  We report the results of our investigations on a polycrystalline sample of
Lu$_2$Ir$_3$Si$_5$ which crystallizes in the U$_2$Co$_3$Si$_5$ type structure
(Ibam). These investigations comprise powder X-ray diffraction, magnetic
susceptibility, electrical resistivity and high temperature (120-300 K) heat
capacity studies. Our results reveal that the sample undergoes a
superconducting transition below 3.5 K. It also undergoes a first order phase
transition between 150-250 K as revealed by an upturn in the resistivity, a
diasmagnetic drop in the magnetic susceptibility and a large anomaly (20-30
J/mol K) in the specific heat data. We observe a huge thermal hysteresis of
almost 45 K between the cooling and warming data across this high temperature
transition in all our measurements. Low temperature X-ray diffraction
measurements at 87 K reveals that the compound undergoes a structural change at
the high temperature transition. Resistivity data taken in repeated cooling and
warming cycles indicate that at the high temperature transition, the system
goes into a highly metastable state and successive heating/cooling curves are
found to lie above the previous one and the resistance keeps increasing with
every thermal cycle. The room temperature resistance of a thermaly cycled piece
of the sample decays exponentialy with time with a decay time constant
estimated to be about 10$^4$ secs. The anomaly (upturn) in the resistivity and
the large drop (almost 45%) in the susceptibility across the high temperature
transition suggest that the observed structural change is accompanied or
induced by an electronic transition.

Strongly Correlated Electrons