214 Miscellanies. 



principal object of his study, he went, even after taking his degree, 

 to Gottingen, where he continued for two years, devoting his whole 

 attention, under Professor Stromeyer, to that science and the kindred 

 one of mineralogy. He returned to Edinburgh in 1824, and began 

 to lecture on his favorite science. On the foundation of the Uni- 

 versity of London, in 1828, he was appointed Professor of Chemis- 

 try at that Institution, to the success of which, as a medical school 

 especially, by his character, his abilities, his indefatigable exertions 

 as a man of science and as a teacher, his prudence, and the amenity 

 of his manners, he has contributed a very ample share. His class 

 has been large and constantly flourishing; his lectures were remark- 

 able for the simplicity and clearness with which the most apparently 

 complicated principles and facts were expounded, insomuch tlwt he 

 was considered by his pupils a model of an effective teacher. He 

 always maintained and was most successful in showing that a course 

 of instruction in any one department of knowledge may be made 

 a high mental exercise, and the means of invigorating generally the 

 reasoning powers." 



" Dr. Turner's first publication was a small treatise on the Atomic 

 Theory. He was the author of several papers in scientific period- 

 icals, and in the Transactions of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh 

 and London, of both which societies he was a Fellow. 



" If Dr. Turner had not been so much distinguished by his en- 

 larged intelligence, his consummate ability as a teacher and his fame 

 as a chemist, he would have been nevertheless remarkable for his 

 high moral qualities. It was impossible to have passed the shortest 

 time in his society, or even to have " looked in his face," without 

 being struck by the extraordinary amenity and benevolence which 

 were his characteristics. It is a fact well known to those intimately 

 acquainted with him, that his temper never appeared ruffled, and 

 the tranquilizing effect of his mere presence on the angry feelings 

 of others has often been remarkable. 



" Dr. Turner was a member of the established Church of Eng- 

 land, and a strict observer of its ordinances ; but he afforded an ex- 

 ample that sincerity in attachment to its principles is perfectly con- 

 sistent with the toleration, in spirit, as well as in demeanor, of adverse 

 opinions. His particular religious sentiments were never obtruded, 

 and the strength of his feelings on the subject was known only to his 

 family and most intimate friends. 



