The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-19 00:00:00

WEST LONDON LITERARY
INSTITUTION.

A lecture of a- very interesting character was deli-
vered on Friday the 15th instant at the West London
Literary Institution, in aid of its funds, by Dr. Thomas
George Tilley, a gentleman who has already attained
considerable celebrity as a scientific lecturer, more par-
ticularly on subjects connected with chemistry.
" The Chemical Phenomena of Organized Life" was
the subject selected by Dr. Tilley on the present occa-
sion, and the ability with which he handled this in-
teresting topic elicited the warmest expressions of ap-
probation from the auditory. He first briefly described
the state of the ancient world as [shown by the discove-
ries of modern geologists, its fluidity, its high tempera-
rature, and the atmosphere that surrounded it composed
nearly, if not entirely, of carbonic acid, and its unfitness
for the support of animal life. Vegetables of the sim-
plest forms only were able to exist in that primitive
atmosphere, but in life and decay they prepared the soil
and air for the growth of plants of more complicated and
higher orgaeization. These again, in the exercise of
their several functions, decomposed the elements of the
surrounding medium, retained the carbon as their own
food, and sent out the oxygen to prepare for the recep-
tion of the simpler kinds of animals. Man, the latest
and noblest link of this great chain of life, was at last
created into the world so wonderfully prepared for his
reception. The lecturer then described some of the
properties of this vital air, which by such a wise provision,
rejected by vegetables, becomes the support of animal
life, that supports combustion and animal heat. Man takes
carbon in the shape of animal and vegetable food into
his system—during its circulation :in the lungs these
particles of carbon are brought into contact with the
oxygen of the air, and animal heat is generated. Man
is thus enabled to support variety of climates and yet
keep the temperature of his body equable. In great cold
more carbon is required to keep up the animal heat, and
nature has provided for this want by placing in cold
latitudes animals containing much oil and fat for the
food of the inhabitants. Animals again that hybernate
store up in the fat of their bodies carbon to support
warmth and life during the winter. The lecture
then pointed out the causes of the luminosity o

the sea—glow-worm, and fire-fly—change of colour in
the fur add feathers of animals in winter—and greyness
in old age—of contagious diseaseswhich arise from breath-
ing miasmeta in the air following the courses of rivers—
and alluded to the economy of nature which out of the
same elements of matter, though in different proportions,
has made the most nutritious food for man and the most

deadly poisons—the arrangements by which the origina
carbon is converted with nitrogen into food—and thi
establishment of Mattenci's theory concerning the iden
tity of muscular energy and electricity.
. . .

We, are happy to be-ar that Dr. Tilley has kindly ac-
ceded to the request of several gentlemen connected with
this valuable institution, and that he will on Friday next
deliver a second and concluding lecture on the same
interesting topic, at the lecture-room of the institution.

TESTIMONIAL TO THE RIGHT'
HON. EDWARD STRUTT.
Many of our readers are aware that after the unseating
of our late Members it was considered a matter of duty
as well as of feeling, to present to Mr. Strutt some token
of the high regard the great majority of the electors of
Derby felt for his public and private worth, and their ex-
treme regret that the borough should be deprived of those
advantages which she reaped from his Parliamentary
career. Some of Mr. Strutt's supporters suggested
that a handsome pieco of plate should be presented to
him, but the general feeling was in favour of a more cor-
dial manifestation, and it was decided to present him
with a memorial breathing the sentiments of a large ma-
jority of the electors, and reciprocating the feelings dis-
, played in the excellent and warm-hearted address in which
the Right Hon. Gentleman took I, ave of the constituency.
The memorial was prepared and signed by a very con-
siderable majority of the electors, but it was deemed
proper to defer the presentation until after the election,
lest the enemy should impute to the Liberal party an in-
tention of influencing the result of the contest by a public
demonstration in behalf of Mr. Strutt. We are happy to
state that the time is approaching when that demonstra-
tion 'sill be made, and no one can doubt that it will be in
every respect worthy of the occasion.
The written address and signatures will be found in a
volume, accompanied by a duplicate copy, splendidly
printed in pure gold, upon white vellum, with a richly
chased gold and coloured border of suitable design round
each page. The coats armorial of the Strutt family will
be emblazoned in their proper colour, and the Derby
arms also introduced in the border. The copy will be
bound in the most elegant and costly style, with the
armorial bearings finely engraved upon solid silver, and
the whole completed with two silver clasps, richly
chased. and designed for the occasion. As a work of
art we believe it will be superior to anything of the kind
ever executed.
It is proposed to invite Mr. Strutt on some day at the
latter end of this month or the beginning of next, to a
grand banquet, at which the presentation will be made.
Mr. Strutt's late colleague, Mr. Leveson Gower, will also
be invited to the banquet, together with our present re-
presentatives, Mr. Bass and Mr. Heyworth, and the gentry
of the neighbourhood. The people of Derby will show
that though they have been deprived of Mr. Strutt's va-
luable services they have not forgotten them; and that
they still hold, and will continue to hold, him in most
grateful remembrance. We will show, in the words of
the memorial, that though our political connexion be in-
terrupted, our nearer and more personal regards wit
remain strong as ever.—Derby and Chesterfield Reporter