The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-13 00:00:00

THE GRESHAM LECTURES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
read with pleasure your remarks, con mined in
your journal of Monday last, under the head of " Mis-
cellaneous," respecting the course of lectures now
delivering in the Gresham College, Basinghall-street,
and am not all surprised at your burst of honest indig-
nation when you designate them as " mere farces ;" but
you should, I think, have gone a little further, and
pointed out the cause. The fact is—that these lectures
are appointed to be delivered at twelve and one o'clock
in the day, the most inconvenient hours that could pos-
sibly have been fixed upon, and it is well known that
scarcely any onesttends, and the lectures, when deli-
vered, are hurried over, in a most monotonous manner,
to empty benches. I repeat when delivered, for should
it happen when the hour arrives that no person is
present, the door is shut, and the noble minded lecturer
calmly walks away, with the lecture unopened in his
pocket, no doubt well pleased in attributing it to the
apathy of the public.
lam really astonished how any man with a spark of
talent or right feeling can satisfy his own mind by going
through such a tame, dull duty, and receiving 1001. a
year for this farce. Ido sincerely hope that the time is
not far distant when these lectures will be made as useful
as they ought to be, and which was evidently the design
of the benevolent founder that they should be.
Now let us for a moment turn t ) the course of lectures
delivered in the same hall by E. Taylor, Esq., the very
talented Gresham professor of music. These are deli-
vered in the evening, and are always well attended, and
the deep interest excited by a numerous and respectable
audience, and the delight manifested by all present, is a
proof, if any were wanting, that if the other lectures
were delivered at the same hour, and the lecturers were
to exert themselves to render them popular, the same
happy effects would follow, and we should no longer have
to lament over well-paid, useless farces, and empty
benches. Do pray, Mr. Editor, aid us in calling atten-
tion to the subject, in order that a better system may
speedily be adopted, and your laudable exertions will be
hailed with delight by a grateful public, and none more
so than, Sir, your most obedient servant,
9, Billiter-street, Nov. 7, 1844. A CITIZEN.
[This letter, from some accident, had been mislaid for
some days.]

NERVOUS DEAFNESS.—TREATMENT OF THE TON-
SILS AND UVULA.—How come the tonsils to be swollen?
How comes the uvula to be elongated and tumefied ?
That such consequences occasionally arise from disease
itself, independently of any foreign agent, I am willing
to admit, but that they more frequently arise from im-
proper interference, I equally maintain and assert. But
what is the treatment adopted under such circumstances?
Snipping off the uvula, as a fungus from a fir tree, and
extirpating the tonsils, as if Nature ordained these parts
as a useless burden to the system, of no other utility
than to display a surgical dexterity in the mutilation of
some of the most important parts of our frame. Such
unfortunate instances have come under my notice, nor
have the sufferers been in the least benefited, but, on
the contrary, to their original deafness, more inveterate
than ever, have been added numerous other inconve-
niences, extremely distressing and annoying to the
patient. As an instance, I may adduce the case
of a gentleman who, suffering from nervous deaf-
ness, applied to an aurist. The examination of the
fauces showed that the uvula was relaxed, and hung doe n
pendulous, resting upon the tongue. The tonsils were
slightly swollen. There was a sort of erysipelatous
swelling of the fauces, indicating a considerable degree
of irritation, apparently caused by great. derangement of
el.easT'inhge
the digestive functions. The first thing done in this.
15)o uthe
e xiliSitaetnec,
swcasarcetloy santirpacoefftothinediuc
consequences were extremely unfortunate; an indolent
vautelaitsclopsreevt
erysipelatious inflammation was converted into
. an active
were ar-
rested with very great difficulty. The effects, however,
one ; ulceration and sloughing followed, which
were extended to the air passages, and the unfortunate
patient now suffers from habitual bronchitis, at times
assuming all the appearance of pulmonary consumption.
to the great terror of himself and all his family, The
melancholy termination of this gentleman's history
ought to act as a caution.—From Dr. Clo7till'S (Craven-
street, Strand) Treatise on Arnica Montana, in the Cure
of Nervous Deafness and Palpitation of the Heart.
NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE—The beautiful and
elaborate Mosaic pavement which was destined to adorn
the merchants' area of this building, is to be immediately
removed, owing to many parts of it having broken up,
through the -injudicious use of a water cement, in which
the pieces were embedded. It has been determined by
the Gresham Committee to pave the entire surface with
Seyssel Asphalte, a decision that must give satisfaction
to those merchants engaged upon 'Change, frem the fact
of this material being a non-absorbent, and soon becom-
ing dry after a shower of rain. This property, for such
a situation, combined with an oven and agreeable sui face
to walk upon, may be regarded as a boon to the mer-
chants during the winter season, advantages which, no
doubt, induced the Committee to adopt it in preference
to stone. It is to be hoped, that some powerful cement
may yet be found to render the Mosaic pieces available
—they would look exceedingly well round the Welling-
ton statue, in front of the Exchange.