler, Director of the Imperial Mycological Institute, London, he represented the Dominion at the First Imperial Mycological Conference.

With a reorganisation of agricultural research in 1928, he was placed in charge of the Mycological Laboratory, Plant Research Station, Palmerston North, where he organised a team of pathologists to work on economic mycology, bacteriology, virology, physiology, and plant protection. At the same time he proceeded with research in systematic mycology and plant pathology. His book The Rust Fungi of New Zealand, for which he was awarded the degree of D.Sc., appeared in 1931, and Plant Protection by the Aid of Therapeutants was published in 1935.

In a further reorganisation of agricultural research in 1936, plant research was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Cunningham becoming Director of the Plant Diseases Division, with headquarters in Auckland. The erection of a modern laboratory with ancillary facilities on the slopes of Mount Albert gave him a long-awaited opportunity of creating a plant protection service adequate to the needs of New Zealand. In addition to organising his Division, he introduced a voluntary plant therapeutant certification scheme and was instrumental in establishing at Levin the Fruit Tree Nursery of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation. He also continued his own research, his book The Gasteromycetes of Australia and New Zealand appearing in 1944.

Following his retirement in 1957 at the age of 65, he studied further the systematics of the Basidiomycetes until his death. In these five years he prepared the manuscripts for books on The Thelephoraceae of Australia and New Zealand and The Polyporaceae of Australia and New Zealand, which were published in 1963 and 1964 respectively.

In addition to his scientific publications, which amounted to 220 papers, including six books, Cunningham wrote the biography of Squadron Leader McGregor – Mac's Memoirs.

His contributions to science were recognised by awards of the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand (1928), Hutton Memorial Medal (1931), Foundation Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (1937), Hector Memorial Medal (1948), the Fellowship of The Royal Society (1950), and Associate of Honour, Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture (1958). In 1937 he received the Coronation Medal and in 1949 his name appeared in the Birthday Honours as a Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E.).

Dr Cunningham was a man of great physical and mental energy. In youth he earned a reputation in boxing and motor cycling. Later he became a keen mountaineer. He was naturally gifted in leading men and his wide experience and keen interest in science and agriculture contributed to his outstanding success as a director of research. He was popular alike with farmers, fruitgrowers, and scientists.

He married Madge Leslie McGregor in 1918. He died at Auckland on 18 July 1962. His wife and a married daughter survived him.

by Edward Edinborough Chamberlain, D.SC., Director, Plant Diseases Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Auckland.

• New Zealand Herald, 19 Jul 1962 (Obit).

The only land birds that migrate regularly to and from New Zealand are two species of cuckoo – the long-tailed cuckoo, Eudynamis taitensis, and the shining cuckoo or pipiwharauroa, Chalcites lucidus. Both winter in island groups to our north, the shining cuckoo spending from about April to August inclusive in the Solomon, Louisiade, and Bismarck Archipelagoes, which lie east of New Guinea and some 2,000 miles from New Zealand.

Shining cuckoos make their landfall along our coasts about September or early October, the date of their arrival in various localities showing some variation from year to year. During the ensuing few weeks they spread throughout the country to as far afield as Stewart Island and the Chathams. Most forested areas are occupied and, after recovering from the stresses of their long journey, the cuckoos breed. Within New Zealand proper the grey warbler is the main species parasitised. On the Chathams, where this species is absent, the Chatham Island warbler is parasitised instead. The single greenish-brown egg is most commonly laid in the nest of the host species' second clutch for the season. After about 12 days of incubation by the warblers the young cuckoo hatches and soon, by purely instinctive behaviour, ejects any warbler eggs or young. Equally instinctively, the adult warblers feed the young cuckoo, which is able to leave the nest when about two weeks old. Other species that are sometimes parasitised are the tomtit, fantail, silvereye, and even the chaffinch and house sparrow.

The return migration of “parent” cuckoos and birds of the year occurs about March, though a number of late-hatched birds “overwinter” in New Zealand.

Pipiwharauroa are small birds which may be identified by their conspicuously cross-barred underparts and bright golden-green upper parts tinged with copper. The song is very characteristic – a long series of double notes increasing in volume, which sounds like someone whistling a dog. This phrase is usually followed by one or more downward slurs and a chirrup.

Cuckoos are insectivorous, eating a number of kinds of caterpillar and other orchard pests.

by Gordon Roy Williams, B.SC.(HONS.)(SYDNEY), Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

(1873–1918).

Medical practitioner.

A new biography of Cruickshank, Margaret Barnet appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Margaret Barnet Cruikshanks was born at Palmerston, Otago, on 1 January 1873, the twin daughter of George Cruikshanks, a contractor, and Elizabeth, née Taggart. She was educated at Palmerston High School, Otago Girls' High School, and Otago University, Dunedin. Dr Cruikshanks was the second woman to graduate in medicine in New Zealand; she obtained the degree of M.D. and C.M. (N.Z.), and had the honour of being the first to go into general practice. She lived at Waimate, South Canterbury, throughout her professional career, which ended during the influenza epidemic on 28 November 1918. The high regard in which she was held is marked by a monument to her memory in Waimate.