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•;>/S^»:^^*' 
 
 RATIONAL 
 
 
 1ft 
 
 TRAINING 
 
 BY B. F. AUSTIN, B.A., B.D. 
 
 Ex-Principal of Alma College. 
 
 tU r-tJ iiJ 
 
 
 "Tliu <l»'l'('('| of most iiK'tliods wliich havo boon doviscd and oni- 
 ployod for iniiJi-ovin^' tlic nioniory lies in the fact, that wliilo they 
 Hcrve to iuiproKs particiilap subjects on the mind, thoy do not rondor 
 tho nieinoi-y, as a uiiolo, ready or rolontive." Du. ]\l. (iitANViM,K. 
 
 
 fcja rj* h^i *J« 
 
 ■ ,,, -v: 
 
 I.;;'".'-' 
 
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 THE AUSTIN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED, 
 TORONtb, CANADA, 
 
TP 
 
 pp^^^^^^wrwfw^w"^^ 
 
RATIONAL 
 
 .0. 
 
 MEMORY TRAINING 
 
 11 
 
 A SKRIKS 0\- ARTICLKS ON 
 
 Memory, its Practical Value, its Phenomenal 
 
 Powers, its Physiological Basis, the Laws 
 
 which Govern it, the Methods of 
 
 Improving it. 
 
 Attention, Association and Arrangement of 
 
 Ideas, Causes of Defective Memory, 
 
 Mnemonics, their Use and 
 
 Abuse, etc., etc., 
 
 WITH 
 
 Hints and Helps in memorizing Figures, Lists 
 
 OF Words, Prose and Poetic Literature, 
 
 New Languages, etc. 
 
 BV 
 
 B. F. AUSTIN, A.M., B.D., 
 
 EX-PRINCIPAL OF ALMA LADIES' COLLEGE, ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO. 
 
 \ S ^ -\ 
 
 i 
 k 
 
 Hi t 
 
^' 
 
 Rnlcyed occord'uig to Act of Parliameni of Canada, hi the 
 year iSg^, by B. F. Austin, at the Department of 
 Agriculture. 
 
 n 
 
 
 \ \ 
 
 \ 1^4- 
 
 '> 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 L-*- 
 
M 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 n 
 
 From the earliest times philosophers and edu- 
 cators have been impressed with the importance 
 and value of a retentive and responsive memory. 
 Since the time of Simonides numerous systems of 
 Memory Training have been presented to the 
 public. Most of these have been based on purely 
 artificial associations of ideas and have proved 
 valueless so far as any real development of mem- 
 ory is concerned. In many cases, it is to be 
 feared, by diverting attention from the only 
 rational method of Memory Training, viz. : — dai'(y 
 exercise of the ineuiory under the right physical 
 and psycJiieal conditions— \\\Q.y have proved injuri- 
 ous mental crutches. What the authors of some 
 of tiiese much-vaunted systems have lacked in 
 knowledge of Memory itself, and of the physical 
 and mental conditions that modify its operations, 
 they have made up in loud assertions of important 
 ''discoveries" and large promises of wonderful 
 results to those who purchase their mental nos- 
 trums. 
 
 The association of ideas, under one name or 
 another, is the principle underlying all these mem- 
 ory systems, and this was fully expounded by 
 y\ristotle. The "discoveries" amount to but 
 little more than the finding of new names for old 
 principles, and the erection of new and often 
 fantastic structures on an old foundation. 
 
m 
 
 \n one respect we have in this day a decided 
 advantage over the early philosophers who wrote 
 upon the subject. The progress of physiological 
 research has shown us to-day the intimate rela- 
 tions between all mental operations and certain 
 modifications of the brain and nerves, and thus 
 the physical conditions upon which the retentive 
 and reproductive powers of the mind depend, are 
 now much better known than in the earlier times. 
 
 In the following articles no attempt is made to 
 develop a system of Memory Training. The value 
 and importance of good memory is set forth, some 
 account of phenomenal memories is given and 
 some of the physiological conditions of memory 
 stated. The aim has been to discover, as far as 
 possible, the laws that govern the reproduction of 
 ideas, and especial emphasis has been placed upon 
 
 ATTENTION, ARRANGEMENT AND NATURAL ASSOCIA- 
 TION of ideas as aids to recollection. The import- 
 ance of DAILY EXERCISE of the memory, as the 
 RATIONAL METHOD of strengthening it, is urged 
 upon the student. 
 
 The value of mnemonics in memorizing certain 
 subjects is admitted, but the power of these 
 mnemonic systems to strengthen the memory is 
 denied. Hints and helps are given as to the best 
 methods of memorizing word lists, figures, prose 
 and poetic literature and new languages — the 
 substance of talks given to my classes in Alma 
 College. 
 
 The aim has been, in short, to start the student 
 
m 
 
 intellig"ently along' the path of rational memory 
 training" fully impressed with the thought that 
 books, teachers and memory systems can do but 
 little for him; in fact, can only teach him to help 
 
 HIMSELF, but that PERSISTENT AND REGULAR USE 
 OF HIS MEMORY, UNDER RIGHT CONDITIONS, WILL 
 INCREASE HIS TWO TALENTS TO FOUR. 
 
 i 
 
Ri 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 MEMORY. 
 
 " He that shortens the road to knowledge lengthens life. " 
 
 — Lacon. 
 
 "t^MilEMORY is one of the richest gifts of the 
 ^Jt^ great Creator to mankind. Kant pro- 
 i\ounces it the most wonderful of the 
 faculties. Without it, man becomes an imbecile, 
 life is robbed of many of its richest joys, and 
 improvement and progress are impossible. With 
 it, we live over again the joys and sorrows, suc- 
 cesses and defeats of the past, and these remem- 
 bered experiences become guide-boards or gleam- 
 ing danger-signals for future conduct. Memory 
 thus retains for us the seeds of wisdom gathered 
 by life's wayside. He who forgets profits little by 
 his past life. Like the sieve he receives much 
 and retains nothing. 
 
 To those who live in accordance with wisdom 
 and virtue, memory becomes a fruit- 
 ful source of delight as life ad- Memory a 
 
 T, 11 ^1 • -4- fruitful 
 
 vances. It recalls the joyous mter- _ ^ 
 
 course of past days, the innocent Pleasure, 
 pleasures of childhood, the perform- 
 ance of virtuous deed*;, and the reception of acts 
 
s 
 
 :\IEMOKY. 
 
 of kindness from otlicrs — making the past life one 
 long- gallery of pleasant pictures. 
 
 It is true it recalls the sorrowful experiences of 
 life also, but these have lost their bitterness, and 
 to every cloud in Memory's horizon there is the 
 silver lining o'i succeeding joy. Often in the midst 
 of present sorrow, memory flashes the golden rays 
 of the delightful experience of past days upon us. 
 Who, in the midst of trouble, has not received at 
 least temporary relief by viewing the pictures 
 memory has presented to the mind — bright hours, 
 when happiness reigned in heart and home; fair 
 days, when love was his companion; glad mo- 
 ments, when life was rich with joy? 
 
 To those whose lives violate the laws of moral- 
 ity and virtue, memory must become a source of 
 suffering. And no sulTering in the short span of 
 our mortal lives, is more acute than the memory 
 of our own acts which have violated conscience 
 and the laws of God. If the functions of memory 
 continue in the life to come — and without memory 
 there can be no conscious identity — it seems inevi- 
 table that it shall become a source of joy to the 
 virtuous and a fountain o[' bitter waters to the 
 wicked. 
 
 As a general rule the remembrance oi' past 
 pleasures is pleasant, and, as has been said, " he 
 who imparts an hour's real enjoyment to another, 
 increases the sum o[' his happiness while the 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAIXIXG. 
 
 memory of it lasts." Sidney Smith declares: "If 
 you make children happy now, you make them 
 happy twenty years hence by the memory of it." 
 
 Metaphysicians have given a great variety of 
 definitions to the memory. Dr. Reid in his work 
 on "The Human Mind," reviews 
 not only the theories of the ancient Views of 
 Platonists and Peripatetics, but also Philosophers 
 the more modern theories of Locke, and Poets. 
 Hume, and other philosophers, and 
 after exposing their falacies, sums up in these 
 words: " Thus, where philosophers have piled one 
 supposition on another, as the giants piled the 
 mountains in order to scale the heavens, it is all 
 to no purpose — memory remains unaccountable, 
 and we know as little how we remember things 
 past as how we are conscious of "hose present." 
 
 Cicero likens the memory to a treasury, in 
 which is stored up acquired knowledge to be used 
 when occasion demands. Plato likens it to a tab- 
 let on which acquired knowledge is engraved. 
 Locke says: " Memory is the power to revive 
 again in our minds those ideas which, after im- 
 printing, have disappeared, or have been laid 
 aside out of sight." Addison says of memory: 
 " It is like those repositories oi' animals that are 
 filled with stores o\' iood, on which they may 
 ruminate when tlioir present pasture fails." Dr. 
 Walsh savs: " Memorv hath no special pai't of 
 
mm 
 
 lO 
 
 MEMORY. 
 
 the brain devoted to its own service, but uses all 
 those parts which subserve our sensations, as well 
 as our thinkini^ powers." Glanvill says: ''Things 
 are reserved in the memory by some corporeal 
 cxuvia: and material images which, having im- 
 pinged on the common sense, rebound thence into 
 some vacant cells of the brain." Gassendi com- 
 pares memory to linen or paper folded up, con- 
 taining carefully within its folds the truths which 
 are wrapped up for future use. 
 
 Memory is defined as the power or capacity of 
 having what was once present to the senses or the 
 understanding suggested again to the mind, 
 accompanied by a distinct consciousness of its 
 past existence. When we come in a subsequent 
 chapter to discuss the laws which govern memory 
 we shall see, that in place of a single function of 
 the mind, memory really includes several mental 
 activities and these require separate education and 
 training if we would have a strong and service- 
 ble memory. 
 
 Plutarch calls memory "the larder of the soul 
 from which it takes its \'ood and sustenance." 
 John Locke styles it *'the storehouse of our 
 ideas," and Robert Hall, " the master of the rolls 
 of the soul," while Seneca declares " a man with- 
 out memory is a madman or an idiot." Lord 
 Tennyson, in one of his beautiful odes thus glori- 
 fies memorv : 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. II 
 
 " Thou who stealesl fire 
 j From the fountains of the past 
 
 [ To j^lorify the present; O haste ! 
 
 Visit my low desire. 
 , Strengthen me ! EnHghten me ! 
 
 I faint in this obscurity, 
 Thou dewy dawn of memory." 
 
 Among- the Greeks, memory was a goddess to 
 
 be revered and worshipped, under the name 
 
 I jNInemosyne. She was represented as the daugh- 
 
 I ter of heaven and earth, and the mother of the 
 
 ! nine Muses who presided over Hterature, music 
 
 and art. In this they recognized the fact that for 
 
 all progress in knowledge and art mankind was 
 
 ; indebted to memory. 
 
 ! Dr. Watts, speaking of memory, in his work 
 
 " On the Improvement of the Mind," observes: 
 " All the other relations of the mind borrow from 
 hence their beauty and perfection, for other capa- 
 cities of the soul are almost useless without this. 
 To what purpose are all our labors in wisdom and 
 knowledge, if we want memory to preserve and 
 use what we have acquired? What signify all 
 other intellectual or spiritual improvements, if they 
 are lost as soon as they are obtained? It is 
 memory alone that enriches the mind by preserv- 
 ing what our labor and industry daily collect. . . 
 Without memory, the soul would be but a poor, 
 deslitiile, naked being, with an everlasting blank 
 spread over it, except the fleeting ideas of the 
 present moment." 
 
12 
 
 ^MEMORY 
 
 May be 
 
 improved or 
 
 injured. 
 
 Like all other powers of the human mind the 
 memory is capable of vast improvement. Its 
 capacit}^ is, in truth, unlimited. By 
 rational methods, it may be strength- 
 ened and rendered more serviceable 
 to its possessor, and by lack of 
 attention to the laws which govern 
 this faculty, as well as by irrational methods of 
 memory training, it may be weakened and ren- 
 dered comparatively useless. Wliilo, everyone 
 admits the value of a strong and active memory, 
 it is doubtless a fact that the best period of life 
 for memory culture is allowed to pass without any 
 systematic efforts at strengthening this important 
 faculty. Parents and teachers, by a little daily 
 attention to rational memory training, could con- 
 fer untold advantages on the youth committed to 
 their care. So far from giving proper attention 
 to this subject, the methods adopted in many 
 schools directly tend to the injury of 
 this faculty. We need hardly refer 
 to the cramming process which over- 
 burdens the memory, the " learning 
 by rote," which often developes sen- 
 sational to the neglect of intellectual memory and 
 the failure of teachers to instruct their pupils in 
 the important work oi' systematic arrangement of 
 the facts acc^uired. 
 
 It is of the highest importance that the general 
 principles upon which memory works should be 
 
 How 
 Memory is 
 weakened. 
 
RATIOICAL .MEMORY TRAINL\(.. 1 3 
 
 well understood by parents and teachers, and that 
 
 the youth who are committed to 
 
 their care should be taught to The True 
 
 absence careful h whatever thev would ,,r^ ^ 
 
 ^ •' Memory 
 
 memorize, thoyoiiglily understand Trainini?. 
 
 every lesson, arrange meihodically 
 
 their knowledge, and frequently reproduce the 
 
 same. All rational memory training must rest 
 
 upon these four principles. 
 
 Is Memory Eternal? 
 
 Sir William Hamilton and some other philo- 
 sophical writers are of the opinion that what has 
 once been apprehended by the mind is never 
 utterly lost. Not that we all fully remember 
 everything that we once knew so as to be able to 
 recall at will our previously acquired knowledge, 
 but that it still somewhere remains engraven upon 
 the tablets of the brain. On the contrary, Locke 
 says: *' Ideas quickly fade after vanishing quite 
 out of the understanding, leaving no more foot- 
 steps or remaining characters of themselves than 
 shadows do in flying over a iield of corn." The 
 opinion of Thackeray is different. He says: "It 
 is an old saying that we forget nothing, as people 
 in a fever suddenly begin to talk the language of 
 their infancy; we are stricken by memory some- 
 times, and old affections rush back on us as vivid 
 as in the time when they were our daily talk; 
 when their presence gladdened our eyes; when, 
 
H 
 
 MEMORY. 
 
 with passionate tears and g'rief, we flung ourselves 
 upon their hopeless corpses. Parting is death — 
 at least as far as life is concerned. Passion comes 
 to an end: it is carried off in a coffin, or weeping 
 in a post-chaise; it drops out of life one way or 
 the other, and the earth-clods close over it and we 
 see it no more. But it has been part of our souls 
 and is eternal." 
 
 Hail ! Memory, liail ! in ih}' exhaustles.s mine, 
 From age to age unnumbered treasures shine ! 
 Thought and her shadowy brood, thy call obey, 
 And place and time are subject to thy sway. 
 
 Lulled in the countless chambers of the brain 
 Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; 
 Awake but one, and lo ! what myriads arise, 
 Each stamps his image as the other flies ! 
 
 Sweet Memory ! wafted by thy gentle gale 
 Oft up the stream of Time I've turned my sail ! 
 To view the fairy haunts of long-lost hours, 
 Blest with far gr ^ner shade, far fairer flowers. 
 
 — Rogers. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF A GOOD 
 MEMORY. 
 
 '* A well-cultivated memory means an intelligent manhood 
 and an active old age. He who remembers most, 
 thinks most, for he has the most to think with." 
 
 — CiiAS. G. Leland. 
 
 Few people are as deeply impressed as they 
 should be, with the practical value of a good 
 memory. Most persons look upon it as a desira- 
 ble possession, but esteem it rather a luxury than 
 a necessity- The fact is, a strong- and active 
 memory is one of the most powerful factors of 
 success in life. In business, in society, in profes- 
 sional life, in literary pursuits, a good memory is 
 in constant requisition, and contrib- 
 utes very largely to success. An A good 
 active and retentive memory adds Memory is a 
 
 very largely to the enjoyment of life. power u 
 
 J , . Factor in a 
 
 It makes its possessor a better and successful 
 
 more instructive conversationalist. Life. 
 
 more successful in all pursuits that 
 
 involve intercourse with one's fellowmen, and, if 
 
 the lessons of the past are improved upon, wiser 
 
 and nobler in character. 
 
 A good memory saves its owner from a multi- 
 
i6 
 
 AIEMORV. 
 
 tude of jiiinoyiuj^'- and troublesome experiences 
 that fall Lo the lot ol' fori^-etful people. Not lono- 
 since a mniister, an acquaintance o( the writer, 
 had two eng-ai^-ements to preach, one on a certain 
 
 Sunday in E , and one on the following 
 
 Sunday in G . Trusting to his memory, 
 
 which was a treacherous one, he found, on arriv- 
 ing late Saturday evening in G , that his 
 
 appointment was at E , Sitting down, he 
 
 telegraphed his wife, a very sensible and matter- 
 of-fact lady: " Am in G , should be in 
 
 E ; what shall I do?" To which, as fast 
 
 as the electric current would carry it, she sent the 
 following sensible reply: "Go to bed." 
 
 Nov/, as the above is only a fair illustration of 
 a multitude of annoying experiences and disad- 
 vantages, which are constantly befalling persons 
 of bad memory, it may be worth while to analyze 
 the incident, and classify the results that sprang 
 from it. The first result, then, was the disap- 
 pointment of his audience, to which 
 we must add his own and that of his 
 good wife. The second result was 
 undoubtedly a feeling of mortifica- 
 tion over a failure, from which the 
 exercise of an active memory u-ould have saved 
 him. The third result was financial loss, tele- 
 grams, railroad fare and incidentals. The fourth 
 result was loss of time — the trip having to be 
 repeated at a later date. Here then, we have a 
 
 Losses 
 
 from Sluggish 
 
 Memory, 
 
 I 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAIXING. 
 
 summary — disappointment, mortification, finan- 
 cial loss, and loss of time, all directly traceable to 
 a single lapse of memory, and from all of which a 
 trusty memory would have saved him. 
 
 A good memory then is strongly to be desired, 
 that it may save us from adding needlessly to life's 
 disappointments. Throughout life's career many 
 engagements must be met, many duties discharged, 
 many labors transacted, the proper performance 
 of which requires an alert memory, one that an- 
 swers instantly and correctly the demands ot the 
 hour. If our memories respond to the occasion, 
 and act the part of faithful monitors, life proceeds 
 with satisfaction and success. If, on the other 
 hand, memory, like banks which refuse to pay on 
 demand and requre thirty days' notice, fails to 
 present lo the consciousness at the right time and 
 place the ideas appropriate to the occasion, the 
 result is dissappointment of ourselvers and others. 
 
 A second reason why all, especially young 
 people, should desire and seek after a good 
 memory, is that they may escape those constant 
 mortifications which come to those who are troubled 
 with lapse of memory. 
 
 Can anything be more perplexing to the individ- 
 ual who desires the good opinion of his friends, 
 and to appear to good advantage in society, than 
 those failures of memory to recall the name and 
 address of parties to whom he has been introduced? 
 
i8 
 
 MEMORY. 
 
 An Active 
 Memory- 
 contributes 
 to Social 
 Success. 
 
 Or, should the numc be recalled, how annoying 
 to have forg-otten the address, or the place where 
 the acquaintanceship was forined. Doubtless 
 this single prank of bad memory produces as many 
 petty annoj^ances as any other one cause. On the 
 other hand, how smooth is the course to popular 
 favor of the individual who remembers promptly 
 names, faces, the whims and pre- 
 judices, the likes and dislikes of those 
 he meets, as well as the right thing 
 to do and the right thing to say to 
 each. Oftentimes, a person whose 
 memory fails to recall the name and locality of a 
 friend whom he had met, will seek to disguise the 
 fact, and strive to attain by subterfuge what an 
 active memory should have furnished on the spot. 
 
 A man who was thus attempting to find out the 
 name of a friend whom he had met, said to him : 
 ♦'I believe I have forgotten how to spell your 
 name." The friend, a very irascible man who at 
 once perceived the trick, shouted in thunder tones, 
 "J - O - N - E - S." 
 
 It is needless to enlarge upon this point as the 
 mind of every reader will recall illustrations of a 
 similiar character, from his own experiences or 
 that of his friends. 
 
 Another strong reason for desiring an active 
 memory is found in the fact that it saves its pos- 
 sessor from financial losses which alwavs result 
 
 i 
 
RATIONAL MEMOKV TKAIXING. 1 9 
 
 from deiicient memory. A good memory is 
 equivalent to a £food inv^cstment yieldinj^ its 
 owner certain cash dividends. Jf the testimonies 
 of business men who are victims of bad memory 
 were collected, it would be found there is a larg-e 
 annual loss to be credited to this cause alone. In 
 the neglect to meet engagements promptly, to 
 attend to certain details of business where delav 
 means loss, to take advantag^e oi' opportunities at 
 the favorable moment, all of which result largely 
 from deficier.t memory power, business men lose 
 large sums annually. How many men irom lack 
 of proper tliought, resulting from slug-gish 
 memory, have to take tVvO journeys where one 
 should have been sufficient, to write two letters or 
 send two telegrams, or two express parcels, where 
 one should have aiiswered, and, in numberless 
 other ways are often put to loss. 
 
 A good memory is a great time saver. Not 
 only does it save the time and vexation so many 
 experience in ''cudgelling their brains" for facts 
 and ideas which should be ever at hand, but it 
 enables its owner to perform nearly all the activi- 
 ties of life more expeditiously, accurately and 
 successfully. It saves needless effort. It econo- 
 mizes human energy. By saving from needless 
 disappointment, vexation and effort, it, in effect, 
 lengthens life. 
 
 A good memory is a necessary handmaid to a 
 
 i 
 
20 
 
 ME.MOKV. 
 
 sound intellig"once. It furnishes the reilectivo 
 powers with the materials oi i<no\vledij;-e. Bias 
 dechu-es: "Memory is the mother of wisdom ; for 
 what is wisdom without memory, but a babe tliat 
 is strani^lcd in its birth." 
 
 Todd, in the Students' Manual, says: "Me who 
 has a memory that can seize with an iron ^'•rasp 
 and retain what he reads (the ideas, simply, with- 
 out the lang-uage), and judg-ment to compare and 
 balance, will scarcely fail of bein"f distinguished. 
 Many are afraid of strenjz-theninir 
 the memory, lest it should destroy 
 their inducement and power to ori- 
 ginate ideas— lest their lig-ht should 
 be altogether borrowed light. The 
 danger does not seem to me to be very "-reat. 
 especially since I have noticed that //wsc ivlio arc 
 so Jen rf III of cmployiiiir this faculty are by no means 
 to he envied for their originality."' 
 
 Students at school or college are often deeply 
 impressed with the value of a good memory, as 
 every step of their progress from the lowest forms 
 to the highest classes, is determined by the cor- 
 rectness and alertness of their memories. 
 
 A Good 
 Memory ne- 
 cessary to 
 the highest 
 Intelligence. 
 
 It is to be regretted that teachers do not take 
 advantage of this impression, and adopt systema- 
 tic efforts to strengthen, in a rational and safe 
 way, the retentive and recollective powers of Ineir 
 students. It see s strange, too, that those wlm 
 
RATIONAL MEMORV TRAINTXO. 2 1 
 
 have been deeply impressed by the examinations 
 ot' their college course with the practical value of 
 a g-ood memorv, should not discover on leavin"- 
 school that all life is an examination, and that a 
 g-ood memory is as necessary to pass with 
 "honors" this examination as it is to the collcL'-e 
 boy going- up for his *' final." 
 
 All persons are ready to admit the g-reat value 
 of good judg-ment, and by some, the memory and 
 judgment have been looked upon, as, in a mea- 
 sure, antagronistic, so that the same person is not 
 supposed to have a g-ood judgment and a great 
 memory. And yet it has been said by others that 
 "soundness of judgment, without a fair develop- 
 ment of memory, is impossible." Wayland de- 
 clares: "The mistake on this subject has pro- 
 bably arisen from two misconceptions. In the 
 iirst place, a cultivated and disciplined memory 
 has been confounded with a miscellaneous and 
 unclassified collection of facts. In the second 
 place, the abuse of memory has been confounded 
 with the use of it. Dugald Stewart, in his "Ele- 
 ments of the Philosophy of the Human Mind," 
 says, "It is commonly supposed that genius is 
 seldom united with a very tenacious memory. .So 
 far, however, as my observation has reached, I 
 can scarcely recollect one person who possesses 
 the former qualities, without a more than ordin- 
 ary share of the latter." There can be no doubt 
 
22 
 
 MEMOR'S' 
 
 that a retentive and active memory is one of the 
 first requisites to clear and correct judg'ment. 
 The great men of al! ages, in arms, in art, in 
 letters, have been, almost without exception, men 
 of more than average power of memory. 
 
 Sir Francis Bacon had a great memory. He 
 rarely had need to refer to a book once read. 
 I'eter Boener says: " He only ordered his chap- 
 lain or me to look in such an author for a certain 
 place. Ben Johnson, Descartes, Leibnitz, Pascal, 
 the Scaligers, Grotius, Kuler, Nieubuhr, Mackin- 
 tosh, Dugald Stewart, Hamilton and Dean 
 Mansel, all men remarkable in the 
 
 The great domain of speculative thought, had 
 
 roets, Philos- uncommonly fine memories. An 
 
 ophers and ,, , , , ,. ^ ,. .. 
 
 f^\ , equalb^ notable list or lamous men 
 
 Orators have , 
 
 •^reat Memo- '^^ action — of famous men of intel- 
 rics. lect in any domain of life — could be 
 
 readily made. Great orators and 
 writers are far more indebted to their power to 
 retain and reproduce freely upon occasion what 
 they have once learned, than to their originality 
 and clearness of apprehension." 
 
 In all the higher productions oi human genius, 
 in poetry, the fine arts and philosophy, memory is 
 of untold advantage. Dr. Thomas Brown de- 
 clares: " The richer the memory, and conse- 
 quently the greater tne number of images that 
 may arise to the poet, and oi powers and effects 
 that may arise to the philosopher, the more copi- 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 21, 
 
 OLis in both cases will be the suggfestions of anal- 
 ogy which constitute poetic invention or philo- 
 sophic discovery, and the more copious the 
 suggestions of analogy may be, the richer and 
 more diversified, it is evident, must be the inven- 
 tive power of the mind." Prof. S ott declares 
 that " if we examine the endowment of men of 
 genius and those famed for intellectual exertions, 
 we shall find that a retentive and capacious mem- 
 ory fanned the basis upon which their fame was 
 reared." 
 
 For practical purposes, our knowledge and past 
 experience are valuable to us just in proportion as 
 memory retains them and furnishes us with them 
 on demand. He who knows a great many things 
 and has had very valuable experience, is practi- 
 cally in the position of the man who knows little 
 and has had but little experience, unless his mem- 
 ory serves him promptly and well. The maxim 
 of the old scholars was that so often repeated by 
 Casauban — Tantum qiiisque scit quantum memoria 
 tenet: Every man knows just what he remembers. 
 
 In 1555, Gulielmus Gratarolus published a work 
 on the art of memory, and in 1562 William Ful- 
 wood published an edition of it " Englyshed," 
 under the title of " The Castel of Memorie." In 
 the dedication and preface, Fulwood drops into 
 poetry. We quote one stanza: 
 
24 
 
 -MF.MORY. 
 
 " For what helps il y^'ood liookos to road or nohio stories 
 
 larg-e: 
 r£xc'opte a perfecto memorio do lake (hereof the charge? 
 \Miat profits it most wortliie thing- to see or else to heare, 
 If that same thing- conies in at one and out of the other 
 
 earc : 
 
 'J 
 
CIIAPTEU III. 
 
 PHENOMENAL MEMORIES. 
 
 " The iinpor(,iiu-e o\' cultivating- a faculty thai plavs such 
 an essential pari in cwv mental progress can scarcely 
 be exaL^-.u'erated."- Du. Watts. 
 
 Nature shows her accustomed partiality in the 
 bestowal of the powers of memory. Some few- 
 have really g-reat memories, others feeble memo- 
 ries, while most men have good native powers in 
 this reg-ard. But, as in the case of the talents, 
 five gained other five, and two, other two, when 
 employed, and the one talent hid, remained one 
 talent, so the native powers of memory mav, by 
 exercise and training, be increased even many 
 fold. The main differences between men, so far 
 as the practical value if memory is concerned, 
 depends much more on the way in which they 
 have developed their ir, M'ies, than upon the 
 greatness ot their natura. owers. 
 
 In this chapter, we direct attention to certain 
 persons of ancient and others of modern times, 
 who were doubtless endowed with more than 
 average powers of memory, and whose training 
 had fortunately been favorable to its higher devel- 
 opment. It may be that none of our readers will 
 ever possess similar powers to those about to be 
 
 
26 
 
 PHENOMENAL MEMORIES. 
 
 recounted, yet the recital may serve to show the 
 truth of a statement ah'eady made: that there is 
 really no limit to the development of memory. A 
 this be true, it should encourage everyone, how- 
 ever moderate his native powers of memory, to 
 persist in regular and systematic efforts for the 
 strengthening of this faculty. 
 
 Lord Macaulay had a phenomenally powerful 
 memory. When only three or four years of age 
 he took in whole pages of what he read. His 
 mind at that time would seem to have mechani- 
 cally retained the form of what he read. His 
 maid said he "talked printed 
 words." Once, when a child, when 
 making an afternoon call w^ith his 
 father, he picked up Scott's "Lay 
 of the Last iMinstrel," for the first 
 time. While his seniors were con- 
 versing he quietly devoured the treasure. When 
 they returned home the boy went to his mother, 
 who, at the time was confined to her bed, and, 
 seating himself beside her, repeated what he had 
 read by the canto, until she was tired. In after 
 life, one day at a board meeting at the British 
 Museum, Macaulay wrote down from memory, in 
 three parallel columns on each side o( four pages 
 of foolscap, a complete list of the Cambridge 
 senior wranglers with dates and Colleq-es at- 
 tached, for the loo years during which a record 
 
 Lord 
 
 Macaulay, 
 
 Magliabechi, 
 
 Jedediah 
 
 Buxton, 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 27 
 
 of the names had been kept in the university cal- 
 endar. Many other examples of this kind, show- 
 ing" Macaulay's wonderful memory, might be 
 presented; he once said, if all existing copies of 
 " Paradise Lost " and " Pilg-rim's Progress " were 
 destroyed, he could restore them from memory. 
 
 Magliabechi, court librarian at Florence, was 
 the literary prodigy of his times. He had cram- 
 med into his head the contents of an immense 
 library. He could, upon demand, not only sup- 
 ply any quotation desired, but was also able to 
 give page and paragraph. He at last became 
 regardless of all social and sanitary rules and 
 almost rotted amid a confused heap of books. 
 
 Jedediah Buxton, who died in 1774, possessed 
 a remarkable memory. Although a schoolmaster, 
 he was so illiterate he could scarcely scrawl his 
 own name. On one occasion he mentioned the 
 quantity of ale he had drunk since he was twelve 
 years old, and the names of the gentlemen who 
 had given it to him. The whole amounted, he 
 said, to five thousand one hundred and sixteen 
 pints, or *' winds," as he termed them, because, 
 like the toper Bassus, he emptied his jug at one 
 draught. Although he had received very little 
 instruction in arithmetic, and had never been 
 assisted in his youth beyond learning the multi- 
 plication table, yet, without the aid of pen or 
 pencil, he could multiply five or six figures by so 
 
28 
 
 PHKXOMEXAI. MEMORIKh. 
 
 many, and in a much shorter time than it could 
 be done by the most expert arithmetician. The 
 product of the sum, which in his memory he had 
 worked out, he would repeat, if it were required, 
 a month afterward. He could, moreover, leave 
 oft' the operation, and, without the sli_^htest error, 
 resume it at the end of a week or a month, or 
 even after several months. 
 
 Dr. Abernethy had a singularly retentive mem- 
 ory. One day he invited a company of friends 
 to do honor to his wife's birthday, when one of 
 the guests of a poetical turn of mind, composed 
 some verses complimentary to Mrs. Abernethy. 
 The doctor listened attentively to the reading of 
 them, and then exclaimed, *' Come, that is a good 
 joke, to attempt to pass off" those verses as your 
 own composition, I know them by heart." All 
 were mute with astonishment, while Dr. Aber- 
 nethy recited the verses without a single error. 
 The "poet" was completely amazed, mystified 
 and angry. The amused host explained his power 
 of memory, and offered to repeat any piece of the 
 same length that any of the companv would 
 recite. 
 
 There are recorded accounts of persons both in 
 ancient and in modern times possessed of powers 
 of memory so stupendous as almost to stagger 
 belief. As in the case of Goldsmith's school- 
 master, we wonder that "one small head " could 
 
RATIO.VAL ME.MOliV TK AINIXG. 
 
 29 
 
 carry all they knew. Such were the memories of 
 
 Theodectes and Hortensius and 
 
 Cineas, of whom Cicero speaks. Dr. 
 
 The hitter being sent on an embassy Abemethy, 
 
 to Rome, was able, the day after his Secretary 
 1 11 ,. , ' Stanton, 
 
 arrival, to address all the senators Cy^ys Otho 
 
 and knig-hts by name. Hortensius, and others. 
 
 after coming out of the sale room, 
 
 was able to repeat the auction list backward. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War during the Re- 
 bellion, had a fine memory. One evening, in the 
 ea;Iy part of 1868, Dickens, then on a reading 
 tour in this country, was dining with Charles 
 Sumner, Stanton being present. To the surprise 
 of Dickens, Mr. Stanton was able to repeat from 
 memory a chapter from any of the novelist's 
 work. Mr. Stanton explained that during the 
 war he had formed the habit of Invariablv reading 
 something by the author of "Pickwick" before 
 going to bed. 
 
 It is related of Dr. John Leyden '' that after he 
 had gone to Calcutta, a case occurred where a 
 great deal turned on the exact wording of an Act 
 of Parliament, of which, however, a copy was not 
 to be found in the Presidency. Leyden, who, be- 
 fore leaving- home, had had occasion to read over 
 ihe Act, undertook to supply it from memory; 
 and so accurate was his transcript that when, 
 nearly a )ear after, a printed copy was obtained 
 
30 
 
 PHENOMEXAL MEMORIES. 
 
 from England, it was found to be identical with 
 what Leyden had dictated." 
 
 Cyrus, it is said, knew the name of e\ery 
 soldier in his army. Otho, the Roman Emperor, 
 owed, in a great measure, his accession to the 
 Empire to his prodigious memory. He had 
 learned the name of every soldier of his army, 
 when he was their comp;. lion as a simple officer, 
 and used to call every one by his proper name. 
 The soldiers being flattered by such attention, 
 persuaded themselves that such an emperor could 
 not forget in his favors those whose names he so 
 well remembered. They all, therefore, declared 
 for him and enabled him to overthrow his rival. 
 
 Seneca, the distinguished Roman senator a^.d 
 philosopher, speaking of memory, says:— " Age 
 has done me many injuries, and deprived me of 
 many things that I once had, it has dulled the 
 sight of my eyes, blunted the sense of my hearing, 
 and slackened my nerves. Among the rest 1 have 
 mentioned is the memory, a thing that is the most 
 tender and frail of all the parts of the soul, and 
 which is first sensible to the assaults of age; here- 
 tofore this so flourished in me that 1 could repeat 
 two thousand names in the same order as they 
 were spoken." 
 
 John Fuller, a land agent of the county of Nor- 
 folk, could correctly write out a sermon or lecture 
 after hearing it once; and one Robert Dillon could, 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY THAIXING. 3 1 
 
 in the morning repeat six columns of a newspaper 
 which he had read the preceding- evening. More 
 wonderful still was George Watson, who, while 
 in other respects the type of the hobbledehoy and 
 country bumpkin, could tell the date of every day 
 since his childhood and how he had occupied him- 
 self on that day. 
 
 Richard Porson, professor in the University of 
 Cambridge, was alike distinguished for his learn- 
 ing and his memoiy. Me had the Greek authors, 
 book, chapter, verse and line at the tip of his 
 tongue. When a ad at Eton, as he was going to 
 his Latin lesson, one oi' the boys, wishing to play 
 him a trick, took his Latin Horace, from him, and 
 slipped into his hand some English book. Por- 
 son, however, who had learned Horace by heart 
 before he went to Eton, was nothing disconcerted 
 at the trick, but when called upon to begin, 
 opened the English book which had been placed 
 in his hand, and without hcsit:ition commenced, 
 and went on regularly, con- 'ruing the Latin into 
 English with the greatest ease. The tutor, per- 
 ceiving some signs of amusemcni: and mirth among 
 the boys, and, suspecting there was something 
 uncommon in the affair, asked Porson what o^dix- 
 "ixow oi Horace \\Q. had in his hand. '* I learned 
 the lesson from the Delphin edition," replied the 
 pupil, avoiding a direct reply. "That is very 
 odd," said the master, " for you seem to be read- 
 
 h 
 
 ■I^^HHIi^i^l^HBI^aii^BHHI^iM^li 
 
32 
 
 PHHN'O.ME.VAf. .MEAJOKIES, 
 
 in- on .'I ciifTerent page from myself. Let nic see 
 the book." The truth, of course, came out, and 
 the master said he would be happy to find olher 
 pupils acquittino- themselves as well under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 iMezzofanti is said to haxe knov/n seventy dif- 
 ferent lano-ua-es and dialects, and upon one occa- 
 sion to iKtxe succeeded, after txventN'-fuur hours' 
 study, in readily coiiversin- in a lan-uao-e which 
 before was entirely unknown to him, and which 
 seemed totally din\;rent from ail he knew. An 
 old be-i,>-ar of Stirlini,^ some years a-o, yclept 
 BImd Aleck, knew the whole of the Bible by heart, 
 so that he could -ive verse, chapter and book for 
 any quotation, or v/cr rcrsn, correctly give the 
 lano-uage of any g-iven verse. 
 
 Wesley tells us in his Journal of a youn- Irish 
 preacher who had such a knowled-e of the^Greek 
 Testament and such powers of memory, that, on 
 the mention of any word from the Greek text he 
 would at once tell you all the various passa-es in 
 which the word occurred, and the different shades 
 ot meanino- i„ each. Charles Dickens, it is said, 
 could, atter passing- down a street for the first 
 time, tell vou the names of the shop-keepers in 
 order, and the kind of business in which each was 
 engaged. 
 
 In tlie old days of Louisiana manv of the reprc- 
 sentatixes were Creoles ^yho could scarcelv s,4ak 
 ;! word ol Kng-lish. 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 3i\ 
 
 On account of the large Creole element in the 
 State all Acts of the Legislature were obliged to 
 be published in both French and English, and all 
 speeches made in the Senate were rendered in 
 both languages. For many years General Hora- 
 tio Davis, of New Orleans, Clerk of the Senate, 
 translated all the speeches, and such was his 
 memory that, after listening to a speech an hour 
 or two long he would immediately deliver it in the 
 other language, and with perfect accuracy. And 
 this was accomplished without the use of any 
 notes, and apparently without any effort. 
 
 No one could have filled his place, and his ser- 
 vices were so highly appreciated and widely 
 known that rival candidates for the office rarely 
 presented themselves. 
 
 It is said, the Athenian Themistocles knew the 
 name of every one of the 20,000 citizens of Athens. 
 Morphy, the celebrated chess player, could play 
 several games of chess simultaneously, without 
 seeing any of the boards on which the various 
 games were being conducted. The great thinker, 
 Pascal, is said never to have forgotten anything 
 he had ever known or re.'ii, and the same is told 
 of Hugo, Grotius, Liebnitz, and Euler. All knew 
 the whole of Virgil's *'/Eneid" by heart. The 
 great critic, Joseph Scaliger, used to say of him- 
 self that he had a bad memory. Yet this good 
 man, with his bad memory, complains that it took 
 
M 
 
 tMii:NOMi:.\Ai. .Mr:.MOK]i:.s. 
 
 him twciily-one days to learn the whole of Honier 
 b\- heart; he had to devote three months to learn- 
 iiii,' in like manner the whole o( the remaininif 
 Crreek poets, and in two years he succeeded in 
 j^-ettini^- by heart the whole range of classical 
 authors. 
 
 " Memor} Corner 11iom.son," a resident of 
 London in 1820, had phenomenal powers of recol- 
 lection. He couhl take an inventory of the con- 
 tents of a house from cellar to attic merely from 
 inemory, and could afterwards write out a list 
 containini,'- every article from memory. 
 
 Sir Rcnjamin Brodie, in his '' Psycholoi,^ical 
 Inquiries," cites the instance of the celebrated 
 Jesuit, Suarez, who is said to have known by 
 heart the whole of the works of St. Augustine. 
 As these consist oi' eleven huge folio volumes they 
 give some idea of the capacity of the memory that 
 was able to take them all in and retain the whole; 
 for it is said that if ever anyone misquoted St. 
 Augustine, Suarez would at once correct the quo- 
 tation, and give it with literal accuracy. 
 
 Woodfall, brother of the Woodfall who was 
 Junius' publisher and editor of the London .J/<;r;/- 
 ino- CJu'onicIc, would attend a debate, and, with- 
 out notes, report it accurately next morning. He 
 was called " Memory Woodfall." 
 
 Ben Johnson said of himself: "I can repeat 
 whole books that I have read, and pcems of some 
 
UAJio.XAj, ^il:Alou^ iuaimm,. 
 
 .K-^ 
 
 seleclcd irlcnds, which 1 have hkcd to charo-e my 
 memory with." Aviccma repeated by rote the 
 entire Koran when he w .is (miIv ten years old. 
 Justus Lipsius, o\\ one occasion, oftered to repeat 
 all the *' History" oi' Tacitus witlicnit a mistake, 
 on forfeit of his WW:. 
 
 The following- is u quotatii^n from Monte 
 Christo, by Alexander Dumas. Dantes and the 
 learned and shrewd Abbe Faria have been con- 
 versiuL;-, and the latter remarks: "1 possessed 
 nearly 5,000 volumes in my library at Rome, but 
 after readiuir 1 hem over many times I found out 
 that with 150 well-chosen books a :n;)' possesses 
 a complete analysis oi' all human know.edo-e, or at 
 least of all that is either useful o\- desirable to be 
 acquainted with. I devoted three years of my 
 life to readini,- and studyin.o- these 150 volumes, 
 till 1 knew them nearly by heart. So that, since 
 I have been in prison, a very sli^^-ht effort of me 
 cry has enabled me to recall the contents ; 
 readily as though the papers were open before me 
 I could recite you th.e whole of Thucydides, Zeno- 
 phon, Plutarch, Titius Livius, Tacitus, Strada, 
 Jornandes, Dante, Montaio-ue, Shakespeare,' 
 Spinoza, Macliiavel and Bossuet. Observe I 
 merely quote the most important names of in- 
 terest." 
 
 Nor are these powers confmed to gifted indivi- 
 duals. They are possessed by ordinary indivi- 
 
 m- 
 
 ;is 
 
36 
 
 PIIEXC MEXAL MEMORIES. 
 
 duals, and manilesfed oflen under what is called 
 by physicians, Hypennnesia, or exaltation o{ 
 memory, due lo some change in the physical con- 
 dition. This occurs frequently in fevers, in mania, 
 ecstasy, hypnotism and hysteria. It is also fre- 
 quently present in case of imminent death, when 
 the whole life passes in review in a few seconds, 
 facts and events long forgotten rushing with incal- 
 culable speed through the consciousness. During 
 ^'ever, the anguagc oi childhood, long disused 
 and forgottf.n, has been recalled. A man of re- 
 markably' Jear head was crossing a railwav in the 
 country, when an express train, at full speed, 
 appeared closely approaching him. He had just 
 time to throw himself down in the centre of the 
 road between the two lines of rails, and as the 
 train passed over him the sentiment of impending 
 danger to his very existence, brought vi\ idly to 
 his recollection every incident of his former life in 
 such an array as that which is suggested by the 
 pr.rr:'sed opening of *' the Great Book at the last 
 great CM} " 
 
 Nor are these phenomenal powers of memory 
 confined to gifted individuals and persons in ab- 
 normal condition. They are often possessed by 
 entire classes and races as the direct result of 
 memory training. The natives of India have 
 remarkable memories. It is a well-known fact 
 that an Indian druggist may have hundreds of 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 jars, one above the other from floor to ceiling, not 
 one containing- a label, yet he never hesitates 
 placing his hand on the right vessel when the drug 
 is required. The ordinary washermen ltq round 
 to houses with their donkeys and collect clothes, 
 ^ some from one house and some from another.' 
 
 These they carry to the river and wash, and in re- 
 turning with the hugh pile never fail to deliver 
 each article to the rightful owner. 
 
 I In Brittany the peasantry still recite the ancient 
 
 oral traditions of their race. The tenacity with 
 which the Briton clings to the habits and beliefs 
 of his forefathers is shown by his retention of the 
 Celtic language, and by his quaint costume. The 
 Briton peasant will repeat a legend or story with 
 I scrupulous fidelity to the established form in 
 
 which they have always heard the incidents re- 
 lated. They will instantly check a stranger who 
 J attempts to deviate from the orthodox version 
 
 with '«Nay, the story should begin thus," repeat- 
 ing the regular formulae of the tale. 
 I During the persecution of the Waldenses, in the 
 
 I thirteenth century, when their version o{ the 
 
 j Scriptures was prohibited and destroyed wherever 
 
 I found, their ministers committed whole books oi' 
 
 the sacred volume to memory, and repeated chap- 
 1 ters at their religious meetings. Even the lay 
 
 members could repeat passage after passage with 
 the utmost folicitv and accuracv. R.?iner coyld 
 
38 
 
 PHE\0.ML;> AL .Mli.MORiES. 
 
 neither read nor write, yet was able to repeat the 
 whole book of Job. 
 
 That g-reat Scollish philosopher, Dug-ald 
 Stewart, himself a striking- example of great mem- 
 ory power, saws: "On the supertieial view of the 
 subject, the original diffei'ences among men, in 
 their capacity of memory, would seem to be im- 
 mense; but there is reason for thinking that these 
 differences are commonly overrated, and that due 
 allowances are not made for the diversity of ap- 
 pearance, which the human mind must necessarily 
 exhibit in this respect, inconsequence of the vari- 
 ous walks of observation and of study to v/hich 
 mankind are led, partly by natural propensity and 
 partly by accidental situation." 
 
 There is good reason for believing that it is 
 clearly within the compass oi' th.e average memory 
 to master and recall at will every syllable oi' the 
 Holy Scriptures. Ci. C. Leland says: "It is re- 
 corded oi' a Slavonian Orential sect called the 
 Bogomiles, which spread oxer luirope during the 
 middle ages, that its members were recpiired to 
 memorize the Bible verbatim. Their latest his- 
 torian, DragomanolT, declares thai there were 
 none oi' lliem who did not rnemorixe the New 
 Testament al least, one oi iheir Bishops publicly 
 proclaimed that, in his own diocese oi' four thou- 
 sand communicants, there was not one un.'ible to 
 repeal iho i^iitirc St;ri|iiufcs wiHu>ut an ciriir. 
 
RATION'AL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 39 
 
 As an illustration of great powers of memory 
 often found in common life, we insert the following- 
 interesting- article from The Call, San Francisco: 
 
 In an Italian restaurant on O'Farrell street, 
 there is a waiter who has a memory greater than 
 that possessed by Memnon, or by a 
 disappointed office-seeker. Better A Waiter who 
 still, his his bank account is longer possessed a 
 than his wonderful memory. Phenomenal 
 
 . . Memory. 
 
 A wonder in many things is Mar- 
 
 iani, for that is the name of the little man with the 
 big memory. Many were the stories related in 
 reference to the food-bearer's incomprehensible 
 brain faculties, before I decided to test them for 
 myself. ''Why," said a Bohemian friend while re- 
 lating some of Mariani's performances, "there is 
 less likelihood of him forgetting a face or a dish, 
 than of Chris Buckley, 'the blind devil,' failing- to 
 remember a voice. He will not only recoirnizc 
 one after a year's absence, but will also remember 
 what your last meal consisted of. Don't believe 
 it, eh? Well, you can put him to the test and 
 decide for yourself." 
 
 So it was agreed to put the little waitei 's mem- 
 ory to a most rigid test. It was on Christmas 
 Eve.. 1891, that two weary hungry reporters en- 
 tered the restaurant where Mariani is employed. 
 Hundreds of persons were dining there, an<l 
 scarcelv two order the same dishes. 
 
^nHHB 
 
 40 
 
 PHENOMENAL MEMORIES. 
 
 m 
 
 "Hello, Shortpencil," was Mariani's greeting 
 as he quickly appeared by my friend's side, "regu- 
 lar dinner to-night, or same as you had last time?" 
 
 In order that there might be a fair test. Short- 
 pencil insisted that I should do the ordering. I 
 did so, and the meal was a most satisfactory one. 
 The circumstance had almost entirely escaped my 
 memory, and I had forgotten there was such a 
 person in the world as a disciple of the great Mem- 
 non, in the person of the modest little waiter, and 
 was wondering where to dine when Shortpencil 
 accosted me. This was Christmas Eve. , 1892, just 
 one year after our dinner was served by Mariani. 
 
 "Been to dinner? No, well, let's go and see 
 Mariani. I'll wager you a small bottle of extra 
 dry that he can repeat the dinner, dish for dish, 
 without a single order. 
 
 The wager was accepted and half an hour later 
 we were seated in the O'Farrell street restaurant. 
 Mariani was soon before us with a large bottle of 
 claret in his hands. 
 
 "Good evening," said he to Shortpencil, and 
 turning to me he added, "and how are you? It 
 must be nearly a year since you were last here. 
 
 Already his memory was beginning to assert 
 itself. "Now then, gentlemen," he continued, 
 "will you have a regular dinner or the same as 
 last time? 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 4 1 
 
 ** Same," said Shortpencil. Then my own 
 memory of the meal twelve months ago was re- 
 vived as each delicacy appeared in the same order 
 as before. First came the large bottle of Bur- 
 gundy, with two small glasses and plenty of 
 cracked ice. Shrimp salad, ox tail soup, Italiarena, 
 broiled flounder, roast teal duck and rum omelette, 
 came in their regular order without a word being 
 spoken to Mariani, 
 
 "You had Oregan cheese last time," explained 
 the knight of the napkin, when it was time for 
 desert, "but we have a new brand which you will 
 find even nicer." 
 
 "Give us the same as before," was the order. 
 
 By this time I began to marvel at the man's 
 memorv and to realize that I was about to lose 
 the wager. 
 
 But there were several things yet to come before 
 the first dinner had been entirely duplicated. Mar- 
 iani was equal to the occasion, however, and with- 
 out the least hesitation completed the meal by 
 supplying black coftee, cognac and the same 
 brand of cigars we had spoken before. 
 
 Shortpencil chuckled gleefully several hours 
 later as he helped consume the champagne Mar- 
 iani's memory had won for him. "Don't feel 
 bad," he said soothingly, as he held the sparkling 
 liquid to the light, "I lost a similar liet two years 
 ago. llad to get even some way, you know. 
 
42 
 
 PHENOMENAL .MEMORIES. 
 
 Several days later I learned more about iMariaiii. 
 F'or thirty years he has worked in the same rest- 
 aurant, and has judiciously invested his savinj^'s. 
 In addition to several houses and lots he owns 
 a big factory in South San Francisco that supplies 
 many of the delicacies he daily serves to patrons 
 of the restaurant. 
 
 ''Yes, he is a wonder," said the proprietor of 
 the restaurant, when asked about Mariani, "and 
 althoui,^h he has accumulated a fortune, you could 
 not hire him to quit his occupation as a waiter. 
 As he declares himself, he was born to be a 
 waiter, and a waiter he will be till called to that 
 land where edibles are not required." 
 
Cl!,\!'Tl-:il IV. 
 
 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY. 
 
 "The leading- oiKjuiry in tlic> ari of odiicalion i^ lunv (o 
 sfreng-tlicn the nKMiioi-_\-."---rFOi'. H.\i\. 
 
 In former times m^:\ looked upon memoiy as a 
 purely intellectual activity, having little relation 
 to bodily conditions. To-da}', through the fuller 
 study of the brain and the nervous system in their 
 relations to mental phenomena, the tendency 
 among a large class of writers is to consider 
 memory a department of physiology. 
 The intimate relations between tlie Memory 
 
 growth and development of memory f^g^rded i o- 
 
 1 1 1^- ^- r .1 !• ^ay as a 
 
 and the cultivation or tlie organs or ,_., ' , , 
 
 '^ , rhysiological 
 
 sense, is now iidmitted by all. ii', Fact, 
 
 as Sir Wm Hamilton liolds, the soul 
 feels at the linger tips, and if, as n\ost eminent 
 ]")lnsiologists lunv believe, the whole bod\' is the 
 tirgan oi' tlie mind, tliere seems good reason for 
 accepting Kay's doctrine, that memory has its 
 seat, not only in the brain but also in the organs 
 of sense and in the muscles. 
 
 It is known to-day that no mental activity 
 takes place without a correspt^nding and definite 
 chauiie in the bodib structure. Not only is this 
 the cnse in regard to sensation and pei^ceptlon, Lnit 
 
44 THE PHVSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY 
 
 The same 
 
 Nerve 
 
 Action in 
 
 Memory as 
 
 in Perception. 
 
 also in recollection, imagination and fantasy. A 
 change of brain structure accompan- 
 ies every thought, and now it is as- 
 serted that in recalling any idea that 
 has come to us through the senses, we 
 use the senses again and in much the 
 same way as when we first received 
 the idea. Wundt observes that nerve action is 
 the same in sense perception and in memory. 
 
 Prof. Bain declares that, ''the organ of the 
 mind is not the brain by itself, it is'^ the brain, 
 nerves, muscles, organs of sense, viscera," and '^ 
 every sensation and thought leaves permanent 
 traces m our physicial structure, it naturally fol- 
 lows that memory is closely allied with the educa- 
 tion of our senses and the training of our bodily 
 powers. Memory writes its record, not alone 
 upon the brain, but upon the organs of sense, the 
 nerves, the muscles and the entire body. From 
 this fact it may be inferred that the record of all 
 our past lives may be found in our bodies. A 
 man becomes a part of all he has seen and h.eard 
 and thought about. The record of every man's 
 life IS in every man's body. Memorv is in this 
 sense eternal. Nothing we have ex er heard, or 
 known, or felt, is ever lost. We carry it within 
 us. It IS true we may not be able to recall all our 
 experiences and bring them again into conscious- 
 ness, but the consciousness, as we shall see a 
 little further on, is but a small part of our mental 
 
UATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 45 
 
 life. If we "feel at the finger tips," it is quite 
 evident that we remember at the finger tips as 
 well, and very much of the musician's memory is 
 in the muscles of the hand and arm. Memory is, 
 therefore, not one faculty, but a condition of the 
 activit}' of all the faculties. 
 
 The fact that -lemory very largely depends on 
 physical conditions has been noted from the 
 earliest times. The memory is more active in 
 health than in sickness, in vigor and strength 
 than it is in physical weakness. Memory is more 
 active and reliable in the morning than in the 
 evening, because the physical nature is then re- 
 created by sleep and rest. " Fatigue in any form," 
 says Herbert Spencer, '*is fatal to memory." 
 
 Not only is this the case, but it is also an ad- 
 mitted fact that our physical condition, when we 
 receive an impression through the senses, very 
 largely determines the depth and permanence of 
 the impression itself. If the powers of the body 
 are fresh and vigorous, the senses active, the at- 
 tention fixed, the impression is deep 
 and lasting — and every one knows Memory 
 how faint the impression upon the niodified by 
 
 mind when the body is wearied, the „, , 
 
 J 11 J .1 Physical 
 
 senses dull and the attention wan- condition 
 
 dering. Ribot declares that, "the 
 reproduction of impressions depends in a general 
 way upon the circulation," and there can be no 
 doubt that the character of the impression, as well 
 
4f, 
 
 TflK IMnsI»M,(.M;H .M. I!\S|S Ol .MLMOIO'. 
 
 Elements of 
 Memory, 
 
 as its recall to i'on.s».ioiisriv.:.s, dcixncls on the con- 
 ditions aiul circulation oi' ilic Mood, in sliorl, up- 
 on \hc stale ol" hea!', h. 
 
 Accordin;^" to Kii3ot, memory includes three 
 thini^'s, \"iz. : tiie retention ol" certain states; their 
 reproduction, their locaHzation in the past. The 
 hrst two are indispensable; the third 
 Jihc I hree win'cli we call recollection, and which 
 he calls iocaJization in time, is pure- 
 ly psycholo;^^ical. It is the clement 
 wliich constitutes perfect memory, yet it is the un- 
 stable element, and may be rei^-arded as an added 
 element to memory piojier. "Do away with the 
 first two and memor}- is abolished; suppress the 
 third, and nicmory ceases to exist /or /tsc'/\ with- 
 out ceasini;- to exist /// if:<Cif.'" 
 
 Muscle iibre, wliich ;it first responds feebly to 
 the excitation transmitted by a motor nerve, re- 
 sponds more eneri^etically the more frequently it 
 is excited, pauses wwd rests beiui^- [)resu['.posed. 
 The most hiij^hl}- developed tissue of the bodv, 
 nerve tissue, presents to the liig-hest dcg-ree the 
 two-fold property o{ retention and reproduction 
 ol past states. This furnishes, in some degree, a 
 type of organic memory, yet not the true type 
 which is to be found in the secondary imtomatic 
 (iclions. as opposed to the primary or innate auto- 
 matic acts. These secondary automatic actions 
 are the very groundwork o'i our daily life — our 
 acquired movement, such as walking, writing, the 
 
i:.\'l lOXAI. MK.MORN- IKAIXI.NU.. _j,y 
 
 acquired niowMiiciils dT the laborer and nioclianic. 
 x\cts which now seem to us entirely natural were 
 acquired by laborious elTort. Lewes observes 
 that when a child is learnini;- to write he cannot 
 move the hand by itself, but must also move the 
 toni;ue, t!ie muscles of the face, and sometimes 
 the feet. In time by practice he can suppress all 
 these useless motions, and write while he con- 
 sciously oives attention to other matters. 
 
 Dr. Carpenter mentions the case of an accom- 
 plished pianist who executed a piece of music 
 while asleep — a feat which must be attributed 
 lari^ely to tlie muscular sense which 
 possessed the memory of the succes- Secondary 
 
 sion of movements. Consciousness Automatic 
 , . , , , Action, 
 
 here, as m other recorded cases, 
 
 dropped out of acti\'ity, showing that the mechan- 
 ism oi' memory is, in a sense, a superadded 
 element. 
 
 Ribot declares that the physiological conditions 
 of memory are: i. A special modification im- 
 pressed on the nerxe elements. 2. An associa- 
 tion, a special connection established between a 
 certain number of these elements. 
 
 The question is often asked as to the nature of 
 the modification impressed on the nerve elements. 
 Physiologists are not agreed as to whether the 
 nerve fdament receives a permanent modification 
 
48 
 
 THE I'HVSIOI.Ot.kAL tiASlS OF MEMORY' 
 
 The Physio- 
 logical 
 Conditions of 
 Memory. 
 
 -whether the nerve is a real conductor, which, 
 bein<4- disturbed for a moment by the 
 impression, returns to its normal 
 condition, or whether there is a 
 chemical decomposition of i<s proto- 
 plasm. Il seems to be ag-reed, how- 
 ever, that in the nerve cell is to be found the ele- 
 ment which receives, restores and re-acts. Del- 
 bceuf, in his "General Theory of Sensibility," de- 
 clares that, "every impression leaves a certain 
 ineffaceable trace, that is to say, the molecules, 
 once they are arranged otherwise and forced to 
 vibrate in a different way, will not return exactly 
 to their original state. . . . Animal molecules 
 that have been deranged have thereby gained, in 
 a greater or less degree, aptitude for undero-ointr 
 disarrangement. Doubtless, if this same external 
 agency does not again act anew upon the same 
 molecules, they will tend to resume their own 
 natural movement; but the case will be very dif- 
 ferent if they are again and again subjected to the 
 samj action. Then they will, little by little, lose 
 the power of returning to their natural movement, 
 and will become more and more identified with 
 that which is impressed upon them, till at last it 
 becomes natural to them in its turn, and they obey 
 the slightest cause that will set them in vibration." 
 The second physiological condition of memory, 
 according to Ribot, the establishment of stable 
 associations between different groups of nerve 
 
 i 
 
I 
 
 RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 49 
 
 elements, is one which the author considers of 
 vast importance, and which he uses to expkiin tlie 
 apparent diOiculty in finding'- in the human brain a 
 nerve cell for each of the countless impressions ot 
 the human mind. He re^^ards the view, that 
 memory, either org-anic or conscious, is impressed 
 on a sin^-Ie cell, and that this cell, with its nerve 
 lilaments, has a monopoly of retaining- or produc- 
 iniZ it, as an illusion. The fashion of speech com- 
 mon to-day. It is true, requires us to regard a per- 
 ception, a thought, an image, a sentiment, as of/f 
 thing. But each of these is made up of man\' and 
 heterogeneous elements; is, in lact, 
 an association, a group, a fusion, a Menicry 
 
 multiplicitv. "We, therefore, hold J/""^ ^^^^ 
 
 . . Physiological 
 
 it to be ol the utmost miportancc to standpoint isa 
 
 call aiienlion to this point, viz.: that grouping of 
 organic memory supposes not only a Activities, 
 modification oi' the nerve element, 
 lull also ///." i'sfahlisJuncn/ bchvccn tlic))i of ay.sccid- 
 \ fions iiiapti'd to each special ac/ion -oi certain tl)-- 
 
 namic associations which by repetition, beco!ne 
 as stable as the primary automatical connections. 
 In our opinion, the thing that is of importance, as 
 supplying a basis for memory is . . . the way in 
 which sundry elements are grouped together to 
 form a complex." 
 
 In support of this view attention is called: r. 
 To the fact that an acquired movement well fixed 
 in the organism and firmly retained for a time, is 
 
so 
 
 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MEMORY. 
 
 displaced only with great difficulty by another 
 having nearly the same seat, but requiring a dif- 
 ferent mechanism. For example, anyone who has 
 learned the American system of fingering in piano 
 playing will find it very difficult to adopt the Ger- 
 man system. 2. To the fact that sometimes, in 
 lieu of one accustomed movement, we involuntar- 
 ily perform another — a related movement. Know- 
 ing three doctors whose names begin with B, how 
 natural to speak one when we intend to speak an- 
 other, not becp-iise of any mental confusion, but 
 because the one element B, being common, had 
 excited the wrong group of nerve elements. From 
 these and similar facts Ribot concludes that mem- 
 ory is a biological tact, and deduces the conclusion 
 that "rt rich and ivel I stored memory is not a col' 
 lection of impressions, but an assemblage of dynamic 
 
 associations, very stable and very readily called 
 forth:' 
 
 These facts are very suggestive to every one 
 who would improve his power of 
 memory or aid others in this impor- 
 tant work. They suggest that sound 
 and vigorous health is a condition of 
 rational memory training. They 
 also suggest that in proportion as 
 we educate and train the senses we improve and 
 enrich the memory. It is also an obvious infer- 
 ence from the foregoing statements that the more 
 we accustom the senses to accurate observation, to 
 
 Practical 
 Inferences 
 from the 
 preceding 
 Statements, 
 
RATIONAL MEMOKY TRAINING. 
 
 51 
 
 careful discrimation and the more frequently and 
 vividly we recall past impression j, the more we 
 develop the powers of memory. 
 
 No inference is more obvious from the preced- 
 ing statements than the necessity of frequent re- 
 petition of the sensation (with its appropriate 
 nerve modification) by which the idea first entered 
 the mind, and frequent repetition of the power of 
 recollection which implies, in some deg-ree at least, 
 the same modification of the nerve element. These 
 nerve modifications frequently repeated produce, 
 as we have seen, an aptitude for like modification, 
 which is one of the physioloi^ical bases of memorv. 
 If an idea, which wc wisli to remember, comes 
 through the sense of our sight, we cannot too 
 often see the object which produced it, or scan it 
 too attentively, or too frequently call up its mental 
 image, "visualize" it, because all of these repeat 
 the nerve modiiicalion and develop the "aptitude" 
 of nerve modification upon which the recall of the 
 idea depends. 
 
 In recalling ideas we should endeavour to call 
 to our aid the senses through which the ideas 
 entered the mind, that is we should iiear and see 
 again, as\ividly as possible, tiie objects which 
 created the original sensations of sight or sound. 
 Recollection should not be a purely psychical act. 
 Vivid and frequent recalls to consciousness of 
 the mental imiigcs resulting from siiusation, will 
 
 A 
 
52 
 
 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OE MEMORY. 
 
 develop the picture-makingf power of the mind 
 and stimulate and strengthen the general memory. 
 Another inference from the preceding statements 
 is quite obvious to all: the morning is the proper 
 time both for acquiring new ideas and for memory 
 training. The student should make his first 
 attempt at memorizing difficult lessons in the 
 morning, and select this as the period for that 
 daily and regular exercise of the powers of recol- 
 lection, without which he will fail to effectually 
 strengthen the memory. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN MEMORY. 
 
 " Memory is a faculty so intimately associated with the 
 operation of the vital forces, that no man doubts its 
 entire dependence upon corporeal states."— Dr. 
 Laycock. 
 
 "The manner in which the scar of a cut on a child's fin- 
 ger j,^rows as the organ grows, evinces that the or- 
 ganic element of the part does not forget the impres- 
 sion that has been made upon it."— Dk. Maidslev. 
 
 "Consciousness forms but a small item in the total of 
 
 psychical processes." — G. H. Lewes. 
 
 It is of the first importance to the student who 
 would stren£,rthen his power of recollection that he 
 should gain'clear ideas of the ment.il operations 
 involved therein, and of the laws which govern 
 memory. In place of a single mental operation 
 memory involves several, and whai U ordinarily 
 called memory is but the final stage 
 of a process which nnplies. i. Ac- .^^^^^^^ ,^ 
 quisition of the original ideas or j^iej^o^. 
 state. 2. Retention. 3. Repro- 
 duction. 4. Recognition— or what some have 
 called localization in time. To the subject of the 
 acquisition of ideas and the importance of em- 
 ploying the right methods we shall devote a 
 special chapter, in which it will be seen that this 
 
5-1 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN MEMORY 
 
 has a most important bearing upon the retention 
 and reproduction of our ideas. In regard to re- 
 tention of ideas it is sufficient here to state that 
 the consensus of opinions among metaphysicians 
 is strongly in favor o^ the view that no idea or 
 mental impression is ever lost— though many of 
 them pass beyond the power of voluntary recall. 
 
 To remember a thing implies, therefore, that 
 Wi; get it into the mind, that we keep it there, 
 that we reproduce it, tiiat we recognize it as be- 
 longing to a certain part o'i our past life, or as 
 having certain relations. 
 
 No one can gain an intelligent view of the men- 
 tal processes involved in memory and oi: the right 
 method of strengthening il, without recognizing, 
 first, the close dependence oi all these processes 
 upon bodily conditions, and secondly, the iact 
 that was/ of our mental life lies in IJie realm of the 
 unconscious. With, some of the bodily conditions 
 involved in niemoiy we c^avc dealt in a preceding 
 chapter. \\'e call spc.:ird attention in this chap- 
 ter to the mental processes, conscious and uncon- 
 scious, which are rehued to memory. 
 
 At one time conscious. icss was looked upon as 
 synonyir.ons with mind — as co-ex- 
 tensive with n.t-nt.il operations. 
 Ivcibnitz first disputed this view and 
 established the doctrine that there 
 are energ-jes constant ly at work in 
 
 The Mind 
 
 conscious 
 
 and 
 
 (tnconsjiuus- 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 v'15 
 
 the mind, of which we are unconscious. The 
 psychologists of Germany since his time, have 
 taught that much of our mental work is done 
 without consciousness. Sir William Hamilton 
 declares: "I do not hesitate to affirm that what 
 we are conscious of is made up of the unknown 
 and incognizable." The sphere oi' our conscious- 
 ness is " a small circle in the centre of a far wider 
 sphere of action and passion, of which we are only 
 conscious through its effects." The mind con- 
 stantly receives impressions from the outer world 
 which are too faint to make themselves felt and 
 do not come into the realm of consciousness at 
 all. O. W. Holmes declares that, *• there are 
 thoughts that never emerge into consciousness, 
 which yet make their inRuence felt among the 
 perceptible mental currents, just as the unseen 
 planets swav the movements of those that are 
 watched and mapped by the astronomer." The 
 fact of unconscious cerebration will be admitted 
 by everyone who notices carefully the operation of 
 his own mind. How often a problem, perplexing 
 and incapable of solution at night, has opened 
 out to us a complete solution in the morning! 
 How many men are capable of charging the mind 
 to wake at a certain hour and of relying with cer- 
 tainty on this unconscious cerebration to fulfil its 
 appointed task. Carpenter mentions the follow- 
 ing curious fact : "A business man in Boston, 
 having an important question under consideration. 
 
Mimi 
 
 ■■ 
 
 iT) 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN' MEMORY 
 
 had i,'-I\ eii it up lor the time as too much for him. 
 
 But he was conscious of an action 
 Unconscious . • ^.i i. • i • i 
 
 r Ur f ^'^'"8" °" **^ ^"^ brain which was so 
 
 unusual and painful as to excite his 
 apprehensions that he was threatened with palsy, 
 or something- of that sort. After sc ne hours of 
 this uneasiness, his perplexity was all at once 
 cleared up by the natural solution of his doubts 
 comin<»- to him — worked out, as he believed, in 
 that obscure and troubled interval." The mind, then 
 may be looked upon as a vast storehouse of ideas 
 and impressions, any o( which are capable under 
 proper conditions, of emerging- into the realm of 
 consciousness, but only a small proportion of 
 which can be brought under voluntary control, in 
 dreams, in fevers, in cases oi' accident or sudden 
 Iriglit, and also of a mental disease known as 
 Hypermnesia, many of these ideas and impres- 
 sions that have not visited the realm of conscious- 
 ness for years, come again into the mental view 
 and appear to sweep with wonderful rapidity 
 through the mind. 
 
 The fact that an idea cannot be recalled by a 
 \ oluntary efl'ort is no proof, therefore, that it has 
 been lost. 
 
 Another fact pointed out by psychologists, is 
 this: that our progress in mental and physical 
 training is one from the conscious to the uncon- 
 scious. Mental efforts that at first were difficult, 
 become by training- and practice so easy and re- 
 
 r > 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TKALMNG. 
 
 57 
 
 r 1 
 
 quire so little attention, that their performance 
 
 hardly necessities any conscious activity. Physical 
 
 acts that were painfully laborious, 
 
 have, by practice, become so easy Our Progress 
 
 that the bodily orsj'ans perform them ,. 
 
 -' o r Unconscious. 
 
 automatically. Let anyone compare 
 the conscious elfort of the child in adding- a col- 
 ume oi' h<2:ures and the almost unconscious effort 
 oi' the trained arithemetican in the same work; 
 or the conscious effort of the school-boy in writ- 
 ing his lirst copy (when he possesses so little co- 
 ordination of his bodily powers that he moves his 
 tongue and feet at the same time as he moves his 
 pen) with the easy and almost unconscious move- 
 meat of the trained penman, and he will readily 
 see that progress in education is marked by a 
 diminution of the sphere of conscious effort. 
 
 Riboi. in his treatise on memory, points out 
 three conditions of consciousness: i. A certain 
 mode of action of the nervous system, called by 
 physiologists nervous discharge. All modes of 
 nerve activity do not, as we have 
 seen, awaken consciousness. All Conditions 
 
 psvchic acts awaken nerve activity, - 
 ' ' ... , Consciousness. 
 
 but the proposition is not recipro- 
 cally true. 2. Intensity— which is a condition of 
 a highly variable character. *' Our states of con- 
 sciousness are ever striving to supplant one 
 another, and victory may result, either from supe- 
 rior strength or from weakness of other contest- 
 
THE LAWS THAT GOVERN MEMORY. 
 
 I'-h 
 
 ants." 3. A certain measure of duration. "On 
 this point we can reason from definite data. The 
 researches of the last thirty years have deter- 
 mined the time that is required for the different 
 sense perceptions, (hearing, 0.16 to 0.14 sec, 
 touch, 0.21 too. 18 sec, sight, 0.20 too. 22 sec, 
 and for the simplest act of discernment, that 
 nearest to reflex action 0.02 to 0.04 sec). Though 
 the results vary according to the experimenter, 
 the person under experiment, the circumstances 
 and the nature of the psychical acts that are being 
 investigated, so much is at least established, viz., 
 that every psychical act requires an appreciable dnr- 
 a/io?i, and that the supposed "infinite rapidity of 
 thought" is only a figure of speech. 
 
 From this it follows that no nervous action, the 
 duration of which is less than that required by 
 psychic action, can awaken consciousness. 
 
 The practical question with everyone who 
 would strengthen his memory and render it more 
 serviceable, the question of special interest to 
 teachers and students, has been well stated by 
 McLellan in his "Applied Psychology," and it is 
 this: /low to get anything intr> ^he mind so that it 
 can be got out again ivhen wanted. 
 
 Now a very little introspection will enable every 
 one to discover the fact that the mind possesses 
 certain ideas which it never forgets — ideas that 
 can not only be called up into consciousness 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 59 
 
 The Practical 
 
 Question 
 
 stated. 
 
 Now, if we 
 
 whenever wanted, but are very frequently present 
 — often annoyingly so — when not 
 called. Other ideas which seldom 
 recur except by voluntary effort, 
 are ever available when summoned 
 from the realm of the unconscious, 
 examine those ideas that seem to have a peren- 
 nial existence in our minds — those which are 
 habitually present or which invariably respond to 
 the summons of the will, we shall discover some 
 of the conditions favorable to recollection. 
 
 Let us take the impression made upon your 
 mind by a fire, which, we will suppose, destroyed 
 your house, imperilled your life and perhaps in- 
 flicted severe financial loss upon you. Here, then, 
 is a mental impression which it is impossible for 
 you to forget, one that can be recalled in all its 
 details, one that even now presents itself to your 
 mind with such vivid distinctness that you can see 
 again the devouring flames and hear the roar of 
 crackling conflagration. What are the peculiar 
 circumstances, either in the acquisition or the 
 retention of this mental impression which separ- 
 ates it from ordinary experiences which are so apt 
 to be forgotten? I think it must be admitted 
 that the chief peculiarity of this impression is to 
 found in this: it was received by the mind when 
 roused to the highest interest, when the attention 
 was naturally centered — we may say absorbed — 
 when the whola nature was excited by those 
 
6(1 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN MEMORY. 
 
 motives of self-interest that usually exert most 
 power over us. This readily suggests to us the 
 principle that the degree of interest felt and the de- 
 gree of attention given when a}} idea is first received 
 into the mind determines largely the permanency of the 
 idea, and the re(idi?iess of its recall to consciousness. 
 
 Again, if we take those conditions ot home life, 
 those associated with the names, dispositions, 
 habits and peculiarities of the members of the fam- 
 ily in which we live, or tliose more personal ones 
 connected with our own experience, such as the 
 seat we occupy, the oOicc where \vt; work, the 
 books we daily handle and the wliole class oi 
 most familiar ideas, and ask ourselves what ele- 
 ment these ha\e in common, or why it is that the 
 ideas which represent these objects now so famili- 
 ar, and yet so novel once to us, are so easily 
 recalled, we shall find a ready answer. These 
 impressions have been again and again repeated 
 by the daily recurrence of the objects which lirst 
 produced them or have been mentally reviewed 
 times without number. Hence they cannot be 
 forg nten. This suggests to us another principle 
 ot prime importance, which is this : ihai frajtient 
 repetition of an impression by repeated presentation 
 f the object "which produced it, or frequoit vivid 
 recall of the mental impression without the object , 
 lacilitates the voluntary recall of that impression. 
 
 If we examine carefully what takes place when 
 we recall a past impression we shall discover that 
 
 o 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 6l 
 
 our ideas are not separate and distinct, but have 
 a bond of connection or association, are, in fact, 
 so linked together that one necessarily recalls 
 another. 
 
 " Lulled in the couiilles;s clianibers of the brain 
 Our thoui,'-hts are linked by many a hidden chain ; 
 Awake but one, and lo ! what myriads rise 
 Each stamps his imai^e as the other ilies." 
 
 This association of ideas which constitutes in a 
 sense our continued mental existence and identity, 
 finds numerous illustrations in our language 
 where wot'ds are often : o paired that one invari- 
 ably calls up the other. vStraw berries and cream, 
 bread and butter, umbrella and rain, Scotchman 
 and bagpipes, church and sermon, are familiar il- 
 lustrations of this principle of association. Cus- 
 tom and experience make most of these associa- 
 tions which are common to a people, while some 
 oeculiar experience of the individual may perma- 
 nently associate in his mind and memory two 
 ideas that ha\e no natural bond of association. A 
 person who has, for example, met with a severe 
 assault from robbers at a certain point of the high- 
 way, may be ever afterwards unable to dissociate 
 the place and his painful experience, while for 
 others no such associations exist. 
 
 In addition, it is possible to make arbilary as- 
 sociations so that ideas in no way natura^lv re- 
 lated, may recall each other. This is the under- 
 lying principle in nearly mII i.1u sysiems o\ rmie- 
 
62 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVBRxV MEMORY. 
 
 monies. The plan pursued is to associate ideas 
 that are unfamih"ar with those that are familiar, 
 ideas belong-ing to one province of memory with 
 those belon«-ing to another province of memory. 
 Relations of time are often combined with rela- 
 tions of space, etc, By this method certain tem- 
 porary advantages have been obtained, some 
 mental pyrotechnics have been displayed, but 
 these artificial svstcms have never stren.^'-thened 
 the memory and have often, we fear, diverted the 
 attention from those exercises which are calcu- 
 lated to streng-then the recollection. As we shall 
 devote a chapter to an account of these mnemonic 
 systems, their use and abuse, we pass them over 
 for the present. 
 
 The principles underlying the association of 
 ideas, as stated by psycholoi,'-ists, will be treated 
 more fully in the chapter on associaiion of ideas. 
 For the present we are content to note the follow- 
 ing principle: ideas that become fh^mly associ- 
 ated i.\- OUR mental lU'E, either from our 
 
 HABITUAL EXPERIENCE, OR FROM SOME NATURAL 
 RELATIONSHIP, OR FROM ARBITRARY COUPLING BY 
 THE WILL, RECALL EACH OTHER TO CONSCIOUSNESS. 
 
 The principles which we have already pointed 
 out in reference to the mental processes involved 
 in memory, are of a general character. We now 
 proceed to refer to some particular.* in which in- 
 dividuals vary in regard to their methods and 
 powers of recalling past ideas, 
 
R.\riONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 63 
 
 Memory 
 
 dec.ls with 
 
 Mental 
 
 Images. 
 
 It will be evident to every one on a little re- 
 flection, that when we make an effort to recall an 
 idea, wc have at the time somk iaipkrssiov of it 
 in the mind. It is partially within the realm of 
 con.scioiisnes, and our mental elTort is directed 
 to a complete resuscitation of the idea — a part of 
 which is already within the mental vision. When 
 an idea is recalled as perfectly as the 
 mind is capable of recalling- it, or, 
 to speak from a physioloi^ical stand- 
 point, when a modification oi' the 
 nerve elements is repeated after the 
 lapse of some time, we have in mind what has 
 been denominated a mental imaj^-e. Strictlv 
 speaking this refers only to impressions received 
 originally throuo^h the sig-ht. Yet by extension 
 of meaning- it applies to the cerebral revival of 
 muscular and tactile sensation — sensations of 
 sound, taste and smell. "The word imaf'-c " 
 says G. H. Lewes, "must be understood as 
 desio-nating- any recalled feeling- of whatever kind 
 which wants something- of the signature and 
 energ-y of feeling, or after-feeling- which it recalls." 
 
 These imag-es appear like faint pictures of objects 
 seen, faint echoes of sound heard, faint repetitions 
 of impressions received throug-h the other senses. 
 The power of rei'roducixg these mextal images 
 of past sen'satioxs is one that exists in vary- 
 ING DEGREES IN DIFFERENT INDIVIDFALS AND TH.\ i 
 
64 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GO\'IiRN MEMORY. 
 
 The Visi-'al- 
 
 ijing Power 
 
 increased by 
 
 Exercise. 
 
 VARIES GREATLV IN THE SAME INDIVIDTAL ACCORD- 
 ING TO THE SENSE THROUGH WHICH THEV WERE 
 OBTAINED. 
 
 Some people hav^e naturally wonderful power in 
 recalling vividly past sig^hts and sounds, 'i'iie 
 artist and poet not only see more 
 than the ordinary individual, but 
 they mentally photoi^-raph the scene 
 so that it stands out before the mind 
 in life-like reality, and they are able 
 to paiiU it in colors or portray it in words because 
 of this w onderful power of visualising- past impres- 
 sions, Another iVcl, obvious to all who ha\e 
 tried the efi'ect oi' daily exercise in the de\elop- 
 mcnt of any mental process, is this: ruE row ei^ 
 
 TO Ki:i'KODl'CE THE MENTAL IMAGES 01-' PAST l.MI'Ui:s- 
 SIONS IS ONE CAPABLE OF NASI IM PIUnCNII'N r i^' 
 KEC.ri AR ANO PERSISENT I'RACTlCi:. 
 
 This power varies in the indixiduHl ace-ordini^ to 
 the source of the impressions. Some remember 
 much more easily the si^ht imai^es, than the 
 sound imai^'es — what the}- ha\e seen ihan what 
 the}' ha\e heard. The reverse is true o( cUhers, 
 The cjuickest way for some to memori/.e certain 
 facts is to see them upon the printed paj^e or in 
 some pictorial representation. P"or others, listen- 
 ing- to the facts read or told by another, is the 
 easier method. A little examination ot one's own 
 powers will suOice to discover wlielher nioniof' 
 
 
RATIONAL MEMORV TRAINING. 
 
 6s 
 
 
 is stronger in regard to sight or sound, and this 
 should determine to a Hmited extent, the method 
 of study. Every one should seek to discover 
 wherein his memory is most deficient, and aim to 
 strengthen the memory along the line of this de- 
 ficiency. How this may be done we shall point 
 out in a subsequent chapter. It is sufficient here 
 to note that regular daily practice in recalling 
 
 THOSE mental IMAGES WHICH THE MIND NATURALLY 
 HAS LEAST POWER TO RECALL, WILL EFFECT A WON- 
 DERFUL INCREASE OF THE MIND's POWER IN THIS 
 RESPECT. 
 
 Let us for example take the case of a man who 
 
 is always forgetting the names of acquaintances. 
 
 Let such an one form the habit of spending five 
 
 minutes each morning in recalling the names of 
 
 new and old acquaintances. Let him make it a 
 
 rule whenever he meets an individual 
 
 to address him promptly byname ^^'^."^ *^^ 
 
 ' ..... , Deficient 
 
 and whenever he sees an individual, Power. 
 
 to recall mentally the name and even 
 utter it aloud. i>y the exercise of a little will 
 power and a little persistence in accustoming the 
 mind to recall names, he will effect a wonderful 
 improvement in his memory o( names. Similar 
 lines of exercise in recalling the impressions ob- 
 tained through other senses may be marked out 
 by the student and pursued with equal benefit. 
 
 But mere recall of the mental images produced 
 
Of' 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN MEMORY' 
 
 b\ ihe senses does not constitute the hig'hest kind 
 of memory and, if unaccompanied by thought and 
 some exercise of the reflective faculties, may bar 
 the road to mental progress. Many illiterate and 
 some foolish people have been known to excel 
 philosophers in this sensational monoty. The boy 
 at school who learns to recite his tables .'uid, after 
 beginning with 8 x i -=S, can regularly proceed to 
 8 ^ I J - c)6, but could not reverse the process, or, 
 witliout repeating the table thus far, tell you that 
 8 X 7 - 56, '^r, having been told that eight multi- 
 plied by vvcn equals fit'ty-six, could not tell you 
 how UKUiy times eight coidd be taken from fifty- 
 six, has been cultivating sensational memory, and 
 such sensational memory as he has thus acquired 
 \vill i^\-\\\ bui'den his mind. 
 
 The facts to be memorized should alwaxs be 
 thoroughly understood by the students. 
 
 A fact understood, thoroughly mastered, can be 
 laid hold o'i by the reason, and used in this way 
 the memory has a double hold upon it, \'iz., the 
 recollection of the fact through the 
 sensational memory and the associa- 
 tion oi that fact with others in men- 
 tal operations. This may be called 
 "rational" memorv as distinguished 
 liom "sensational," or as sonie have styled it, 
 "ver'tal" memory. The highest devclc[>ment of 
 f, :.;moty, accirding to some authors has been 
 
 S.iiisational, 
 
 Rational and 
 
 Injaqrinative 
 
 Mt'inory. 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRALMN'G. 
 
 67 
 
 styled the "representative" or ** imaginative " 
 memory which is capable of ** imaging" forth 
 past sensations with almost the same vividness 
 which characterized their entry into the mind. 
 
 Now a fact thoroughly understood and brought 
 into such relations to the mind that it can be used 
 bv the reason, occupies much the same relation to 
 the mind that food, properly masticated and intro- 
 duced into the digestive organs, does in relation 
 to the body. Such a fact Is assimilated to our 
 mental life as food is changed to blood, muscle 
 and nerve. 
 
 To make facts our own in such a way that it 
 will be impossible to forget them it is essential 
 that we first thoroughly understand them, and 
 secondly, that we use them in our 
 reasoning processes on all suitable TX^e most use 
 occasions. Every one is cognizant our Ideas to 
 of the fact that ideas imperfectly Retain them. 
 grasped by the intellect and facts 
 that lie unused in the mind like so much useless 
 lumber, soon escape us. Knowledge unused is 
 knowledge soon losf. 
 
 A new method in the study of memory was 
 introduced by a German student, Ebbinghaus, in 
 the university of Berlin, in 1882, since which time 
 experiments of a somewhat similar character have 
 been made in various colleges of the United States. 
 The object was by experiments conducted on a 
 
68 
 
 THE LA\\'.S WHICH GOVERN MEMORY. 
 
 sufficiently broad scale, under test conditions, to 
 verify certain supposed facts in regard to memory, 
 and to collate a sufficient number of facts for the 
 beginning of an inductive study of memory. 
 Among the special objects of investigation by 
 Ebbinghaus were the tollowing: To discover the 
 comparative time required in memorizing signifi- 
 cant and non-signiiicant words; to ascertain how 
 much time would be saved in relearning a given 
 number of syllables by increasing the number of 
 repetitions at the first attempt; to 
 ascertain whether in memorizing a 
 number of words, the bonds of asso- 
 ciation extended to other words than 
 those immediately preceding and 
 following a given word, etc. The following 
 were some of the conclusions reached: 
 
 Experiments 
 in Memoriz- 
 ing and the 
 Results. 
 
 1. That ten times more time was required to 
 learn non-significant than significant words. This 
 is a conclusion oi great pedagogical value as it 
 shows that \ov \asti.v increash the chances of 
 
 A FACT BEING RETAINED IN THE MIND IF IT IS 
 CLEAKLV rXDEKSTOOD. TlIE STl'DENT SHOULD 
 
 LEARN FROM THIS THAT THE TIME SPENT IN AC^LTR- 
 ING A THOROUCWl COMPREHENSION OF A SUBJECT IS 
 MORE THAN GAINED IX ME.MORIZING IT. 
 
 2. That in memoi izing a certain list of syllables 
 there was an average saving of 12.7 seconds lor 
 each repetition in the former attempts. For ex- 
 
RATIONAL MUMOKY TRAINING. 
 
 69 
 
 ample it was found that 86 syllables could be 
 memorized at a first attempt in 1270 seconds, but 
 after 24 repetitions they could bo learned the fol- 
 lowing day in 915 seconds. 
 
 3. Tiiat learning- an original series of syllables 
 perceptibly shortens the time required for learning- 
 these syllables in a new order, whether that order 
 be the reverse of the original or made up by omit- 
 ting I, 2, 3, or more syllables. 
 
 Professor Cattell, o( the Uni\'crsity o( Pennsyl- 
 vania, made an interesting series of experiments 
 of the same general character, extending over 
 several years. One purpose was to lind the rela- 
 tive time required in forming associations with 
 abstract and concrete words. The method adopt- 
 ed was to dictate ten v.ords oi' each class to a 
 number of persons oi about the same age and 
 mental developinenl, and to allow twenty seconds 
 for the formation of associations with each word. 
 
 Al.L THE TESTS SHOWED THAT IT TOOK LONGER 
 TO FORM ASSOCL\TIONS WITH AHSTRACT THAN CON- 
 CRETE WORDS. Tests were also made upon pupils 
 of different ages, varying from 14 to 18 years, and 
 also upon several classes in a London public 
 school and in a German i^\ini\asium. The results 
 obtained from the tiials all seem to point in one 
 directi(^n: a distinct shortiimnc; of the .nh^ntal 
 proc:ess AccoMrANViN'G growth and education. 
 The boys of the sivth form requirc'd les* than hiil 
 
70 
 
 THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN MEMORY. 
 
 the time needed by the boys of the third form to 
 make a given number of associations. 
 
 Results based on more than 12,000 observa- 
 tions by 516 observers, show that in conxrete 
 
 WORDS THE FAVORITE ASSOCIATIONS ARE FROM 
 WHOLE TO PART AND NOT FROM PART TO WHOLE. 
 
 Why trees should suggest leaves, rather than 
 leaves trees to the majority of minds, it may not 
 be easy to explain; but there would seem to be 
 no doubt in respect to the fact. If this indicates 
 a real tendency of mind in forming associations, 
 it would seem to suggest to educators the order 
 in which concrete words should be arranged for 
 easy memorizing, and also that the mind is more 
 disposed to analysis than synthesis. 
 
 Experiments made recently by Professor John- 
 son, of Brooklyn, were directed to the discovery 
 of the relative power of memory in men and 
 women. The papers of forty-two men and twen- 
 ty-eight women formed the basis of comparison. 
 Of the words written by the men 40 per cent. 
 were completely forgotten, and 49.8 percent, cor- 
 rectly recalled; while the women forgot only 29.2 
 per cent., and correctly remembered 58 per cent., 
 a dilferencc of more than 8 per cent, in favor of 
 the women. A subsequent comparison made 
 under the direction of Professor Jastrow o( the 
 pupils o( the Milwaukee High School, shows a 
 similar result. The boys remembered only 41.5 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TKAIXINC 
 
 of their associations after an interval of three 
 days; while the i^irls recalled 6J.5 per cent, ol 
 theirs, a dilTerence of 21 per .enl. in favor o\ tlu 
 girls. 
 
 In the examination ol the pujMls of the Milv.au- 
 kee High School, before referred to, it was four.d 
 that the girls use only 134 ditYerent words, while 
 the boys use 208. In the girls' list there are only 
 91 words that occur but once, while in the hoys' 
 list there are 148. This si:i-:M> ro ixdtcatk t.r.s> 
 
 INDIVIULALITV IN THE THOl OUT i'ROCESS Of WOMEN 
 
 THAN MEN. Preferences for certain special asso- 
 ciations seem also to be suggested; thi. me:; 
 
 EAVORINO ASSOCIATIONS HV SOUND AND EKOM i'AKI 
 TO whole; WOMEN THOSE ViiO.W WHOLE TO TAR I 
 
 AND EROM onjECT TO oiALirv. So far as a c oiu- 
 parison can be made this latter result correspt^nds 
 with that obtained by professor Lattell in the ex- 
 amination o\' London school girls and boys. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW TO TRAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE 
 MEMORY. 
 
 "Surely an art of memory may be made no more destruc- 
 tive to natural memory than spectacles are to eyes." 
 
 — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 '* The extent of the memory ilepends : Hrst, on the daily 
 use we make of it ; secondly, on the attention with 
 which wc consider the objects wc would impress 
 upon it, and thirdly, on the order in which we 
 arrang-e our ideas." — Melvetiis. 
 
 " If any one ask me what is the only and greatest art of 
 memory, I shall say tha^ it is exercise and labor. 
 To learn much by heart, to meditate inuch, and, if 
 possible, daily, are the most efficacious of all 
 methods. Nothing is so much strengthened b}- 
 practice or weakened by neglect as memory. "- 
 
 — Qlintillw. 
 
 That the memory, like all other powers of the 
 mind, is capable o( training- and development by 
 rational methods, is a proposition that few will 
 dispute. To what limit it may be extended and 
 streng-thened has not been determined, but there 
 can be no doubt that the mass of mankind have 
 faint conception of the great possibili::ies in the 
 way of the development of memory, that lie be- 
 fore them. Weak memories may be streng-thened 
 
RATIONAL MKMOKV TRAIN'ING. 
 
 11 
 
 and good memories made better in the same way 
 that flabby muscle may be made firm, and strong- 
 muscle fibre may be made stronger, viz. , by 
 appropriate exercise, regularl\' followed, under 
 the right conditions, and with intervening periods 
 of rest. 
 
 Artificial systems of memory training, that pro- 
 fess by revealing wonderful secrets, and recent 
 discoveries, to fit out the student with a new 
 memory in the course o'l a few days and teacli 
 him the art of ** never forgetting," may be classed 
 with the wonderful patent medicines that produce 
 full beards on smooth cheeks in a few weeks. 
 As a means o( training the memory and rendering 
 it serviceable in the battle oi life, these systems 
 are worse than useless. It may freely Ik* admit- 
 ted, however, that by means o^ mnemonics the 
 student can commit to memory more quickly 
 certain classes of subjects. 
 
 Before entering upon this very practical and 
 important question of the proper training of the 
 memory, there is a view of the subject I would 
 like to press upon the reader's attention. If 
 memory like all our other powers is ca[iable of 
 vast improvement by proper methods, is ii not as 
 much obligatory to train and keep in i:^ooi\ work- 
 ing condition this most wonderful faculty, :is it is 
 to give proper food and exercise to the body ? 
 This ethical view of memory, I am aware, is one 
 
74 HOW TO TRAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE MEMORY. 
 
 that docs not appear to have received much 
 
 attention. The serene way in which most people 
 
 speak o( the possession of a poor memory sliows 
 
 that this ethical view of memory 
 
 The Ethical trainin<^ has never occurred to them, 
 
 View of ^1 . ^1 ^ 1 
 
 -- or that they must regard memory as 
 
 an entirely unmanageable factor in 
 
 their mental life. How startling it would be to 
 
 hear one of these persons say, I have a poor 
 
 faculty of speaking the truth, or, I have great 
 
 difficulty in refraining from theft, and yet a bad 
 
 memory may be, and often is, a moral defect as 
 
 well as an intellectual one. Vet how cooly and 
 
 with what utter absence of any thought of merit 
 
 or demerit, does your average man declare, " I 
 
 forget all about it," as though this v\ere an un- 
 
 challangeable excuse for some neglect. 
 
 We have seen in the chapter on the practical 
 value ol' a good memory, that a man's success in 
 society and in business is largely dependent on a 
 good memory ; while every one knows that the 
 student, the teacher, the minister, the public 
 speaker are dependent in a large measure on an 
 active and retentive memory, for success in their 
 work. If memory, then, is so essential to proper 
 performance o( life's duties, how can its iicglecL 
 be looked upon as other than a sin ? 
 
 Is there not good ground for the assertion that 
 "a bad memory is always a defect, frequently h 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 75 
 
 fault, and sometimes a crime?" The Rev. 
 Augustine S. Carman in a reccMit article on the 
 ethics of memory, in the Homiletic Revieii\ to 
 which we are indebted for some of the thoughts 
 of this paragraph, adduces four striking facts, 
 which indicate the ethical element in memory. 
 They are as follows: i. Memory is cultivable to 
 an indefinite extent. 2. Attention is a fundamen- 
 tal condition of memory. 3. We remember best 
 what interests us. 4. Our memories are integral 
 parts of ourselves. 
 
 As already pointed out the fact that memory is 
 a large element in the proper performance of life's 
 duties, and that it is improvable by training and 
 practice, brings it at once into the realm of ethics. 
 
 Again the fact thai attention is requisite to good 
 memory and lack of attention the one great source 
 oi defective memory, seems to trace 
 memory defects back to volition 
 where we again reach the realm ot 
 ethics. The statement, "we re- 
 member best what interests us," 
 needs no other confu-mation tlian is found in every 
 Mian's experience, yet it clearly implies a moral 
 quality in memory, because our like-, and dislikes 
 spring not only from inheritance, but Irom habit, 
 education and choice, which are clearly ethical. 
 Interest is often a dominating element in our mem- 
 orv of persons. We remember some person*; 
 
 Memory 
 Training is a 
 Moral Obli- 
 gation. 
 
7^ MOW TO TRAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE MEMORV. 
 
 because they interest us; we forget others because 
 they do not excite our interest. The case of a 
 Southern hidy is cited, who testified in court that 
 she could not identify' a certain negro "because 
 all nei^frocs looked alike to her." Then the fact 
 that memory becomes a part of ourselves, that the 
 entire record of our pjist lives is recorded in our 
 natures, seems to indicate that past habits, pre- 
 ferences and education will larj^ely determine not 
 only the class of subjects we remember, but the 
 facility of recollection in every department of our 
 experience. All these considerations urg-e upon 
 us the cultivation of memory as an important 
 duty to ourselves and others. 
 
 As clear and definite ideas of the object to be 
 accomplished, are essential in any underlaking it 
 may be advisable to ask, what should be the end 
 aimed at in memory trainiiii,^ ? What conslitutes 
 a <rood memory ? Memory is for use rather than 
 ornament, for daily help in fighting life's battles, 
 rather than mere exhibition of power in the per- 
 formance of memory feats. 
 
 The questiiMi may then assume this form: 
 What constitutes a really ser\iceable memory? 
 The answer to this is not difficult. 
 A good memory is om: that firmly 
 retains in orderly arrangement what 
 is committed to it, and produces 
 reatlily its stores; at the command pf 
 
 What is a 
 
 Good 
 Memory ? 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAIXrNG. 
 
 11 
 
 the will. He is ;i good steward who receives 
 what his master commits to him, preserves it in 
 good condition and order and cheerfully and 
 promptly obeys his master's command, when 
 ordered to produce it. The ofTice o^ memory is to 
 receive, preserve, restore. Many memories are 
 good in one respect and decidedly inferior in 
 others. A man's memory may be retentive, but 
 if his knowledge be not arranged in an orderly 
 manner, his power of recollection may be so slow 
 that for practical purposes his memory is often 
 valueless. In modern life, we crowd into our 
 three score and ten years more experience than 
 seven centuries of life gave to the early patriarch. 
 We have such a multitude o1 engagements to- 
 day, and business and social life passes with such 
 a rush, that a memory that docs not respond .\T 
 THE HCTR OR AT THE MOMENT the will makes de- 
 mands upon it, is practically useless. One great 
 need o'i everyone to-day is a ready memory, one 
 that requires but a hint toc-ifect an immediate re- 
 sponse. The memory that is always 
 an hour behind time, always lag- 
 ging with a load of after-tiioughts, 
 is like the train that arrives a day 
 after the fair. Memory should be 
 like drafts made payable on de- 
 mand. 
 
 "Ah," savs the merchant, " if I had only re- 
 
 A Good 
 
 Memory 
 
 retains firmly 
 
 and responds 
 
 freely. 
 
in 
 
 7S TfOW TO TRAIN- AND STRENGTHEN THE MEMORY. 
 
 mcmbered that item o( business with A., and 
 spoken to him when he was in my store this 
 morning, it would have saved me a twenty mile 
 journey and half a day's time." 
 
 "Alas," says the minister, "if that illustration 
 had not escaped me just at the moment, how 
 much more interesting- and forcible I could have 
 made that part of the sermon?" 
 
 "How provoking-," cries the woman who has 
 just returned from town, "to think that I attend- 
 ed to all the minor matters and forgot the very 
 things I most needed until I came home." 
 
 While most men admit the value ol' a kkadv 
 MEMOXV some have questioned whetiier it is really 
 necessary in our day for the memory to have such 
 strong reteuiive power as men s_\niod to have 
 possessed in earlier times. IJefore tiie age of 
 printing .; good share ol ihe knowledge o( ni, in- 
 kind was preserved in the storehouse o{ memory. 
 Even to-day \ery much of the traditional know- 
 ledge of many nations is retained in this way, and 
 handed down from generation l.i gfeneration. Hut 
 among c" ilized people, it is argued, where books 
 and papers abound, and where copious works of 
 •eference in all departments o( human knowledge 
 are available, it is not necessary t. develop the 
 retentive powers to the same extent as in earlier 
 times. Doubtless it is neither necessary or ad- 
 visable to day to mrke the mind an intellectual 
 
RATIONAL MKMORV TKAIMNG. 
 
 79 
 
 pacU-horse, and it is possible to burden the mind 
 with many thing's for which we might belter con- 
 sult works of reference. Vet after due allowance 
 is made for all this, il will be seen that the de- 
 mands oi modern life are such that every man, to 
 be successful, must carry a vast 
 
 lund of such information as his call- Power of 
 
 • 1 . .t Retention 
 
 ini^- demands, in his mind; and the necessary. 
 
 readiness with which he can pro- 
 duce these stores will be to some extent, the 
 measure oi his success. 
 
 A man cannot carry Webster's Unabridged and 
 the Encyclopedia Hritannica to the stock exchange, 
 to the counting house or to the drawing room. 
 
 Petroleum V. Nasby in on^ of his letters des- 
 cribes a man who declared he had no need of 
 knowledge because he always kept a nigger to do 
 his reading and writing. It is doubtful, however, 
 if the possession of a vassal could supply the lack 
 oi' education, and it ■' equally doubtful if all the 
 classified and published knowledge of to-day can 
 enable a man to dispense with a strong and re- 
 tentive memory. 
 
 Having then settled it that memory is capable 
 of vast improvement by appropriate training, and 
 that it is of the highest importance to possess a 
 strong and active memory, what is the first 
 requisite oi rational memory training 'r We answer 
 without hei iation, a strong dbter.mination, 
 
8*0 »IO\V TO TWAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE MEMORY. 
 
 based on a clear apprehension of the value and 
 importance of a i^ood nietnory and of the correct 
 methods of improvinir it, to persist in daily ex- 
 
 I-RCISIC OF THIS FAILT/IY UNTIL IT IS BROrCHT TO 
 
 icirku-xcv. There is no royal road to tiie posses- 
 sion o\' so threat a treasure, as there is no short 
 cut for the masses to riches, fame, and power, 
 so the majority of men can only reach the hei^-hts 
 oi mental excellence by continued effort backed 
 II. 15V AN iron utli,. Let the student then resolve 
 to have a well stored and ready memory. Let 
 him remember, that like all his other powers^ of 
 body and mind, memory is a talent which will im- 
 prove In- use, or shrivel by ne-lect. Let him re- 
 member what stren-th has been developed by 
 phvsical irainiiu;-. what wonderful powers of mind 
 bv'education, and let him resolve not to be hand- 
 i Japped in the race of life by a treacherous memory. 
 While there is no royal road to the possession 
 oi' a retentive and responsive memory, there is an 
 open road to every one who has will power 
 enou^-h to form a iirm resolution and patience 
 enou-h to follow a course of daily exercises. 
 
 Tiie wii.i. Misr nv. cri/nvATED as a part of pro- 
 per memorv training-. The memory must be 
 trained to act promptly, and loyally obey every 
 command of the will, and it will be assisted in 
 this if the will is made stron^- and unbending. As 
 a means of developing this will power, one 
 prominent teacher recommends the following: 
 
RATIONAL MtMORV 1 RAINING. 
 
 8i 
 
 Resolve to risk every mokning for three 
 
 MONTHS an HOIR EARLIER THAN USUAL and clevOtC a 
 
 stated time to some particular work, 
 The Will 
 must be 
 Educated. 
 
 sav, mcmorizin*^ a few verses, and 
 
 DO IT. It is simply impossible to 
 mcrestimale the amount ot" know- 
 ledge that may be acquired or the degree of men- 
 tal power that may be reached by a course of 
 daily studies, phuined and unlaltcringly pursued 
 by an unyielding and victorious will. The major- 
 ity of men who fail in life, fail for lack oi' will 
 power. This will power transformed the little 
 Corsican into the great Napoleon who was accus- 
 tomed to sav to men who failed: you have not 
 half enough will power. When told that the Alps 
 stood in the wa}' oi' his victorious march into 
 Italy, he said, "there shall be no Alps," and the 
 Simplon Pass was the result. "Impossible," he 
 said, " is a word only found in the dictionary oi 
 fools." 
 
 When the student has once fairly resolved to 
 develop a good memory, the battle is halt won. 
 "Tlu' luMijlits whu-li .t;i\\it iiu-n roaclKul and kopt, 
 
 Wore not altaiiii'd l)y siulden lliK'it; 
 
 Hut llioy, while tlielf (.ompanions slept, 
 
 W'oco toiliui;- iipwaid in tho ni^ht." 
 
 The second step is to find out as far as possible 
 one's own strength and weakness in regard to 
 memory, and in what way the memory works with 
 most ease and wherein it experiences most difll- 
 
Itf. 
 
 I 
 
 s. 
 
 now It) -iu\i\- wn sTiU'Ac.i in:\ tuf, mfchokv 
 
 Test your 
 
 Memory's 
 
 Strength and 
 
 Weakness. 
 
 to (S in c;icli 
 
 <'iil'v. As lu'foi-L- pointci.1 out some tenicmhoi' 
 more easily the "siij-ht imaj^'-es" than the "sound 
 imaj;-es." while the reverse is true eif i>thers. One 
 she, ikl ImkI out uhioli he mos! easih recalls, the 
 " imaL,'-es of sii^Hit " or the " sound images," uoi 
 only as a j^aiide to llie easiest method oi' memor\ , 
 hut also thai he may eultivate the memorv bv ap- 
 propriate exercises alon-^- the line oi' its deliciencx . 
 To determine whether you remember 
 more easily the sii^ht ov sound 
 imaj^es, we recommend the folio w- 
 iiii;- test: i^-et a friend to write down 
 lor you three lists o\ words — sav h 
 tamihar words ol' one syllalile, each 
 word represent inj^- a distinct idea, but ha\in<; no 
 lelation in sense with any iW'the others. Let these 
 be marUctl, la, ..-a, V'- Ia-I the same person 
 write three other lists o\ the same wortis as In the 
 precedinj;-, each one in order dill'ercnt from the 
 correspondintr lirsi list, and marked respecliv el\-, 
 lb, jb, ]h, these lists to be entirely unknown to 
 >ou until tlu' experiiiK'iit is made. Now take la 
 and read it skn\ly imul' (Mily in perl'ect silence, 
 and then uritc ilown as nian\ wiM'ds of this list as 
 }-ou can Iroi!) memory on a slip of paper marked 
 laa, t!ie same ui'h ja .■iiul y.\, inarkiii;;- :mswers 
 2aa and ;aa 
 
 In the v\v\Mul sui.s, ;.,i yoi'r IrieuLl to \\'ak.\ \o 
 \ o 1 *'iice clcarK , ai ,in oiJinary rate, the worils 
 ol lb, alter which immediaieb wiile as m mv as 
 
KATIONAI. .MR.\U>K\ I KAl.MNC. 
 
 .S 
 
 \ Oil can on a slip of paper niaikin<>- it ihh, and so 
 with jb, and 3b, marUiiii^" aii>\vcr.s jbb and ^lib. 
 Sum lip tlio coiTOfl answors of tho llrst soiics and 
 also o{' [he SL'Ci>nd. The list show inj;- iho hii^hcsl 
 pjiconlai^o ol" coiTocl answois w ill show whether 
 the sit^hi ov si>inul imaj^'esare more easily recci\ed 
 b\' Nou. Ihil this is by no means the iMily peiint 
 io be in\estij;aled. // /.v /iiui'ssary /o /ounv no/ 
 oii/y l)\' h'/i/c/i ('/ ///(' siNSi's 't'l' tnos/ i\ tidily receive 
 uciy i(/('(is, but iilsi) le/iii'/i Jiiniis/it's //losc ihuii^vs up- 
 on which /he mind Iids nios/ re/en/ ive poxer. 
 
 The lakiiii^' in ol ne\\' itleas is one thini;'; the 
 stoi'ini4" antl letainini^' ihcm is another. In oixler 
 to test the retentive power ot' the mind iijhmi eaeh 
 class ot nuntal ima_L;'es, it will he desiiabie to re- 
 peat the ex|vriment with new word material, and 
 allow an inters al, say of an houi', to lap'-e bet w een 
 the readiiii;' and the wiitini4 in the ease ol the 
 lirsl list, aiul the same between the dictation and 
 the writing- in the other. Care must be taken 
 that in the mier\als the mind should ni>t be un- 
 e\cnl)' taxed oi- disLra^led. 
 
 One resiih o{ the experiments, if eaiel'ully made, 
 will be, peihaps, to demonsirale tlu ■■ti,ini;e lacl, 
 ihat ihie mind i.u^es not .il\\a\s leiain r>-'sl those 
 iinai.jes wliieh it nuvsi ieadil\ leei-ixe-.. Appre- 
 licnsioi» .iiul lelention may dilVer in regard I vt 
 their la\orite senses. Many pcrstnis receive most 
 readil} one wa) and i\inember best in another. 
 
^4 HOW TO TRAIN AND STRENGTHEN- THE MEMORY 
 
 Very ofter for example, a person may receive best 
 by sight and retain best by sound. 
 
 In these experiments, the nut u re of the niisfakea 
 made in writino- uill be an indication worthy of 
 note. Those who write from memory oi sounds 
 will as a rule, make mistakes sug-g-ested by simi- 
 larity KiS. sounds. Those who, on the other hand, 
 remember by pictures o{ thought, will in their 
 errors substitute words that bear a general resem- 
 blance in their caligraphy to the original lists. In 
 this way it will not be dillicult for 
 any student to gain a very useful in- 
 sight into his individual way of tak- 
 ing in and storing ideas. 
 
 This knowledge of one's strength 
 and weakness in regard to memorv, 
 is an essential element in memorv traininp-. It 
 must be taken into account, if the higcst success 
 is to be obtained. It is for this very reason that 
 so many find the arbitary and luinatural associa- 
 tions ot the mnemonic systems oi to-day so value- 
 less, because they do not take into account the 
 essential differences between memory that depends 
 chiefly o\\ sound images and memory that depends 
 chiefly on sight images. If arbitrary associations 
 for mnemonic purposes are ever justifiable and 
 advisable, they must be adapted to the individual, 
 and should be in most cases constructed by himself. 
 
 The next step in improving the memory is most 
 
 Memory 
 
 Training 
 
 must be adapt 
 
 ed to the 
 
 Individual. 
 
RATIONAL ME.MOKV TRAINING. 
 
 8S 
 
 careful attention to the rnethod of receiving; ideas. 
 The "taking" in" process, as already pointed out, 
 has very much to do with the "keepitii^" process 
 and the "g'cttin^'' out" process in rci^ard to ideas. 
 
 In our opening" chapters we laid down four 
 threat principles of true memory training', viz., 
 careful obso'iuifioti^ fhoroui^h comprehension^ meth- 
 odical (irr. I n icemen t und frequent reproduction. Tlie 
 iirst three refer particularly ro the " takings in" 
 process, and may be reg^arded as preparatory and 
 
 as aids to recollection, while the last 
 
 , c i • I 1 ^ * 1 Fundamental 
 
 has reterence particularlv to the _, , , , 
 , ., ' . . , Pnnciples 
 
 daily and appropriate discipline Re-stated 
 
 which alone will strengthen the 
 memory. As we shall ha\ e much to say on the 
 subject o( careful obserxation in a subseLpient 
 chapter on "Attention," we pass it over here with 
 brief reference. It is now generally -ag-reed that 
 most o{ the errors that pre\ail in the world spring" 
 not so much from illogical reasoning" as from in- 
 (iccurtite obscrv(itii)n. And il may be stated, with 
 little fear o'l contradiction, that imperfect compre- 
 /lension of tt subject is ever the chief difliculty in 
 memoriizimr it. In the series of experiments con- 
 ducted recently in the university o( Berlin, as we 
 have seen, the fact was demonstrated that our 
 chances o( remembering anything" are increased 
 ten-fold by thorough comprehension. It may be 
 thoug"ht that these facts bear more directly on the 
 subjectof easy apprehension and ready recall of par- 
 
Sh 
 
 ) HOW lO IKAIN AM' s 1 k;;:..(,. J IILN THE Mr-:MORV. 
 
 ticiilar ideas than upon the subject of the g"cneral 
 dc\-olopniciu oi niemorv. \'ot it will he admitted 
 on I'L'llc. iion, that thoy ha\L' nini:h K> tlo also with 
 iho iniprox L iiicnt oi the luenioi'}' lavulty hwHausc 
 1 la- haiiits of carelnl observation, thiMOUi^h coin- 
 pixTiensieui and nn-lhodic-al arranj:,'"emenl oi it.leas 
 ha\ in,:^' onro been roiiued, ihe reproductive [unver 
 ol llie mind will doublless be incrcasiiii^ly exercised 
 ami the w lutle tacnlty .strcni^lhened. 
 
 'i'he slucicnl sluaild next velecl tor dail\- practice 
 
 in mcmorixinj^" and revicwini; such exercises as 
 
 may be adaptetl to his neetls and llie special ob- 
 
 Jeci he Ik'n in \ iew. 'I'woor three in'-alil ies nri\- be 
 
 poinled out which shonlii alwa\.s J;aracteri/,e 
 
 these meniiM) tasj-:s. Ii! the lirsi pl.u.e they 
 
 .shouLl be /;.■/.;/ and cv.vi' raiher tlian Umiil;' and tlil- 
 
 licnh. I he ihinJ de\eio|".s si ri.'n|.;l h, nol so nuicii 
 
 by oecnsi.'iial anti .scxere cIKm-I as 1 \ eas\- and 
 
 re;,ular exci i'i'~e. Not inan\ sears sinci.' it was 
 
 Cvinsi(.iei\ Li essential in plnsical traiiiin_^ to use 
 
 the heaviest dumb-bells and weii;hls, an>.l violent 
 
 siiaaiinjL; ol the nniscles was sujtposed to increase 
 
 iIk siren, ;ih. i o-ilay lieav} w\'ii;ht.s are j;t.'neral- 
 
 ly d;scai\le».l. and reliance is placed laiher o\] 
 
 natural and unrest I'aincti nioveinenls 
 
 o[ the various parts ol liie botlv , 
 
 lunsued wi'ii 1 '.vL;tilai itv and nnck'r 
 
 li^dil condition's. So in traininii' 
 
 anv Uieril.d i.n.Liltv, il is \\o{ the 
 
 siveiiiv I'l" llie I'fTtin so uin. h as its suitabililv 
 
 Tl)i^ proper 
 Kind of 
 Memory 
 Exercises, 
 
UATIONAI. MI-.NKMn- ll-'MMXr,. 
 
 ;iml roi.'i;l:iri'y that pn im^l^^ int».'!lofli al Nii^Ti. 
 
 Another quality ol tlu's*. iiK'nuMs tasUs slu>uld 
 bo simplii-ity. l-!voiy sclcclii^i (^1 pn'.sr ( r pvKlry 
 should he oul' lapaMo ol oa.'-v and ihon rt^h <o\v- 
 prolu'usioii. .\s\\r r,a\i' siou, a Nt '■ • ■ ■ ■'"•'••«• • 
 1\ ui.di.-i'sl». oii i^ r.iM onl\ u.on.' «.;• 
 tliau <^\)^- iioi lull) II mpul.vi dcd, 1 
 arr decided'! \ in lavo ot li^ Iv' 
 ii»i • 1 1 111 >i I 
 
 t l'\ I ; ■ lu-,c-r^'.'' 
 
 rclainod. 
 
 The soleetion shou'tl be oapable ol easy and 
 natuial di\ -.slon. svi ihat tie miiul nia\ master it 
 by eas\ steps i at! er than /rr ay//// />/. M should 
 be e'losen or its beauty, subliniil\ or utiiilN , since 
 it is as (.as\ to nienioil/e ^ueli so'.eiMious as mere 
 wortl-iiiii^les and the mind and heart are ahUe 
 l>elter lor ei>mmunini; w ith tlie " tin uj^h.ts llial 
 breathe " in "woids thai burn." 
 
 All o\ tiiese qualities, it seeUi^ to me, are bnmd 
 in niueli ol" I he literature o\' the Ihble. The 
 
 anil \erses 
 
 The 
 
 Scriptures 
 
 A daptcd to 
 
 Memory 
 
 Triining- 
 
 division into ehapters ami \erses, 
 
 while sometimes arbitr.u-y, is. on the 
 
 whole, suited to the thou-hl, wliile 
 
 the simplicit), beauty ami utilil>- ol 
 
 nuieh oi the Uible history, the Uook j riuui.K- 
 
 of Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, parts 
 
 oi' the Prophets, the Clo^j els and most ol the 
 
 Pauline Epistles, will be readily admitted by all. 
 
 In addition, mir literature eontains abundanee ot 
 
 works, both prose and poetic, Irom which selec- 
 
 tlons can readily be made adapted to the ar.e 
 
88 HOW TO TRAIN AND SFUENGTHEN THE MEMORY 
 
 I I 
 
 Daily 
 Memorizing 
 and daily 
 Reviewing 
 
 from 
 Memory. 
 
 comprehension and need of the student and well- 
 fitted, no{ only for nicnioiy culture, but for elevat- 
 inif the taste and enrichin;^'- the inteliii^ence. Let 
 us suppose our student to haw made his selection 
 — say the Hook i^l" Luke or a poem iVom one of 
 our standard liui^'-lish authors. The ne\l step is 
 a carefully prepareii plan of daily menuM-i/ini;- and 
 review. The mornini,"-, if at all 
 jiracticable, slunikl he chosen as the 
 time fi>r memory drill, and with this 
 chosen hour no lUher eni4a<4ement 
 should be allowed to interfeie. The 
 work — and here is the keinol of the 
 whole matter- consists in (/(ti/y 
 nw mar if: inn- a limifcii (inioint/ of iiciv »i(i//cr (ind 
 liaily rev/civinii- oifirdy from nicniorv the fxirls al- 
 nuidy memorized. Let us suppose that Luke has 
 been chosen and the limit c>i daily memorizing 
 fixed at five verses. This, for some who possess 
 little time or ability, would be too much, and in 
 some cases would be tpiite suHicient. The ability 
 to memorize will develop steadily if the practice 
 be rew-ular, and in a few weeks the student will 
 commit ten verses as quickly and as easily as he 
 at first committed five verses. This- iiia\- suj^g-est 
 to many the desirability oi increasini;- the number 
 of verses to be committed daily. It must be 
 borne in mind, however, that as the work o'i com- 
 mittinj^^ {^rows easier, the work o'i reviewini,'- will 
 grow a little more difiicult e\ery da)-, because the 
 
RATIONAL. MBMORV rRAINlNG. 
 
 89 
 
 amount to be reviewed increases daily, and as the 
 first lessons recede from the present hour it will 
 naturally be a little more diUk-ult to recall them. 
 
 Oi' the two exercises, thai of coininil tini;' and 
 that of reviewinj;'. while boiU ma\' be rcLjardcLl as 
 hitjchly important, if either must be, for huk oi' 
 time or i>ther cause, omitted, the rmiewiuj^' tmin 
 memory should not be left out. It is doubtful if 
 any other mental exercise will so surely and 
 speedily invigorate the memory as this act o\' 
 reviewinif. 
 
 With five verses committed daily, I.ukc's iifos- 
 pel could be memorized in less than se\ en months, 
 and the letter to the Hebrews in le.>.s than two 
 months. Aside iVom the ad\antai;'es to lie deri\- 
 ed by the memory, daily iiiental exercises similar 
 to the above have so much to recommend them in 
 the general increase oi' knowljdi;'e and i^iv^wth ol 
 intellectuality, as well as in the addition to one's 
 sources of enjoyment, that it is quite w onderlul 
 multitudes do not put them into faithful practice. 
 
 In addition to those exercises sui;!L,'-estetl, which 
 are suitable to every one, the student m.i} do well 
 to devise a series oi' task's to overcome any 
 special deficiences or weaknesses he may lia\e 
 discovered in his own case. Let us suppose, lor 
 example, he finds it vc'-y diiricult to recall names. 
 
 He should form the IlAlilT OV KIXAI.I.lNn. NAMICS 
 
 Hnd devote some attention to this dail)- until his 
 
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90 
 
 H(.'\V 10 TUAIX AN'D STRENGTHEN THE MF."\IORV. 
 
 ■>■ i! 
 
 ■ i! 
 
 ■ ll 
 
 VJ! 
 
 Mem)ry 
 Exercises, 
 
 nieniory executes (uiLlifulIy cind readily ever}' su-:;"- 
 jj;"estion oi* the will. He should accustom iiimself 
 
 to ADDRESS PEOPLE [VV-VRIACLV BY 
 
 Specialized xamf:, to call up in thought, and 
 better still, utter in speecli, tlie 
 names of people he may see. Xames 
 that are esneciallv difiicult to •eine'ni'>er s'k)uu! be 
 frequenily recalled. Names o\ this character nay 
 often, with i;-reat advantayfe. be wi-itten, and t'ne 
 eye accustomed to the I'orm, the ear to the sr,Lmd, 
 until at the faintest sug-gestion the me:-noiy re- 
 produces the mental image. 0\\ if lie *nid it dif- 
 ilcuh ^o remember faces let him malce a study of 
 faces putting tliought and will power into the 
 study. Let liim note the pecidiarities oi' e.ich lace, 
 the strilcinii feature of each individual he would 
 remember raid let him frequently recall these as 
 v{\'iDLV AS possiiu-r: to his consciousness. Two 
 things that will help him most in o\ercoming this 
 memory defect are, lirst, a feeling of interest in 
 the person whose face he would remember and 
 frequent practice of the vivid recall of the mental 
 image. Memory power will gnnv in the direction 
 of the exercises taUen and the student who faith- 
 fully practices every day the appropriate exercises 
 will soon perceive an increase oi' ability to rec;dl 
 those mental images that wore once so diflicult to 
 recollect. 
 
 In addition to these suggestions there are cer- 
 tain habits which students should form which 
 
RATIONAL MEMOm- IRAIXING. 
 
 91 
 
 would have an excellent effeci: on the general 
 momorv. Vov exanii">le, a mental rcv/c:c ruc/i cvc~ 
 III no- of the -.Ci,rk and t'!U(iiJV!iuii/s 0/ //w day — the 
 persons met, (nan^ics aiul lac'es ma}' be recalled) 
 the business done, tiie conversations held, the de- 
 tails oT the woi'k, cnie's failures and omissions 
 as v/e'l as transgressions, may all be iecalled, not 
 only with prolit to the memor}- but also with ad- 
 vantage to the morals. 
 
 As the memory grows in ability to recall lully 
 and minutely the work of the day, it may begi\en 
 a wider range, -xwiX a hall-hour de\"oted o\\ Satur- 
 dav e'.ening to the .eview of the wjek, will prove 
 ;m e;;cellont tonic to the mem -r)-. 
 
 There is anoihcr practice to be biglily com- 
 mended i'cir its beneiiciai en'ecl on the memory, \'v/., : 
 that oi" gix'ing in con\'eisat:on a full account ot 
 our experiences -tile more ol' detuil the better — 
 such ;is a description of a trip to iuigland, im- 
 ]-.ressions o\ llie World's h'air, an acc^ount o'^. a. 
 concert, recalling and criiici/iiig the various ntmi- 
 
 b-crs, or an oullinc oi the minister's 
 
 , , . . Invir'oraiing 
 
 sermon or a popmar lectiue with practices for 
 
 ll,e line ol argument pr.rsued and ^\^^ Memory. 
 ("he illust rations given. This prac- 
 tice, requiring as it does the exercise ol" attention 
 and interest on our pait during the reception 
 of the ideas, cannot but exercise a most 
 excellent elTect on the recollective powers. 
 
92 HOW TO TRAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE MEMORY. 
 
 Akin to this, and of even greater advantage be- 
 cause it suggests methodical accurate expression, 
 is the practice of 7vn'h'}ig out from mc?nofy an 
 acccmnt of some of our experiences. Let the stud- 
 ent for example, write out each Monday in a 
 book kept for the purposes an outline of the Sun- 
 day evening sermon, giving as faithful and accur- 
 ate an account as possible in three to five hundred 
 words of the line of argument pursued and the 
 points made. It is doubtful if anv more invisror- 
 ating exercise for the memory can be devised 
 than the above. 
 
 Recently the writer heard of a recreation for 
 young people, which is to be highly commended. 
 The company assembled in a drawing room are 
 led out in order past a table upon which is placed 
 a great variety of miscellaneous articles. Each 
 one is supposed to make in leisurely passing the 
 table a mental inventory of the articles upon it, 
 and upon returning to the drawing-room to write 
 out on a slip prepared for the purpose, as full a 
 list of the articles as possible. The person who 
 has written the largest number of articles, has, 
 of course, won llie game. Tliis recreation it 
 would seem should afford much amusement as 
 well as profit. 
 
SUMMARY OF RULES FOR STRENGTHENING 
 
 THE MEMORY. 
 
 We may now summarize some of our conclu- 
 sions reached in former pages on the subject of 
 strengthening the memory: 
 
 1. Seek and preserve vigorous health as a fun- 
 damental condition of a good memory. 
 
 2. Train the senses to a careful obser\ation 
 and accurate discrimination. 
 
 3. Deepen and intensify \-our hrst impressions 
 c\' what }0u would memorize, (a) by concentrat- 
 ing the thought upon it, (b) by exercising the will 
 power in regard to it, (c) by allowing the object 
 or thought to remain for a suiTicient length of 
 time before the mental vision. 
 
 4. Test your memory to determine whether you 
 commit more easily by sight or sound, also to find 
 which you retain more firmly, the images of sight 
 or the sound images. 
 
 5. Select for memorizing purposes some book 
 of the Bible or some poem ot' English literature, 
 and assign yourself a limited number of verses for 
 daily memorizing at a selected hour of the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 6. Preserve the period religiously for the two- 
 fold purpose of committing the daily portions (3 
 
M4 RL'LES VOR sTRI..\f.THhXI.\U; \i\\L .MEMORX . 
 
 lo 5 verses), and reviewing the lessons previously 
 committed. 
 
 7. In committin:^' to mcmor}- and in reviewing, 
 use those senses bv which vou have found the 
 mind works most etTectively in these processes. 
 
 8. Make it a rule to thoroughly comprehend 
 ever}' idea or Tact you would commit to memory. 
 
 9. Do not burden memory with useless tasks, 
 or with too much at a time, depending for growth 
 and enlargement ov, the regularity and suitability 
 oi' the exercise, rather than its difficulty. 
 
 10. Do not attempt to force the memory to re- 
 call an idea. If memory can recall an idea at all, 
 it can generally do so easily. Many a person has 
 entirely lost an idea, which ho might ha\'e recalled 
 by easy suggestion to his memory, hy " cudgel- 
 ling " his brains for it. 
 
 I I. Repeatedly recall the mental images to con- 
 sciousness, and make them as \-ivid as possible. 
 Catch the dim pictures, and hold them in the 
 mind's vision until they become clearer. Visual- 
 ize these mental pictu/es, and make them so dis- 
 tinct that those senses through which they were 
 received shall be called into a measure oi' activitv 
 again. 
 
 12. Trust your memory: do not treat it with 
 suspicion. The unconscious powers of the mind 
 work largely upon suggestion and a suggestion 
 
 K '1' 1 
 I li. ! 
 
RATlONAf. .M1;M0R\- TRAINIXG. 
 
 95 
 
 of memory failure to one's self is often a procur- 
 ing cause of failure. 
 
 13. Form the habit of mentally recalling in de- 
 tail every evening your experiences during the 
 day. 
 
 14. Form the habit oi' relating to your friends 
 as fully as possible and in order the incidents of 
 your travels, accounts of concerts, lectures and 
 entertainments attended. 
 
 15. Form the habit of writing out weekly from 
 memory a summary of the minister's sermon, tak- 
 ing care to include the argument and main points. 
 
 16. Form exercises for yourself in overcoming 
 your special memory difficulties, practising the 
 recall of those classes of ideas over which the 
 mind seems to have least control. If your mem- 
 ory of names, faces or dates should be defective, 
 assign a period every morning to exercising the 
 memorv along these lines. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ATTENTION. 
 
 "It is well known that impressions fail to produce con- 
 sciousness when the mind is strong-Iy pre-engagfed. 
 In the heat of a battle wounds are for a time unfelt." 
 
 — Prof. Bain. 
 
 The attention considerotl in its entire function as the 
 apperceptive agent of our mental life, is the one 
 essential mental condition of memory." — Baldwin. 
 
 " It constitutes the better half of all intellectual power." 
 
 —Sir W. Hamilton. 
 
 The art of memory is the art of attention, said 
 Dr. Johnston, and with general unanimity the 
 psychologists of our day endorse this high testi- 
 mony to the value and importance of attention in 
 fixing and retaining new ideas. Most lapses of 
 memory are to be traced to a failure of attention. 
 
 Sir Wm. Hamilton defines it as an act of con- 
 centration, which is as necessary to consciousness 
 as a certain contraction of the ->upil is requisite 
 to every exercise of vision. Attention is to the 
 eye of the mind what the microscope or telescope 
 is to the bodily eye. 
 
 Attention is the will directing the intellect into 
 some particular channel and keeping it there. To 
 cultivate attention the will must be cultivated. 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 97 
 
 Attention is 
 
 the Measure of 
 
 Mental 
 
 Power. 
 
 Attention then implies a limiting- of the mental 
 vision, a withdrawal of consciousness from all 
 save the object under consideration and a corres- 
 ponding- increase of mental activity upon the one 
 subject. If this view is correct, it must be evi- 
 dent to all that the power of atten- 
 tion or concentration means an in- 
 crease of mental ability in the appre- 
 hension of difficult ideas, as well as 
 a corresponding increase of reten- 
 tive power. This evidently is the 
 view taken by many writers who consider genius 
 but the power of giving undivided and persistent 
 attention to a subject. The power of attention is 
 the measure of the mind's greatness, and on the 
 other hand it has been found that the progress of 
 mental disease is marked by diminishing power of 
 attention. Says J. Luys: " In all forms of men- 
 tal disease, the faculty of attention becomes gra- 
 dually weaker, and p^-esents, according to the 
 intensity of the morbid disease, different and fa- 
 tally progressive modifications." 
 
 There are several ways, therefore, in which 
 attention both directly and indirectly assists mem- 
 ory. In the first place, by increasing the mind's 
 power, it leads to speedy comprehension o( the 
 matter before the mind. It gets the idea more 
 quickly and more forcibly into the mind. Then 
 by arousing- the mind's activity in regard to the 
 
98 
 
 ATTENTION. 
 
 I I 
 
 1:! 
 
 5 
 
 particular idea it causes it to make 
 
 How Atten- a deeper iuipression. In the third 
 
 ion e ps p\'^^2Q aLteution and will-power grow 
 
 Memory, ^ . , , 
 
 proportionately by exercise, and 
 
 whatever increases will-power, as we have seen, 
 increases the powers of recollection. 
 
 The habit of attention is therefore one of the 
 most important and valuable o'i all our mental 
 habits. 
 
 W. A. Butler well declares: " The habit of at- 
 tending- exclusively to the matter in hand is the 
 most important intellectual habit I know of. It 
 is commonly said that genius cannot be infused 
 by education ; yet this power oi' concentrated 
 attention, which belongs as a part o^l his g-ift to 
 e\ery great discoverer, is untjuestionabiy capable 
 
 of almost indefinite augmentation by resolute 
 
 practice." 
 
 One oi' the most important c^uestions for the 
 student who would improve his memory, is, there- 
 fore, how can I improve my powers o'i attention ? 
 The answer is by practising kesolutllv the art 
 OF ATTENTKiN by which we mean 
 nothing more or less than forming 
 
 THE HABIT OF GIVING UNDIVIDED AT- 
 TENTION TO THE MATTER IN HAND, 
 FORCING, IF NEED BE, THE MIND TO 
 GIVE PROLONGED ATTENTION I'O ANV PROBLEM IT 
 
 Attention 
 
 may be 
 
 Educated. 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 99 
 
 UNDERTAKES, and resolutely fighting against all 
 mental inclination to mind vvanderintr. 
 
 Mental weakness and lack of ability to concen- 
 trate attention is largely a matter of bad habit. 
 The fixing of the attention is a matter oi' the will. 
 The natural indolence of humanity lesds the ma- 
 jorit}' of men to yield to the ever changing sensa- 
 tions of their surroundings, or to the pastime of 
 beholding that endless panorama of mental im- 
 ages that float through the mind as clouds over 
 the horizon. The habit of yielding up the con- 
 sciousness to one's surroundings, or to some train 
 of thought, or to the pleasure of fantasy, is a 
 habit, that, once formed, is very difficult to con- 
 quer. 
 
 Attention must be cultivated as a servant of the 
 will. This is the most serviceable kind of atten- 
 tion because, as we have seen, a man's power of 
 understanding, his power of receiving deep im- 
 pressions and of retaining them, depends on his 
 power of attention, and so valuable an instrument 
 of mental life should evidently be subject to the 
 will. If w^e cannot command attention, and 
 enforce the command, we are much like ships 
 without a rudder, and must drift with the stron"- 
 est tide. 
 
 Another essential point in the cultivation of the 
 attention is the formation of mental judgments in 
 regard to every object we observe. It has been 
 
lOO 
 
 ATTENTION. 
 
 I)":' ' 
 
 
 \ 
 
 Observation 
 should be 
 
 formed into 
 expressed 
 
 Judgments, 
 
 said that observation is not perfect without a 
 judg-ment. There is a kind of cursory and super- 
 ficial observation that most people indulge in, 
 which could not express itself in judgments except 
 those of a very trivial character. How feu' peo- 
 ple are able to make statements oi' new thought 
 as the result of their ordinary observation ! Hav- 
 ing eyes they see not, having ears they hear not 
 anything that is new or instructive 
 because their observation is superfi- 
 cial, and the mind not being accus- 
 tomed or required to express itself 
 in judgment, has not observed any- 
 thing new, that is, has learned 
 nothing. Let two men pass through the streets 
 of their own city at the same hour, one of whom 
 has formed the habit of close observation, the 
 other allowing his thoughts to wander at their 
 will and his attention to be diverted by every 
 tempting attraction. Question them both at the 
 end of an hour's walk, and the one man can tell 
 you whom he met, whether they were on foot or 
 in carriage, how they were dressed, the state of 
 the streets, etc., etc. The other could not swear 
 whether or not he met Mr. A., has no recollection 
 of Mr. B., may possibly have seen C, but really 
 knows little or nothing as the result of his walk. 
 
 The story is told of some men searching for a 
 camel in the desert. They met a very observin;:- 
 
 i I 
 
RATIONAL ME\10R^ TRAIMNC;. lOt 
 
 man who asked them if they had not lost a camel, 
 vviicther he was not blind of one eye, lame of one 
 foot, if he had not lost a tooth, etc., etc. On 
 answering- aflirmatively all these questions, the}- 
 asked him if he would not kindly direct them to 
 their camel since he evidently knew all about him. 
 *' I have not seen your camel nor heard of him 
 before," was the reply. He had noticed the foot- 
 prints of the camel, and that the prints on one side 
 were a little heavier than on the other, hence con- 
 cluded he was lame; that he had cropped the g-rass 
 on one side of the road, hence concluded he was 
 blind; that he had left a small tuft of grass in the 
 centre of his bite, hence concluded he had lest a 
 tooth. 
 
 Now, evidently, the man who reached so many 
 and such accurate conclusions from his observa- 
 tions had formed the mental habit of putting his 
 observations into judgments — a most invaluable 
 practice. We must form the habit of putting 
 OUR observations into sentences, and thinking 
 in the form of judgments. One reason why the 
 practice of writing- out, or relating our experiences 
 in conversation, warmly recommended in a pre- 
 ceding chapter, is so valuable is because it neces- 
 sitates such habits of observation as can be ex- 
 pressed in judgments. 
 
 The pupils of a certain school had for scores of 
 times passed seven shade trees in the front yard. 
 
t02 
 
 ATTENTION'. 
 
 Vet only about 15 out of over 100 could tell the 
 number of trees. Their observation had not been 
 expressed in such judgments as these : there are 
 seven shade trees in the front yard; five of them 
 are maples and two elms; the maples are larger 
 than the elms; the maples stand near the gate, 
 etc. 
 
 Two ladies go out shopping in a strange city. 
 One, after an hour's walk, is completely lost. 
 The other lias her " bearintrs " and can easilv 
 find her way, because all through the walk she 
 was noticing the crossings and blocks and form- 
 ''ng judgments like these: there is a drug store 
 i.t the corner where our hotel street crosses main 
 street; we leave main street and turn south at the 
 post office; we turn west four blocks; we turn 
 north again and reach main street at the public 
 library, etc., etc. The larit of forming our 
 
 OHSERVATIONS INTO JUDGMENTS AND, IF POSSIBLE, 
 GIVING EXPRESSION TO THEM IN LANGUAGE AT THE 
 TIME, IS A GREAT AID TO ATTENTION AND MEMORV. 
 
 Very few persons are capable of the highest 
 degree of attention — that deep abstraction that 
 almost invariably characterizes philosophers and 
 the world's greatest thinkers. 
 
 Attention in great minds reaches a degree of 
 concentration which we may well call absorption. 
 The world is shut out and the object under con- 
 sideration is shut in, and the whole mental activ- 
 
RATIONAL MTMORV TRAINING. 
 
 103 
 
 ity is directed to the one thing. This is the high- 
 est exhibition of nientahty. It is this which 
 measures generally the mind's power in mastering 
 new ideas and not only retaining, but using also, 
 with the greatest efliciency the ideas that have 
 been attained. This is tlie criterion if not the 
 very essence of genius. Newton, Descartes, Hel- 
 vetius, Bacon and Cuvier, all held that genius 
 was sim.ply this power of superior attention. It 
 is said of Scaliger, who, as we have seen, pos- 
 sessed a remarkable memory, that he was study- 
 ing in Paris on the fatal day of St. Bartholomew, 
 and although ho was a Protestant he was over- 
 looked in some way and escaped. At that time 
 he was studying Homer, and so concentrated was 
 his attention on that immortal epic that, although 
 carnage ran wild in the street beneath his win- 
 dow, he knew nothing of the event until the fol- 
 lowing da)'. 
 
 It is related of Socrates that while serving in 
 the army and on the line of march, he became in- 
 terested in some subject that presented itself to 
 his mind. He stopped on the high- 
 way, and with his eyes directed to Genius is con_ 
 the ground, stood thinking for a day centrated and 
 and a night, oblivious to the fact proW^cl At- 
 that the army had passed on and tention. 
 
 that he had not eaten or slept. 
 
 Nelson is said to have often forgotten his meals 
 
io4 
 
 AITEXTIOX. 
 
 through the sMme habit of absorption, and so in- 
 terested did he become in certain studies that he 
 would be unable to say at nig-ht whether he had 
 dined or not. Similar stories are told of the great 
 Wizard of Menlo Park, and doubtless if the truth 
 were known nearly every man who has enriched 
 the world by his discoveries or his thought has 
 possessed in a high degree this ability to concen- 
 trate thought, and keep it concentrated upon a 
 single subject. 
 
 The student need hardly be told, after the dis- 
 cussion of the preceding chapters, that this is a 
 matter of will-power, of education, of habit. The 
 lesson is obvious to all who would possess depth 
 of thought and mental power: form the habit 
 
 OF SHUTTIXG OUT THE WORLD, AND OF CONCEN- 
 TRATING MENTAL ACTIVITY AND OF KEEPING IT 
 CONCENTRATED ON THE SUBJECT BEFORE THE 
 AUNI) 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT AND ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS 
 
 "Rational or philosophical association is when a faot or 
 statement on which the attention is fixed is associated 
 with some fact previously known, to which it has a re- 
 lation, or with some subject which it is calculated to 
 illustrate."— Dr. Carpenter. 
 
 "The most fundamental law which regulates psychological 
 phenomena is the law of association. In its compre- 
 hen ,ive character it is comparable to the law of attrac- 
 tion in the physical world." — The Ribot. 
 
 "The liabit of correct association is one of the principal 
 maans of improving- the memory, particularly that kind 
 of memory which is an essential quality to an educated 
 mind— namely, that which is founded, not upon inci- 
 dental connections, but on true and important rela- 
 tions. — Dr. Abercrombie. 
 
 An orderly arrano-ement of knowledefe, in which 
 ideas are associated by real relations rather than 
 artificial connections, is one of the greatest aids 
 to recollection. The rigfht method of receiving 
 ideas must be followed by the right method of 
 arranging and storing them if we would have 
 them at ready command when want- 
 ed. We must first impress, then Arrangement 
 arrange and associate our ideas. Economizes 
 
 This orderly arrangement facilitates i , , 
 
 ■^ ^ and helps 
 
 the storing process and also the re- Memory. 
 
 calling process, and economizes 
 
 mental energy in both. Most of my readers have 
 
lo6 AKKANGtMEKT AND ASSv)ClA'J ION OF IDEAS 
 
 HI 
 
 visited, at some period of their lives, a country 
 store wliere a general assortment of goods is kept 
 and where, in many cases, an orderly arrangement 
 has not been made of the various commodities. 
 A customer comes in and asks for flannel, cotton, 
 a pair of small shoes, and a paper of pins. In 
 some cases a general search is necessary before 
 the articles can be found, and in others, after con- 
 siderable search, the dealer assures his customer 
 he has the article, but "he cannot just lay his 
 hand upon it." Now, a man might as well be 
 without goods as to have them in such disorder 
 that he " cannot lay his hands upon them" when 
 wanted. It is precisely this lack of orderly ar- 
 rangement of ideas that prevents many a man 
 from conceiving the right thought, uttering the 
 right word or doing the right act at the proper 
 moment. He must search through a mass of 
 ideas lacking arrangement and coherence for the 
 particular idea want d at the moment, and must 
 often search in vain. What is the practical dif- 
 ference between a mind devoid of certain ideas 
 and a mind possessing these ideas in such inex- 
 tricable confusion with other ideas that they can- 
 not be recalled when wanted? 
 
 Again, it is a well-known fact that the memory 
 will carry in orderly arrangement a number of 
 facts that could not be memorized without the ar- 
 rangement. In Quick's pamphlet on "How to 
 Train the Memory," the following story ie told, 
 
RATIONAL MEMOriV TKAJNIKG. 
 
 lO* 
 
 illustrating the power of arrang-ement in assisting 
 memory. The story is taken, though not verba- 
 tim, from Tate's " Philosophy of Education": — 
 
 "Betty," said a %rn::er's wife to her servant, 
 "you must go to town for some things. You 
 have such a bad memory that } ou always 
 forget something, hut see if you can re- 
 member them all this lime." "I'm very sorry, 
 ma'am," says Betty, "that I have such a bad 
 memory, but it's not my fault; I wish I had a 
 better one." "Now mind," said her mistress, 
 listen carefully to what I tell you. I want suet 
 and currants for the pudding." 
 "Yes, ma'am, suet and currants." Arrangement. 
 "Then I want leeks and barley for 
 the broth; don't forget them." "No, ma'am, leeks 
 and barley; I shan't forget." "Then I want a 
 .:hr,ulder of mutton, a pound of tea, a pound of 
 coffee, and six pounds of sugar. .\nd as you go 
 by the dressmaker's tell her she must bring out 
 calico for the lining, some black thread and a 
 piece ol narrow tape." "Yes, ma'am," says 
 Betty, preparing to depart. "Oh, at the grocer's, 
 get a jar of black currant jam," adds the mistress. 
 The farmer, who has been quietly listening to 
 this conversation, calls Betty back when she has 
 started, and asks her what she is going to do in 
 the town. "Well, sir, I'm going to get tea, 
 sugar, a shoulder of mutton, coffee, coffee — let 
 me see, there's something else." "That won't 
 
i ' 
 
 I 
 
 wi\ 
 
 \ 1 
 
 t 
 
 :|| 
 
 • i ' 
 
 Classifed Ideas 
 
 are easily 
 
 recalled. 
 
 oS ARRAXGEMJ'NT A\D ASSOCIATION OF IDfiAS. 
 
 do," said the farmer; 'S'ou must arrange the 
 thing's, as the parson does his sermon, under dif- 
 ferent heads, or you won't remember thern. Now 
 you have three things to think of — breakfast, 
 dinner, and the dressmaker." "Yes, sir." "What 
 are you going to get for breakfast ?" 
 "Tea and coffee, and sugar and 
 jam," says Betty. "Where do you 
 get these things!" "At the gro- 
 cer's." "Very well. Now what will be the 
 things put on the table at dinner?" There'll be 
 broth, meat and pudding." " Now what have you 
 to get for each of these?" "For the broth I have 
 to get leeks and barley, for the meat I have to 
 get a shoulder ot mutton, and for the pudding I 
 must get suet and currants." "Very good. Where 
 will you get these things?" "I must get the 
 leeks at the gardener's, the mutton and suet at 
 the butcher's, and the barley and currants at the 
 grocer's." " But you had something else to get 
 at the grocer's." "Yes, sir, the things for break- 
 fast — tea. cotfee, sugar and jam." "Very well. 
 Then at the grocer's you have four things to get 
 for breakfast and two for dinner. When you go 
 to tlie grocer's, think of one part of his counter as 
 } our breakfast table and another part as your 
 dinner table, and go over the things wanted for 
 breakfast and the things wanted for dinner. Then 
 you will remember the four things for breakfast 
 and the two things for dinner. Then you will 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 109 
 
 have two other places to go to i'ov the dinner. 
 What are they?" "The gardener's for leeks, 
 and the butcher's for meat and suet." " Very 
 well. That is three of the four places. What is 
 the fourth?" "The dressmaker's, to tell her to 
 bring out calico, thread, and tape for the dress.' 
 '*Now," said her master, " I think you can tell 
 me everything you are going for." "\es," said 
 Betty; " I'm going to the grocer's, the butcher's 
 and the gardener's. At the grocer's I'm going to 
 get tea, coffee, sugar and jam (ov breakfast, and 
 barley and currants for dinner. But then I shall 
 not have all the things for dinner, so I must go to 
 the butcher's for a shoulder of mutton and suet, 
 and for leeks to the gardener's. Then I must 
 call at the dressmaker's to tell her to bringlining, 
 tape and thread for the dress." Off goes Betty 
 and does everything she has to do. " Never tell 
 us atjain," said her master, " that you can't help 
 having a bad memory." 
 
 The preceding story illustrates very forcibly the 
 comparative ease with which the memory can re- 
 tain a number of miscellaneous objects wiien these 
 are properlv classified, and associat- 
 ed wi.l, familia,- thouglus. it i. a INew";- 
 question of the comparative ease ot ^^^^^^^^^ ^,^ 
 carrying a dozen different articles in gj^gjjy j-e-iem- 
 the hands or of carrying them in bctcd, 
 
 three or four pockets. Arrange- 
 
no ARRAXGEMEM AND ASSOCIATION- OF IDEAS. 
 
 ment of ideas cannot, it is true, make a good 
 memory, but it can use even a poor memory to 
 the very best advantage. 
 
 In addition to such arrangement and classifica- 
 tion of ideas as \\'e arbitrarily make for our own 
 convenience in storing and reproducing them, it 
 has been observed from the earliest times that 
 ideas have a distinct tendency to group them- 
 selves according to certain great laws. These 
 have been given different names by different 
 writers, but may easily be summarized under a 
 few leading principles, if, indeed, they are not 
 more properly combined into one. 
 
 Aristotle reduced tlie laws of association to 
 three: contiguity in time and space, resemblance 
 and contrarletv. He even seems to have thouo-ht 
 they might all be included under the one law of 
 coexistence. 
 
 Sir Wm. Hamilton declares that " Aristotle 
 implicitly, St. Augustine, explicitly — what his 
 never been observed — reduces association to a 
 single canon, viz., thoughts which have once 
 
 COEXISTED in THE MIND ARE AFTER- 
 WARDS ASSOCIATED. This law, 
 which I would call the law of Redin- 
 tegration, was afterwards enounced 
 by Malebranche, Wolf and Bilfmirer, 
 but without any reference to St. Au> 
 gustine. Hartley and Condillac both refer all in- 
 
 The Laws 
 
 which govern 
 
 Association. 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 I I I 
 
 tellectual operations to the associations of ideas 
 and represent that association as reducible to a 
 sing-le law, that ideas that entered the mind 
 
 AT THE SAME TIME ACQUIRE A TENDENCY TO CALL 
 UP EACH OTHER, WHICH IS IN DIRECT PROPORTION 
 TO THE FREQUENCY OF THEIR HAVING ENTERED 
 
 TOGETHER." He puts the law in this form: those 
 thoughts suggest each other which have previ- 
 ously constituted parts oi the same entire or total 
 act of cognition. W. W. White, in his system 
 of memory training, states the relations between 
 ideas under the following four laws: i. Logical 
 Connection (cause and elfect; means and end; 
 whole and part; abstract and concrete). 2. Co- 
 existence (in time; in space; in experience; in 
 history). 3. Resemblance (in sound; in form; in 
 meaning ; in use). 4. Contrast (in sound ; in 
 form; in meaning; in use). 
 
 Loisette makes three laws of Recollective An- 
 alysis: I. Inclusion (ship, rudder; dough, soft). 
 2. Exclusion (riches, poverty ; hot, cold). 3. 
 Concurrence (Daniel, lion; grandmother, knit- 
 ting). 
 
 Kay in his work on memory, makes two laws 
 of association: contiguity and similarity, and T!l 
 Ribot declares: the two principal facts which 
 serve as the basis oC association are resemblance 
 and contiguity. 
 
 One of the most familiar illustrations of tlsi.; 
 
1 1 
 
 ARRANGEMENT AND ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 
 
 principle is found in the letters of the alphabet, 
 each letter to tlie last recalling the one following- 
 and renderint^- it so easv to repeat them in the 
 order in which they were so often repeated when 
 being learned. If one contrasts this easy repeti- 
 tion in the regular order with the difficulty of re- 
 peating th.em in an inverse order, he will learn 
 the strength of association. This association be- 
 tween the letters would come under the general 
 law of COEXISTENCE ot' Aristotle, under the law of 
 coNTiGi'i TV of Ribot, and under Loisette's law of 
 
 CONCl'I^REXCE. 
 
 The strength of association between ideas may 
 be seen iti the ease with which one can commit a 
 list of words made up on the plan of 
 natural suggestion, as contrasted 
 with the difficulty there is in com- 
 mitting a list of words having no 
 logical or artiliciallv-formed associa- 
 tion. It is a fpvorite practice with 
 memory teachers to form such associations of 
 words on the principle of natural suggestion and 
 reading them once to the class — so strong is the 
 natural association — they can generally be repeat- 
 ed bv the class in direct or inverse order. 
 
 Illustration 
 
 of Natural 
 
 Associations. 
 
 i 
 
 Here is a list used sometimes by the writer 
 upon the platform, illustrating associations, 
 mostly logical, already existing in most minds: 
 Pointer, tree, axe, steel, ore, mine, explosif^i;, 
 
i 
 
 RATION'AL ME.MORN' IKAIMXG. 
 
 I 1 
 
 I 
 
 suffering, physician, medical collos^c, hazing, 
 bloodshed, prosecution, court, judge, sentence, 
 prisoner, prison, escape, pursuit, policeman, uni- 
 form, tailor, shop, builder, tools, store, merchant, 
 ledger, debtor, payment, hank, \ault. Here 
 pointer suggests the tree out ot" which it was 
 made; tree suggests the axe by which it was cut; 
 axe suggests steel out oi' which it was made, etc., 
 etc. 
 
 The logical connection of ideas represented b}' 
 these words is so apparent that one careful read- 
 ing will ordinarily be suflficient to fix them in the 
 memory. On the contrary, see how many repeti- 
 tions would be necessary to fix thirty-three words 
 not representing associated ideas. 0\\ note the 
 difficulty in committing to memory a story ar- 
 ranged without natural sequence of ideas. 
 
 The following illustration is given in Upham's 
 Mental Philosophy: A person was one day boast- 
 ing in the presence of Foote, the comedian, of the 
 wonderful facility with which he could commit 
 anything to memory, when the modern Aristo- 
 phanes said he would write down a dozen lines in 
 prose, which he could not commit to memory in 
 as many minutes. The man of great memory 
 accepted the challenge; a wager was laid, and 
 Foote produced the following: " So she went into 
 the garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an apple 
 pie, and at the same time a great she bear com- 
 
■I: 
 
 1^1 
 
 ARRA\c;r.MMNT AND ASSOCIATION OF IDKAS. 
 
 ing- up the street, pops its head into the shop. 
 What ! no soap. So he died and she very impru- 
 dently married the barber; and there were present 
 the Picininuncs and tlie Jobhlhes and the Gary- 
 ules, and the g^reat Panjandrum himseh", with the 
 Httle round button at the top; and they all fell to 
 playing- catch as catch can, till the gunpowder ran 
 out of the heels of their boots." The story adds 
 that I'^oote won the wager. It must be evident 
 that statements like the preceding, lacking any 
 logical connection must defy the strongest mem- 
 ory. 
 
 Tile student should form the habit in stor- 
 
 I\G IDEAS FOR FUl VRE USE OF USING ASSOCIA- 
 TIONS WHICH ALREADY EXIST IN THE MIND, OR 
 SPRING OUT OF THE SURROUNDING CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 It is much easier to use bridges which we find 
 already prepared than to make them for our- 
 selves. 
 
 In fixing new ideas such as names, 
 faces, historical facts, we can gen- 
 erally find some natural association 
 which will aid the memory. A new 
 name and face are presented to the 
 mind and you wish to fix them in 
 Associate the name and person if 
 you can with some well-known person of the same 
 name. Or, link the name to the person by the 
 place where you first met him, or by some attend- 
 
 Use the Asso- 
 ciations of 
 Time» Place 
 and Circum- 
 stance. 
 
 the memory. 
 
 
RATIONAL .MKMORV TRAIN'IN'G. 
 
 I I 
 
 r> 
 
 ant circumstance, or by his business or by some 
 striking peculiarity of the individual. P'or exam- 
 ple, a Mr. Sherman may by some apparent con- 
 trast or similarity suggest the general of that 
 name. 
 
 You met Mr. Rice at the table; Miss Bright 
 has perchance a very bright mind ; Mr. Farmer, 
 notwithstanding his name, is a merchant; Mr. 
 Day whom you met at night is very sunny; Mr. 
 Young is no longer young; Mr. Beard has no 
 beard ; Mr. Fox, quite appropriately, has red 
 hair. 
 
 It may be thought that some of the associations 
 suggested above are not based on natural princi- 
 ples, and are arbitrary and fanciful rather than 
 real relationships. But for the purpose of the 
 retention of an idea, some of these associations 
 suggested by similarity or contrast in the sound 
 or meaning of names, by appearance, or by some 
 attendant circumstance, will be found very effi- 
 cient helps to the memory. If the reader will ex- 
 amine the ideas that are retained most firmly by 
 his mind, he will discover that many of them have 
 been fixed and held in memory by some chance 
 association in his experience with other ideas with 
 which they have no natural relation- 
 ship. It often happens, therefore, ^^^y}'^^ 
 ^\ \ ^ -A u • J- , areretainedby 
 
 that two ideas may become mdissol- chance Asio- 
 
 ubly joined in the mind of an indivi- ciations. 
 
 I 
 
Il6 ARRANGEMENT AND ASSOC! AtlOX OF IDEAS. 
 
 dual on account of some peculiar experience, that 
 have no association and hence no power to sugf- 
 o-est each other in the minds of others. This fact 
 suggests that students can generally devise for 
 themselves the best method of fixing and retain- 
 ing a particular idea in the mind. As illustrating 
 the power of chance associations in retaining and 
 mutually suggesting two ideas, the following 
 story is told o( a gentleman who was in the habit 
 of amusing himself by experimenting upon this 
 powv^r of association of ideas. On one occasion 
 he drove out into the country, with his servant 
 seated behind him. Upon coming to a bridge, 
 where the scenery was particularly grand and 
 striking, he turned suddenly round and asked, 
 '* Do you like eggs?" " Ves, sir," replied the 
 man. The gentleman drove on, and nothing more 
 was said. That day twelve month the gentleman 
 drove out again, and with the same footman seat- 
 ed behind him. Upon arriving at the bridge, he 
 turned abruptly round, as before, and asked, 
 "How do you like them?" "Poached, sir," 
 was the immediate answer. There was no na- 
 tural relation, it may be said, between the drive 
 over that bridge and poached eggs, yet the one 
 suggested the other. 
 
 But while associations of this nature may en- 
 able us to fix and recall particular ideas, they are 
 not to be relied upon as affording much strength 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TIIAIMNG. 
 
 117 
 
 Link Ideas 
 together in 
 
 Logical 
 Connection, 
 
 to the general memory. Certain principles of 
 association should be regularly followed in arrang- 
 ing new ideas. We should form the habit of 
 classifying and linking our ideas so that all those 
 which relate to one subject should readily recall 
 each other. 
 
 We should, wherever possible, link our ideas 
 together as cause and effect, means and end, 
 WHOLE AND PART. We should trace 
 events back to general principles, 
 and arrange results into classes in 
 common relation to each other and 
 to a common cause. 
 
 Events relating to a common subject should be 
 grouped about that as a centre and always re- 
 called together. The relation of 'hese ideas to 
 each other, and to the common subject should be 
 sought out so that the mind may readily grasp 
 them AS PARTS ov one whole. When the mind 
 has fully comprehended the logical relation of two 
 ideas it is almost impossible to recall one without 
 recalling the other. 
 
 Another principle that should be pursued in 
 
 storing and arranging our ideas is the linking of 
 
 the unknown with the known. Unite some new 
 
 idea of Napoleon Bonaparte with your previously 
 
 acquired knowledge oi' that great 
 
 leader. Link vour latest ideas on Link the 
 
 ,-,'.,, . , Unknown to 
 
 Home Rule with those acqun-ed t^e Known 
 
 vears ago by some menial lie, and 
 
til 
 E 
 
 
 Il8 ARRAXCIMEXT AND ASSOCIATION OF 'DBAS. 
 RECALL THEM AND USE THEM TOGETHER. 
 
 In short, we must use care and give attention 
 to the placing" of our ideas as well as to their 
 acquisition. We must make a place or rather a 
 relation for our new ideas in our mental store- 
 house, and accustom the mind to an orderly stor- 
 ing and an orderly recalling of ideas. The more 
 relations we can establish between our new ideas 
 and old ones, between the known and the un- 
 known, the easier will be their recaM to conscious- 
 ness. Dr. Abercrombie declares: ''the resem- 
 blance of isolated facts does not depend merely 
 on the degree of attention directed to them, but 
 also on the existence in the mind of subjects of 
 thought, with which the new fact may be asso- 
 ciated," and Dr. James Beattie asserts: **the 
 more relations or likenesses that we find, or can 
 establish between objects, the more easily will the 
 view of one lead to the recall of the rest." 
 
 Where no logical connection between ideas ex- 
 ists and no association of time, place or circum- 
 stance can be found to unite them, and it is neces- 
 sary to use them together, they may be united by 
 purely artificial ties, which fact leads us to discuss 
 the subject of mnemonics. 
 
 I II 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MNEMONIC SYSTEMS. 
 
 "The artificial memory proposes lo substitute tor tin- 
 natural and necessary relations under which all ob- 
 jects must present and arrange themselves an 
 entirely new set of arrangements that arc purely 
 arbitrary and mechanical, which excite little or no 
 other interest than that they are lo aid us in remem- 
 bering. It follows that if the mind tasks itself to the 
 special effort of considering- objects under these 
 artificial relations, it will give less attention to those 
 which have a direct and legitimate interest ior itself.' 
 
 —Dr. X. PORTKR. 
 
 For over two thousand years mnemonic sys- 
 tems, based on more or less artificial relation- 
 ships, have been devised and published to the 
 world. Simonides, a Greek poet, B.C. 470, is 
 considered the pioneer inventor of mnemotechnics. 
 The circumstances which led to the formation of 
 his system are related by Cicero, and arc as fol- 
 lows: Simonides, being at a banquet, recited a 
 poem in honor of Scopas, a victor in wrestling at 
 the Olympic games, who gave the entertainment. 
 Immediately afterwards Simonides was told that 
 two young men on white horses wished to speak 
 with him. He had scarcely got out of the house 
 
I 20 
 
 MXEMOXIC SYSTEMS. 
 
 when the room hi which the guests 
 were assembled fell down. All the The Origin 
 persons in it were killed, and their of Mnemonic 
 bodies were so mangled that they Systems, 
 could not be distinyfuished from one 
 another. It happened, however, that Simonides 
 had observed the place each person had occupied, 
 and by looking at the places was enabled to iden- 
 tify their bodies. 
 
 This led .Simonides to the belief that nothing 
 could better assist the memory than to retain in 
 the mind certain fixed places, in which, by the aid 
 of the imagination, were located the images of 
 living creatures, or any other objects which might 
 easily be revived in the memory. He afterwards 
 reduced this method to a system and taught it, 
 and Ouintilian, Cicero and others professed to 
 have received aid in memorizing from it. This 
 so-called principle o( locality is an important fea- 
 ture in all mnemonic systems. It is based on the 
 principle of classification of ideas, and their asso- 
 ciation with different localities with which the 
 mind has become familiarized. It is supposed 
 that our expressions, "in the first place," "in 
 the second place,'' etc., originated in the general 
 application which mm are wont to make of this 
 principle of locality in arranging their ideas. 
 
 " The Greek and Roman system oi' mnemonics 
 was founded on the use oi' mental places and 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 121 
 
 sig-ns or pictures. The thin^^ to be remembered 
 was localized in the imagination, and associated 
 with a symbol which concretely represented what 
 it was desired to retain in the memory, special 
 care being taken that the symbols should be as 
 vivid, pleasing and impressible as possible. The 
 most usual method was to choose a large house, 
 of which the apartments, walls, windows, statues, 
 furniture, etc. , were severally associated with cer- 
 tain names, phrases, events, or ideas, by means 
 of symbolic pictures; and to recall these it was 
 only necessary to search over the apartments ot 
 the house, till the particular place was discovered, 
 where they had been deposited by the imagina- 
 tion. As the things to be remembered increased, 
 new houses could be built, each set apart to a 
 certain class of ideas or events; and these houses 
 were again constructed into a mnemonic town. 
 In accordance with this system, if it were required 
 to fix an historic date in the memory, it was local 
 ized in an imaginary town, divided into a certam 
 number of districts, each with ten houses, each 
 house with ten rooms and each room with one 
 hundred quadrates or memory places, partly on 
 the floor, partly on the four walls and partly on 
 the roof. Thus, if it were desirable to fix in the 
 memory the date oi' the invention oi printing 
 (1436) an imaginar}' book or some other symbol 
 of printing would be placed in the thirty-sixth 
 
122 
 
 MNEMONIC SYfAMS. 
 
 t » 
 
 quadrate or memory place of the fourth room of 
 the first house of the historic district of the town. 
 The success of the method depended largely on 
 the power of the imagination to give the different 
 houses, etc., characteristic varieties of aspect." — 
 Encyclopcvdia Britan nica. 
 
 While it can scarcely be said that mnemonic 
 systems existed among the Jews, there can be no 
 doubt whatever, that mnemonics or artificial me- 
 thods of strengthening the memory were quite 
 generally practised. 
 
 After the Israelites had passed over Jordan, 
 twelve men, one from each tribe, v^^ere command- 
 ed to take out of the bed of the river Jordan 
 twelve stones, and carry them over the. river and 
 leave them in their lodging place, for a memorial 
 unto the children of Israel for ever. — Josh. IV: 
 1-24. 
 
 The names of the children of Israel were graven 
 on two onyx stones, six on each, and placed upon 
 the ephod, and Aaron bore these stones upon his 
 shoulders for a memorial before the Lord. — Ex. 
 XXVIII : 9-12. 
 
 It was customary among the Jews to form 
 mnemonic words out of the first syllables of re- 
 lated words to hold them more easily in memory, 
 thus, Rambam for Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon. 
 
 Some of the facts mentioned in the following 
 historic outline of mnemonic svstems are summar- 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 123 
 
 ized from an excellent little work on the Improve- 
 ment of the Memory by the Rev. W. Bacon. 
 After the overthrow of the Roman Empire mne- 
 monic art disappeared for a time from public view, 
 hiding in the monasteries to reappear in the thir- 
 teenth century as " Lulle's Art," and was so 
 named, because brought again into prominence 
 by Raimond Lulle. About this time, Roger 
 Bacon, an English monk, wrote a treatise on the 
 art of memory, and others followed, some of 
 whom recommended plasters, ointment and drugs 
 to prevent the decay of memory, while doctors of 
 another school prescribed roasted fowl, small 
 birds, young hares and other delicacies for dinner. 
 Schenkel in the sixteenth century travelled 
 through France, Germany and neighboring coun- 
 tries, teaching a system of mnemonics which 
 closely resembled the pictorial method of the an- 
 cients. His system was denounced as a work ot 
 the Devil, he was branded as a sorcerer, and came 
 near to death through the inquisition. In the 
 seventeenth century one Winkel- 
 mann propounded as a most tertile 
 secret, a new idea, which was an 
 advance upon what had previously 
 been done. The new feature he in- 
 troduced in mnemonics, was the substitution of 
 the letters of the alphabet for Hgures in the re- 
 membrance o( dates, numbers, etc. Dr. Grey, in 
 
 Historic 
 Outline of 
 Mnemonic 
 
 Systems. 
 
124 
 
 M>EM0X1C SYSTEMS. 
 
 1*11 
 
 1730, extended his system in Memoria Technica, 
 giving, however, very arbitrary combinations. 
 Gregor Von Feinagle, a monk of Baden, modified 
 the system of Dr. Grey, adopting the principle of 
 substituting letters for figures and also the prin- 
 ciple of locality, dividing a room into squares and 
 placing an imaginary object in each square. In 
 181 1 he came to England, and was admitted to 
 lecture at the Ro}al Institution, and soon after 
 published the new art of memory. Other works 
 followed: Aime Paris in France; Carl Otto Rev- 
 entlaw and Dr. Hermann Rothe in Germany; 
 Fauvel Gourand and Lorenzo Johnson in America; 
 Major Beniowski, Dr. Pick and others in Ene-- 
 land; and Loisette, W. W. White and others in 
 the United States. 
 
 Nearly ever\- one practises some mnemonic de- 
 vices for assisting the memory in special emer- 
 gencies. The husband puts a memorandum on 
 the face ol his watch, his wife puts hcr's on the 
 looking glass, or changes her ring to another fin- 
 ger, or displaces some article oi' lurniture, while 
 the daughter ties a string about her finger, or 
 puts a knot in her handkerchief, lo recall some 
 idea that would otherwise escape them. 
 
 When art turns to artificialness, that which was 
 intended as a nniemonic help often becomes a 
 hindrance. Al best a mnemonic system is a 
 crutch for the lame, but so complicated and re- 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 t2 
 
 fined have some of these modern systems become, 
 that in place of serving as a crutch for the arms 
 and feet, they become additional burdens for the 
 back. It has been truly said of .some of these 
 artificial methods of memorizing that it is more 
 work to learn the system than to commit the les- 
 son to be taught without the system. Vet, what 
 has been lacking in real merit has been supplied 
 in extravagant claims and loud advertising. As 
 an illustration of the high claims advanced for 
 some of the early mnemonic systems, we quote 
 from an advertisement of " Schenkel's Gazophy- 
 locium Artis Memorise," by one Sommer, who 
 was authorized to teach Schenkel's system: " A 
 lawyer, with the assistance of my mnemonics, 
 may impress ' 's causes s' strongly on his mind 
 that he may know how t.T answer 
 each client in any order and it any 
 hour with the sanie precision as it 
 he had just perused his brief. And 
 in pleading he will not only have all 
 the evidence and reasoning of his own party at his 
 finger ends, but all the grounds and refutations of 
 his antagonist also. Let a man go into a library 
 and read one book after another, yet he shall be 
 able to 7vn7e down every sentence of what he has 
 read many days after at home. The proficient in 
 this science can dictate matters of the most oppo- 
 site nature to ten or thirty writers alternately," 
 and much more, all equally extravagant. 
 
 Extravagant 
 Claims in 
 regard to 
 Mnemonics. 
 
126 
 
 MXEMONIC SYSTEMS. 
 
 A much-advertised system of the present day, 
 professes to be " the only system that really rests 
 on nature," to be ** wholly unlike mnemonics in 
 conception, process, development and results," to 
 use none of the "keys," "pegs," 'Minks" of 
 "mnemonics," to be based on "original investi- 
 gations," and the "discovery" of the "laws of 
 "natural memory," and to cure by the reading of 
 a small book, "the worst case of mind-wander- 
 ing," which is guaranteed a "perfect cure for 
 discontinuity," and then (best of all) "the system 
 is no longer required." Yet the whole system is 
 based on the laws of association of ideas, to 
 which new names are appended, and on artificial 
 connections between ideas not logically related, 
 and among the first requirements of the student 
 
 is "to give an hour or two every morning " to 
 the study of the system fof a mouthy and to com- 
 mit to memory several lists of words, ranging in 
 number from 60 to 150 — all as a part of the " in- 
 stantaneous art of never forgetting !" The pecu- 
 liarity of these lists lies in the fact that after com- 
 mitting, say 1 50 words, most of which you do not 
 need,, you have learned 20 or 25 iwrds you do need^ 
 and which you can recall, (f yon have time^ and if 
 you are able to keep in mind the whole list per- 
 tectly. The following humorous story is such a 
 clever hit at these artificial systems that we con- 
 sider it worthy of insertion here: — 
 
RATIONAL MEMOUV TRAINING. 
 
 12' 
 
 A Memory Lesson.— Some ok the Beauties oi- a 
 Scientific Modern System. 
 
 ( Lulie Sharp, in Detroit Free Press.) 
 I was sitting in my room in the Free Press building the 
 other day, working hard, with my feet on the desk, when 
 the doorway darkened and 1 looked up. There stood, 
 with a hand' on each of the door-posts, a most disreputable- 
 looking specimen of a man. I sized him up instantly as a 
 drunkard, and made up my mind he wanted to work me 
 for twenty-five cents. 
 
 In this I was wrong, and it shows how a person should 
 be slow in coming to an opinion about an unknown fellow- 
 creature. He wanted only ten cents. 
 
 " Sav, mister," he said, " you don't happen to have ten 
 cents you could spare?" 
 
 "You have struck it the first time. I don't." 
 "Say, mister, I haven't had anything to eat for twenty- 
 four hours." 
 
 " Then why in the old Harry don't you go and have 
 dinner? They set up some good meals in the first-class 
 hotels in this town." 
 
 "Ah! do they? Now commercial travellers have told 
 me that they can't get a decent meal in the city. I'll 
 halve the difference with you. Make it five cents, boss. 
 
 " I can't keep myself in lager and so don't intend to try 
 
 to supply with beer any tramp that comes along." 
 
 The fellow cooly came in and sat down. 
 
 " I see you are mistaken in my character. I have 
 
 never tasted a drop of liquor in my life. I was at one 
 
 time in one of the best wholesale houses in this town, but 
 
 was ruined by my desire for improvement. I was often 
 
 warned that I was taking the wrong course ; but, alas ! I 
 
 did not see my error until it was too late. Most of my 
 
 comradM used to take a glass of beer no^v aud then, and 
 
128 
 
 MNEMOXK SVSTKMS. 
 
 y;o to the base-hall K^-^n-s, and be out nip^hts. but I stuck 
 to study, and you set- what I am. 
 
 i was a littK" bewildeivd at this. It seomod to ho revor- 
 ,ing-the pre.-o.u-eiv.-d ideas I had on the subject, and I 
 weakly allowi-d tho iVllow to prooeed. 
 
 " vi.s. I am now an awful .-xample oi' the tcMTible lolly 
 of taking a wron- oourso. My beer-drinking companions 
 are pointed to as model citizens, while I am practically a 
 tramp. " 
 
 " How did il happen ?" 
 
 " Well, the finishhig stroke was the memory lessons. 1 
 had naturallv a good memory, and my firm told me that it 
 I learned to speak French they would send me to Pans as 
 their agent there. I pitched into French, and was advised 
 to take memory lessons, as that was a great help m 
 acquiring a language." 
 " And was it ? " 
 " In a way -yes. Vou know how they strengthen the 
 
 memory, I suppose?" 
 
 " Xo. Never heard it could be done." 
 
 " Well, the first thing they do they make you swear an 
 awful oath vou will never divulge any of the methods, and 
 then you will have to sign a bond to that effect, w.th a 
 heavy penalty attached." 
 
 " Then if i were you 1 would not tell anything about it. 
 
 T don't care to know." 
 
 -Oh, that's all right. 1 can plead I have forgotten all 
 about the oath. That is one of the benefits of the memory 
 system. You can forget anything so easily. Yes, sir. 
 Now if you were to lend me five dollars I would very 
 likely forget all about it before to-morrow." 
 
 "You astonish me." 
 
 " It's quite true. In that way the system is very valu- 
 able. Nosv to show you how the thing works. My girV* 
 nam« ' 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 129 
 
 "Oh, you have a girl, then ? " 
 " Had, my dear fellow ; had." 
 
 "Excuse me, if I have brought up sad recollections." 
 " It don't matter in the least, I assure you. Vou se»' 1 
 can forget it right away. " 
 " Well, about the system ?" 
 "Oh, ves • I had forgotten. VVhul wore we talking 
 
 about ?" 
 
 "You said your girl's name was " 
 
 " Exactly. My girl's name was 
 
 Here his brow wrinkled up and he said to hiniseit 
 
 audibly : 
 
 i<Girl— dress— dressmaker— thread— spool—cotton - lol- 
 
 ton-mill— spinner— bobbin— bob— Robert— Robert— Rober- 
 ta. That's it. Her name was Roberta. -nice girl, too." 
 " What was her last name? " 
 
 " Her last name? Let me see." Here he fell into the 
 same sort of an audible brown study and nun-mured : 
 Roberta -Robert— Bob-bobbin— cotton -factory— mill- 
 mills. That's it again. Mills is the name— Miss Mills. 
 Let's see ; what did I say her first name was ? Girl- 
 dress — dressmaker 
 
 "Never mind going over that again. Vou said her 
 
 name was Roberta. " 
 
 " That's it. Roberts — Ro " 
 
 "Mills? 
 
 "You're right, Roberta Mills; awfully nice girl, too. 
 She lives in Windsor. Know her? " 
 
 "No, I don't." 
 
 "Well, she's lost to me forever. I don't knov; that it 
 matters now. I have rarely the money to pay the ferry 
 fare, and if I had it I might wish to spend it otherwise.' 
 
 "I don't doubt it. How did the separation come 
 
 about?" 
 
 "Memory system did it. I suppose you .mdorstond th< 
 
 !^VstGn1 now?" 
 
hi 
 
 m 
 
 130 
 
 MNEMONIC SYSTEMS. 
 
 "I can't say that 1 do." 
 
 "Well, you see, you corral any word }ou want to re- 
 member." 
 
 "I have heard of coralling- an anhral, but ' 
 
 "Same thing, my boy, same thing. Vou get a word up 
 in a corner, so that it can't escape you. That is where the 
 system comes in so good i.i learning French. Now, for 
 instance, supposing you want the French for water. You 
 corral the two words togethei-. Water makes you think 
 of whiskey, doesn't it?" 
 
 "Natural combination. 
 
 "Of course it does. Now wliiske} makes you think ol 
 drunk. A man who is addicted to drink naturally neglects 
 his business and runs in debt, " 
 
 "Ouite correct.' 
 
 "Then drunk recalls debt, see? Well, a man who is in 
 debt owes everybody, doesn't lit. 
 
 "If they are foolish enough to trust him — yes." 
 
 "Very well, then, there you have it. Water — whiskey 
 — drunk — debt — owe — eau, the French for water. Easy 
 as rolling off a log. Now to put the system to every-day 
 use, supposing your wife gave you a letter to post." 
 
 "Vou may as well suppose something probaLle while 
 you're at it. She wouldn't do it. She knows Fd Fo-get it." 
 
 Well, Fm just supposing a case. You remeirjber that 
 you have forgotten what your wife told you to do. Vcu 
 say wife — that reminds you of expense — expense recalls 
 cash — cash means money — time is money. So you think 
 of time, which makes you think of a slugging match " 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Why a fight where they call 'time.' The match sug- 
 gests betting. There you are at 'bet. Betting is against 
 the law, so you iiave 'law.' But betting is only against 
 the letter of the law, the statute is not enforced, so you 
 have 'letter' and then you go and post it." 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY .TRAINING. 
 
 131 
 
 "Wonderful. Still, it seems to me liiat it would bo 
 easier to remember the letter itself than t;o through all 
 
 that." 
 
 "So it would if you were not a victim of this system ; but 
 once that gets a hold on you, you can't remember anything 
 unless you corral the words. That's how I came to lose 
 my situation." 
 
 "Oh! How did that happen?" 
 
 "Well, a man by the name of— of— " here he muttered a 
 lot of words to himself, and then brightening up, said, 
 "Smith— by the name of Smith, telephoned me to tell my 
 boss as soon as he came in, to call him up. There is the 
 telephone. That suggested 'ring'; ring naturally brought 
 
 to mind 'alderman' 
 
 " How is that? I don't see that. " 
 
 "Why the aldermen always form rings and the fellow 
 who wants to get anything has to pay the ring." 
 "You don't tell me?" 
 
 "Fact. Well, ring shows that a man is a fool who ex- 
 pects things to be otherwise ; fool suggests idiot ; idiot 
 su"-gests asyhmi ; asylum, prison ; a pri on is a workshop; 
 a workshop must have a blacksmith shop; such a shop 
 must have a smith, and there you are. Well, when the 
 boss came in, I went up to him working on the corral, and 
 said: ' Ring— alderman -fool— idiot'— but before I got to 
 'prison' 1 was kicked into the street." 
 
 "That was unfortunate. Wli>- didn't you i:;o back and 
 explain? " 
 
 "I have often started out to do so. but 1 always forgot 
 it before 1 could get there. ' 
 
 "And 1 suppose that because \ou lost youi- situation you 
 lost your girl." 
 
 "Oh, no. I had forgotten about that. Glad ) ou re- 
 minded me. No, that was a case of a good eori-al going 
 wrong. It sometimes does that. I went over to see hei'. 
 
13^ 
 
 MNEMONIC SYSTEMS. 
 
 and was working- the corral for all it was worth. When I 
 g-ot there I ran on in this way : ' Girl — dress — dressmaker 
 — sewing- — thread —needle — pins — pinafore — Josephine." 
 
 " I don't see how you get that last word." 
 
 "Why Josephine is the principal character in 'Pinafore, 
 you know. Well, when 1 met her I said, 'Hello, Joseph- 
 ine,' and she thought I was thinking of another girl, and 
 then it was all day with nie. You see I should have gone 
 on 'spools" from 'thread,' and instead of that I went on 
 ' needles,' and then, of course, when a man gets on needles 
 you can't tell at which girl you will bring up." 
 
 "Well, I am sorry for you. I have been very much in- 
 terested in your case. I never knew there was any mem- 
 ory system in existence. Mere is half a dollar for your 
 trouble." 
 
 " I am very much obliged to 30U, I assure you. Won't 
 you come out and have something?" 
 
 "\o thank you, I never drink." 
 
 "Oh, that't so. \either do I. I had forgotten. You 
 see I forget everything." 
 
 "That's all right; good-by." 
 
 I noticed on looking out of the window that he didn't 
 forget to go into the saloon on the cor ■ m-. 
 
 As aids to remembering the English Sovereigns 
 the following is prescribed in one of these sys- 
 tems : "beeswax, a mad dog, gin, 
 Illustrations ^ tipsy woman, hot oatmeal, mud, 
 of Mnemonic garlic, hair d)-e, the white of egg, 
 Systems. hemlock, and a dead baby," re- 
 minding one of 
 
 " Eye of newt and toe of frog, 
 Cool it witli a baboon's blood ; 
 Then ihe charm is firm and good. " 
 
 — Macbktm, 
 
RATIONAL MEAIOKV TUAIN'IXG. 
 
 133 
 
 The signs of the Zodiac, we are told, may be 
 committed easily by the following table : — ■ 
 
 Zodiac-zoon (Greek for animal) — animal — ram 
 Aries — arise — get up — toss up — "bull" — 
 Taurus — tore us — four of us — two of us — twins 
 
 Gemini — gem — diamond — carbon — charcoal — 
 charcoal tin — tin can — 
 
 Cancer — disease — diseased — feeble — strong — 
 " strong as a lion" — 
 
 Leo — lion — lioness — female — 
 
 Virgo — virgin — maid — weighed — scales — 
 
 Libra — liber — liberate — capture — cobweb — 
 spider — 
 
 Scorpio — reptile — rattle-snake -— snakewood — 
 bow — arrow — sagltta — 
 
 Sagittarius — bowman — sportsman — game — 
 goat— 
 
 Capricornus — capsize — fall overboard — wet- 
 ting — water — aqua — 
 
 Aquarius — aquarium — fishpond — 
 
 Pisces — fishes — shecphcad — lamb— ram. 
 
 In short, the absurdity of these systems con- 
 sists in the assumption that if you want to re- 
 member A and E in connection it will be more 
 easily done if you insert B, C, D, as links between 
 them. These systems teach students to remem- 
 
[•r 
 
 ' .vi 
 
 MNEMONIC- SVSTKMS. 
 
 ber one thing- by remcmberinfr several other things, 
 and iMr. Hamerton, in his Inlellecfual Life de- 
 clares: "They are generally founded upon the 
 association of ideas; but the sort oi association 
 which they have recourse to is unnatural, and 
 produces precisely the sort of disorder which 
 would be produced in dress if a man were insane 
 enough to tie, let us say, a frying-pan to one of 
 his coat tails, and a child's kite to the other." 
 
 These systems have, undoubtedly in many 
 cases, helped to strengthen memory by the very 
 exercises in memorizing they have prescribed, for 
 all exercise tends to strengthen the memory. Yet 
 how much o^i the benefit is to be attributed to the 
 SYSTEMS and how much to the exercise oe mem- 
 ory in learning the systems, the intelligent reader 
 must decide. 
 
 Jan- > P. Downs, in his valuable little work 
 entitled '* Memory and Thought," illustrates this 
 incidental advantage as follows: — 
 
 It is related that, once upon a time, an igno- 
 rant Indian consulted the big medicine man of his 
 tribe for the cure of a weak arm. The sorcerer 
 handed the patient a small rod, and directed that 
 it be waved in certain directions one hundred 
 times morning and night for a lengthy period, 
 great care being taken at the same time to repeat 
 
 A CERTAIN MAGICAL INCANTATION OF GREAT WON- 
 
RATIONAL Ml'MORV TRAIXINC. 
 
 .>n 
 
 OER-WORKING POWER, wllicll M.-A.K AL IXi ANTATIOX 
 
 would certainly soon effect great results. 
 
 How much of the benefit lo be derived would 
 be due to the exe. ^ise so emphatically insisted 
 upon, and what proportion oi^ the benefit would 
 be due to the magical incantation, is quite ob- 
 vious. 
 
CHArXER X. 
 
 HOW THE MEMORY IS WEAKENED. 
 
 I 
 
 "It is no usi> j^atlieriiig- treasures if we cannot store them; 
 it is equalh' useless to learn what we cannot retain in 
 the memory,- -Prof. Blaikie. 
 
 "There is neither knowledge, nor arts, nor sciences with- 
 out memory; nor can there be an improvement of 
 mankind in virtue, or morals, or the practice of reli- 
 gion, without tlie assistance and influence of this 
 power." — Dr. Watts. 
 
 "Get wisdom, get understanding. Forget it not." — Prov. 
 IV., 15. 
 
 The reader will readily infer from the preceding 
 discussions upon strengthening the memory that 
 certain conditions and habits, bodily and mental, 
 must injure it. If, for example, health is a funda- 
 mental condition of memory, it must be clear to 
 all that disease prevents the highest exhibition of 
 the recollective powers. If good, rich, arterial 
 blood and normal circulation help memory, it is 
 c]uite evident that the blood imperfectly oxygen- 
 ized and running in sluggish current to the brain, 
 will hinder its fullest development. Generally 
 speaking, it may be said that whatever promotes 
 health assists memory, and whatever tends to 
 weakness or ill health retards it. Without doubt 
 bad ventilation, lack of exercise in the open air, 
 care, worry, grief, overwork and vice, all tend, 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 137 
 
 l> 
 
 directly and indirectly, to weaken the powers of 
 memory. If exercise under right conditions is 
 the great factor in memory culture then neglect of 
 exercise or exercise under wrong conditions, must 
 be injurious to memory. Will power has been set 
 forth as of prime importance in memory training. 
 Then a weak and vascillating \v\\\ must be a great 
 obstacle to memory growth y.nd development. 
 
 Thorough comprehension of an idea to be mem- 
 orized has been dw^elt upon as highly essential to 
 its retention in the mind; imperfect mastery of a 
 new idea must then assist its speedy obliteration. 
 The association of ideas in logical relationship 
 has been urged as favorable to their retention and 
 easy recall; the habit of receiving ideas without 
 attention to their order and arrangement must 
 prevent the highest results of memory. 
 
 We wish under this heading, however, to point 
 out in addition certain things which tend to weak- 
 en the power of memory in most minds. And, 
 first, we would allude to //le vast multitude of ideas 
 received in ivhich the person has but a passing in- 
 terest and ivhich he snakes no effort to retain. It 
 must be evident to all that the mental habit of re- 
 ceiving and dismissing with little interest a 
 multitude of ideas daily must tend to weaken the 
 general memory. 
 
 Our modern life with its constant intercourse in 
 the home, shop and school, its rush of traffic and 
 
'3?^ 
 
 MOW IHE MF.MORV IS WEAKENED. 
 
 engagement, ils multiplying books and papers, 
 pours so vast a Wood of new ideas into the mind 
 that it would seem impossible to impress them 
 deepl}", arrange them in order, and retain them. 
 Let anyone at night review his mental experiences 
 of the day and he must at once concur with us 
 that, especially in conversation and in reading, he 
 has received a multitude of ideas in which he felt 
 but little interest, and over which he has but little 
 power of retention. This habit is one very easy 
 to form and very uijurious to memory. 
 
 In this connection we may mention especially 
 the reading of daily papers as having a tendency 
 to encourage the habit of mental carelessness and 
 indifference which is generally fatal to the highest 
 powers of memory. So much of the 
 contents of the paper are of only 
 passing interest, so much is of an 
 incidental or trifling character, that 
 it becomes a fair question with the 
 student, not only what parts oi' the 
 daily bill of fare provided by the 
 press he should read, but also how much time the 
 student who would have a good memory should 
 devote to his ** daily." But the fault is not with 
 the paper chiefly, but rather with the lack of good 
 judgment on the part of the reader. If every 
 reader would make a proper selection — and he can 
 generally find articles of interest and permanent 
 valu« in every issue — and read these articles with 
 
 The Daily 
 
 Paper often 
 
 Injures but 
 
 may be made 
 
 to promote 
 
 Memory. 
 
RATIONAL Mi:.\lORV TKAIXIXG. 
 
 1 39 
 
 attention and foim the lial it o'i relating the sub- 
 stance of these to otiicrs and of utilizing the in- 
 formation gained, the daily paper might be made 
 of hUjh. intellectual value and a factor in memory 
 training, rather than, as il is now with many, a 
 mental dissipation. 
 
 Another thing that lias a very damaging effect 
 on memory is /caru/z/o- by ro/c i^^hcrc there is not 
 perfect eoniprehciision oj the matter committed. 
 Sensational memory— mere retention of impres- 
 sions made w the eye or ear or other senses — is 
 injurious to true memory in many ways. In the 
 first place its tendency is to deceive both student 
 and teacher as to the amount o{ knowledge actu- 
 ally received, and this lack of defmite knowledge 
 on the part of student and teacher, as to the tacts 
 already comprehended by the student, is one of 
 the greatest obstacles to future progress. 
 
 Children learn to repeat the letters by sensa- 
 tional memory so that each one recalls the next, 
 and both teacher and pupil believe that the letters 
 have really been committed, whereas in many 
 cases only the associated sounds have been learn- 
 ed. So with the multiplication and other tables. 
 
 Another direct evil of the rote system where 
 the intellectual does not accompany the sensation- 
 al memory, is that the intelligence not being 
 called into play, nor the relation between the asso- 
 ciated ideas understood, the mind is burdened by 
 
140 
 
 HOW TUF-: MEMOKV IS VVKAKEXED. 
 
 ! t 
 
 unmeaning sensations. As we have seen in a 
 preceding chapter, carefully conducted experi- 
 ments show that it is ten-fold easier 
 
 The Rote 
 
 System often 
 
 leads to Mind 
 
 Wandering. 
 
 to learn significant than non-signi- 
 ficant words, 
 mental enersfv 
 
 What a waste of 
 there must be in 
 committing tables, rules, selections, 
 etc., which are imperfectly understood! 
 
 Another evil of the rote system where the in- 
 telligence is not called into play and full compre- 
 hension of the subject secured, is that the mind 
 being free wanders, and the habit of mind-wan- 
 dering is engendered. This is one of the worst 
 possible habits for the student. It limits the 
 power of comprehension, prevents deep impres- 
 sion, and is fatal to memory. Nothing but an 
 iron will and persevering practice in fixing and 
 holding the attention will overcome it. 
 
 Another source of weakness is the habit many 
 persons form of discounting their owri memory. 
 They invariably treat it with suspicion, speak of 
 it as poor, wretched, worthless. "I expect I 
 will forget everything I want to say," says the 
 young man who is to make a public speech, and 
 his expectations are nearly realized, but he has 
 not the faintest suspicion that his expectation 
 caused his lapse of memory. "I believe I shall 
 forget my recitation," says the school-girl, and so 
 she does, without suspecting that her m«ntal atti- 
 tude toward her memory caused its failure. Yet 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 141 
 
 in multitudes of cases the lapse of memory is at- 
 tributable largely to the suspicion and distrust 
 with which the memory is regarded. While mem- 
 ory is but the revival of a past mental impression, 
 we should treat it as we do our friendr with con- 
 fidence, ALWAYS TRUST IT AND NEVER EXPECT 
 FAILURE. "Learn to trust the memory," says 
 Kay, "and in order to trust it strive to make it 
 worthy to be trusted." Sir Phillip Warwick 
 says of Lord Stratford: "His memory was great, 
 and he made it greater by confiding in it." 
 "Spoil not thy memory," says Thomas Fuller, 
 "with thine own jealousy, or make it bad by sus- 
 pecting it. How canst thou find that true which 
 thou will not trust?" 
 
 As pointed out in the preceding chapter most 
 
 OF OUR MENTAL OPERATIONS ARE UNCONSCIOUS 
 OPERATIONS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS POWERS OF THE 
 
 MIND ACT LARGELY ON SUGGESTION. There can be, 
 therefore, no more serious blunder on the part of 
 the student than the suggestion of faihwe to his 
 own memory by treating it as unworthy of trust. 
 
 Another cause of weak memory is undue indul- 
 srence of the emotional nature. Ex- 
 cessive grief or melancholy, by dis- 
 turbing the equipose of soul, is un- 
 favorable to the highest intellectual 
 operations. It seems to have a 
 specially deleterious e fleet on the 
 memorv. If memory has its seat not only in the 
 
 Over Indul- 
 gence of the 
 Emotions 
 Hinders 
 Recollection. 
 
142 
 
 HOW THE MB.MORV li U BAKE.NED. 
 
 U\ i 
 
 ill 
 
 
 brain but also in all those parts where the original 
 sensation was made, then it follows that what- 
 ever prevents the mind from acting- upon the same 
 parts as were concerned in the original impression, 
 is detrimental to memory. "Passion and emo- 
 tion," it is said, "are oi' a diffusive nature and 
 prevent brain action along- limited tracts. Hence 
 the apparent antagonism between our feeling and 
 our intellect, the one acting, as it were, in direct 
 opposition to the otlier. " We must dismiss pas- 
 sion if we would have unimpeded action oi' the 
 intellectual powers. Hain declares: "Emotion 
 spurns nice distinctions and incapacitates the 
 mind for feeling them." 
 
 Another source oi' injury to the memory is un- 
 doubtedly the ovcr/iis.kiii^y of i/s poiccrs either by 
 forcing it to receive and reiain too large a number 
 of ideas at a time, or by prolonging its operations 
 unduly and not allov^•i^g it sufficent alternations 
 of rest. The power of tlie mind, both in compre- 
 hending and impressing iCwas at any particular 
 time, is limited, and if more ideas are received 
 than are fully comprehended and deeply impressed, 
 the mind is in much the same condition as the 
 digestive organs that lia\e been overloaded. 
 Mental dyspepsia is ;i very common disease, and 
 like bodily complaints, is to be cured by dieting. 
 The overtaxing of the mind— especially when the 
 body is fatigued — is fatal lo the powers of 
 recollection. 
 
CHAPTER XI, 
 
 MEMORY TRAINING 
 IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 "Education is the great iikmiis by which tlie memory is 
 made either good or bad. Xolhing- can do more tor 
 its improvement than a rig-htly conducted system of 
 education, and nothing- can lAo more to injure it than 
 one wrongly conducted." 
 
 "We may say oi' memor}- what the authors ot the Port 
 Royal Log-ic say of reason: we employ it merely as an 
 instrument o\' acquiring the sciences, whereas we oug-ht 
 to avail ourselves of the sciences as an instrument for 
 |ierfecting- the memory. ' — David Kav, F.R.G.S. 
 
 If the memory is to be trained with a view to 
 strengthening it and rendering its operations more 
 efficient, all will agree that youth is the time when 
 it can best be done, and the schools and colleges, 
 the proper places. The school and college should 
 regard this perfecting of the powers of memory as 
 one of the great objects of their work, and school 
 methods should be adapted to this end. In place 
 of this, however, it must be confessed, that in 
 very few schools is there any direct effort to effect 
 this purpose. Memory is cultivated but it is often 
 sensational rather than intellectual, and the im- 
 portant subjects of careful observation, thorough 
 comprehension, methodical arrangement and fre- 
 quent repetition, do not receive the attention they 
 merit at the hands of teachers and students 
 
44 MEMORY TRAINING IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 To beg-in with, it has always appeared to the 
 writer that one mistake of the public schools is 
 the overtaxing ot the memory of young children. 
 Let us take a child just learning the alphabet. 
 This, coming as the child's first lesson should 
 surely be the simplest and easiest, yet, as Kay 
 points out, we have three distinct tasks in one, 
 all generally laid at ojie time upon the child. First, 
 there is the form of each letter to be apprehended 
 by the eye and distinguished from all the others, 
 then there is the sound to be caught and retained 
 by the ear and distinguished from all the others, 
 and the pronounciation of each letter to be learn- 
 ed and likewise to be distinguished from the rest. 
 Is it any wonder that the young child is bewilder- 
 ed by the diverse calls made at the same time up- 
 on the attention? How can the feeble mind of a 
 child give attention to a new foriu, a new sound, 
 and a new etfort of speech, at the same moment ? 
 Let the child's ear first be thoroughly accustomed 
 to the sounds of the letters arranged according to 
 sounds. Then he should be taught to repeat 
 these sounds, and afterwards, in due order, should 
 be taught the forms which represent these sounds. 
 
 That the tasks assigned in the majority of pub- 
 lic schools to children between eight and twelve 
 years of age, are excessive in number and rather 
 above the comprehension of the average child, 
 there can be little doubt. The mind grows more 
 
 
LBGES. 
 
 to the 
 hools is 
 hildren. 
 phabet. 
 
 should 
 as Ka}' 
 in one, 
 . First, 
 hended 
 others, 
 etained 
 others, 
 ! learn- 
 lie rest, 
 ivvilder- 
 ime up- 
 tid of a 
 sound, 
 3ment ? 
 stomed 
 ding to 
 
 repeat 
 should 
 :ounds. 
 
 .if pub- 
 twelve 
 rather 
 child, 
 5 more 
 
 National memory training. 
 
 >4 
 
 -10 
 
 rapidly and develops more surely by the aid of 'i 
 
 few simple tasks thoroughly mastered 
 
 and frcqiietitly reviewed, than by a ^*^l^ 
 • ' ^. 11 the Child's 
 
 larger number of heavier tasks less jyiemory. 
 
 perfectly understood and less fre- 
 quently reviewed. Very few adults, even if wc 
 select the best educated, are capable of thorough- 
 ly mastering and memorizing ten isolated facts 
 per day for a hundred days and of recalling them 
 at the end of that time. Vet it is not an uncom- 
 mon thing for a girl of ten years to have over half 
 a dozen different studies and a dozen or more facts 
 in each to commit daily, and this, too, in addition 
 to writing and the working of various problems. 
 A more limited curriculum, with more lime for 
 thorough comprehension and more frequent re- 
 view, would produce better results. 
 
 This, then, is our first suggestion as to memory 
 training in schools: Less imrk in quantity, better 
 
 ill quality. 
 
 The public schools should pursue systematic 
 efforts for training children to habits of accurate 
 obseriHition. Object lessons should be introduced 
 daily, and the children so catechized as to develop 
 their sense perceptions and powers of discrimin- 
 ation. 
 
 The habit ^^i appealing to the memory of the 
 children as to actual occurrences is an excellent 
 method of memory training. It is one thing for a 
 student to memorize a table, a page of history or 
 
t ]<J MEMOKV TKAJVING IN !^CHOOL.S AND COLLEGES. 
 
 a selection; it is quite another to give a plain, full 
 account of what took place at school yesterday. 
 To accomplish the first, sensational memory may 
 be sufficient; to perform the second requires ob- 
 servation, memory and exercise in composition. 
 In a school where this was practised the following- 
 dialog^ue took place: 
 
 Teacher. — What can you tell us about last 
 Thursday? What was the weather? 
 
 Pupil. — It rained in the morning-. 
 
 "What was the weather in the afternoon ?" 
 "The sun shone." 
 
 "Were all the scholars present?" '*Mary 
 Brown and John Wood were absent." 
 
 "Any other occurence?" *' Inspector IMank 
 visited us." 
 
 "What proposition did he make?" "He pro- 
 posed to chang-e our drawing; books." 
 
 "What did he say?" 
 
 The scholars were eager to rehearse his remarks. 
 Thus the exercise proceeded, and questions were 
 answered that would give a deep sense of gratifi- 
 cation to manv an older scholar in this aye, could 
 
 • ill ' 
 
 his memory serve him as accurately. It was re- 
 markable how much these children could remem- 
 ber, and the interest they manifested was a 
 pleasure to behold. // 2v</s /ran//fi:>- Unit had tir- 
 coinplisJwd the result. 
 
 The teacher should not make large demands up- 
 
 ^ 
 ,(.'< 
 
RATIOXAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 147 
 
 on the memory o( the scholars at first, but will 
 observe that larger demands are met with little 
 difficulty as the exercises proceed. The chief 
 benefit from exercises similar to the above is the 
 cultivation of the habit oi observation, yet the 
 effect directly on the memory is considerable. 
 Each narration of the experiences of a day furnishes 
 probably as great a tax on the memory as a page 
 of history, yet this narration is given gladly, and 
 with little conscious effort when once the habit is 
 formed. From an article on strengthening the 
 memory by Ella M. Powers in the Journal of 
 Education, we extract the following suggestion: 
 
 Memory devices are productive of good results. 
 If the children have learned many quotations, let 
 the teacher read them and require the scholars to 
 tell who wrote each; or number the quotations and 
 ask the scholars to write the author's name upon 
 a slip of paper. The one who gives 
 the most correct answers may be 
 presented with one of the illustrated 
 poems in booklet form that can be 
 brought for five or ten cents. An- 
 other device is to let the school choose sides. 
 Then the titles of books are mentioned by the 
 teacher, and the scholar is required to name 
 the authors. Upon failing, he seats himself, and 
 the sides increase and diminish according to the 
 law of the old spellinjj- match, which never loses 
 its charm. 
 
 How School 
 
 Children may 
 
 be taught to 
 
 Observe. 
 
14^ .MF.MOin IKAIXING IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 ; 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 James G. Blaine. 
 
 Wm. H. Harrison. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Wm. E. Gladstone. 
 
 Let there be a sobriquet match, the teacher 
 giving the sobriquet, and the scholar the real 
 name, as: 
 
 The Grand Monarch - - 
 
 The Plumed Knight - - 
 
 Tippecanoe 
 
 Father of English Poetry 
 
 Grand Old iMan - - . 
 
 The list can be extended indefinitely. This 
 need not be confined to the names of persons. 
 Take the rivers of the world, the states in our 
 country, the cities of the world. All these will 
 demand their share of interest and rivalry. 
 
 A list of celebrated persons may be prepared by 
 the teacher, and when the sides are chosen, she 
 calls the first name, and the scholar is expected to 
 tell for what he or she was noted, as, 
 Robert Fulton - - Inventor of the steamboat. 
 Charles Dickens - - English novelist. 
 Henry Ward Beecher Preacher and orator. 
 Mozart - - . _ Musical composer. 
 
 This gives great variety, and corresponding in- 
 terest is manifested. 
 
 Again, the technical terms commonly used in 
 commerce, law, mining, printing, medicine, me- 
 chanics, science, and music, may all be given in 
 the same manner, and the results will be gratify- 
 ing to the teacher who will make out her list. 
 
 The efforts of the teacher should be directed to 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 H9 
 
 securing, on the part of every pupil, a thorough 
 comprehension of each point and each detail of the 
 lesson. The motto of all true educational work 
 must be non multa sed multum — not many things 
 but much. It is not sufficient to have received a 
 correct answer. Sensational mem- 
 ory may furnish an answer verbally Sec that Pupils 
 
 , ^, ., ... understand 
 
 correct, and the pupil may neither ^ ^ „ 
 
 ^ ^ , ^ every Detail. 
 
 understand the question or compre- 
 hend the answer he has given. It is not sufficient 
 that a problem be correctly worked and the right 
 answer obtained; the pupil should understand the 
 reason for every step. How often is the teacher, 
 who imagines his pupils comprehend a principle, 
 startled to find, on turning the question into an- 
 other form, that the vital point has not been un- 
 derstood at all! No lesson should be passed un- 
 til its facts and principles are mastered and 
 a thorough comprehensioii of it in all aspects 
 secured. 
 
 I am aware that this is a most difficult work in 
 the public schools where the crowded curriculum, 
 the rivalry of competing teachers, each endeavor- 
 ing to pass the largest numbcM- <>i pupils, wn^ the 
 silly ambition of parents to o.owd their children 
 forward, render the work -jf the conscientious 
 teacher most perplexing. Until wo have lewer 
 subjects, more appreciation o'i true odiication and 
 less desire for rapid promotion, and less overtax- 
 ing and over-urging oi the children by parents 
 
150 MEMORV TRAINING IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 and teachers, we need hardly expect the best 
 results. 
 
 To many it may seem an unwarrantable asser- 
 tion that there is very little proper exercise of the 
 memory under right conditions in trie average 
 school and college, yet such is the case. Books 
 and notes are often depended upon to supply the 
 place oi memory. The student instead of giving- 
 his memory a daily task and thoroughly commit- 
 ting this at the time, and daily reviewing portions 
 of his past lessons, contents himself with such an 
 understanding of his lessons, as will satisfy the 
 teacher at the recitation hour, leaving the work 
 of niemorizing for the week before examination. 
 The result of neglecting to develop the memory by 
 daily exercise in committing and reviewing, is 
 weakness and incapacity, and the attempt to gorge 
 the weakened memory in a few days with the food 
 of a term can only result in injury. 
 
 A point of great importance in memory training 
 at school is the regularity and frequency of revieiv- 
 ing. Not only is this essential to the progress of 
 the pupils, it is a most valuable method of invig- 
 orating the memory. Not only should weekly 
 reviews be held, a certain portion of every recit- 
 ation hour can very properly be devoted to a re- 
 view of the lesson of the preceding day. The apt 
 teacher who recognizes that his work is to train 
 not merely to tell^ and who knows the importance 
 of memory training will not lack for materials or 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 151 
 
 methods. One suggestion is, however, added here. 
 Let the pupils be asked to write at a given hour 
 every Monday a short synopsis, say a score o\' 
 sentences, of the Sunday evening sermon, and let 
 this be done without notes or other assistance as 
 a Durc exercise of memor\-. 
 
 A writer in Education, Walter V'aughan, o'i 
 Montreal, in an able article on " Memory Train- 
 ing in Schools," after pointing out that memory 
 comprises three components: reception, retention, 
 and reproduction; and localization or recollection, 
 argues that the latter should receive special atten- 
 tion in schools. After condemning the rote system 
 he proceeds to discuss the best 
 methods of training the faculty oi 
 localization and recollection. He 
 quotes Hering to show that a mus- 
 cle grows the stronger the oftener 
 it works, and that "increased power of organs 
 accompanies an increased activity with sui^cient 
 intervals oi repose," and then argues that the 
 functions oS. memory n:Msl be trained in a manner 
 similar in all respects to that employed in 
 strengthening and developing the muscles of the 
 well-trained, all-round athlete. As the athlete re- 
 ceives sufficient food and no more, so the memor) 
 ought to be regularly stored, not overloaded, 
 with its appropriate food. As the trainer first 
 exercises the athlete's muscles very gently, insist- 
 ing upon intervals of rest, so must the locrili/ing 
 
 Train 
 Memory as 
 as you train 
 the Athlete. 
 
! • 
 
 15-3 MEMORY TRAINING IX SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 faculty be exercised at first very gently — coaxed, 
 not forced — the intervals being" spent in mental 
 repose. As the exercises of the athlete are grad- 
 uallv increased in violence of motion and lenefth 
 of duration, so should be the exercises of memory. 
 The athlete must avoid overstraining of the mus- 
 cles and irregularity in exercise and must seek to 
 build up, not one set of muscles, but the whole 
 physical frame; so there should be no overstrain- 
 ing of the memory, no irregularity in its exercise, 
 and it can be fully developed only as the whole 
 intellectual nature is cultured. 
 
 With regard to the practical carrying out of 
 his suggestions, Mr. Vaughan believes that "each 
 school should be provided with a memory master, 
 whose duty should be to train the memories of all 
 the scholars." 
 
 This would be done in classes and the duties of 
 the memory master would be: "To exercise the 
 recollection of the members of each class once, 
 twice, thrice, as often as possible, in e\ery week, 
 the exercise occupying from fifteen minutes to an 
 hour in duration; to embrace in his exercise not 
 only the instruction the class has immediately be- 
 fore received, but all knowledge which the mem- 
 bers of the class have at any time acquired, or 
 are supposed to have acquired, from the lessons 
 and instructions they have received; the master, 
 for example, uuestioning one scholar, oi\c moment 
 upon a problem o( Kuclid studied two vears bc- 
 
 <^ 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 3 J 
 
 (« 
 
 fore; another scholar the next moment, upon the 
 construction of a line or verse of a Latin author 
 studied six months earlier; a third upon some 
 historical event discussed a week ago; and so on, 
 constantly changing his subject and dodging about 
 the class, paying particular attention to coaxing 
 and encouraging the members who display the 
 least power of recollection. As a corollary of 
 this, the schola*- must not know the ground to be 
 covered in any exercise, or have any inkling be- 
 forehand of the questions to be asked. 
 
 While the proposal of Mr. Vaughan will seem 
 unpracticable to many, who can say that the im- 
 portance of the work would not justify the ex- 
 pense and effort involved ? Until, however, the 
 public learn to place a higher value on memory 
 training, and are willing to bear the extra expense 
 of memory trainers, let all teachers perform kind- 
 red duties and see that their students are given 
 guidance and help in developing this most won- 
 derful faculty. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MNEMONIC DEVICES AND HINTS ON 
 MEMORIZING. 
 
 "Sound is the leading- element in lani^uag-e, both spoken 
 and written. We hear the words even when we see 
 them, but we do not see them when we liear them. 
 The visible svmbols are accessorv and subordinate." — 
 G. H. Lewes. 
 
 " By far the shortest way to learn to read a language is to 
 begin by speaking it. The colloquial tongue is the 
 basis of the literary tongue."— P. G. Hammerton. 
 
 While mnemonic systems cannot, except in a 
 very incidental way, strengthen memory, and very 
 often by inducing" unnatural associations have 
 proved decidedly injurious, it must be confessed 
 that certain mnemonic devices do facilitate the 
 acquisition of subjects difficult to memorize. The 
 student mav find in some of the follovviuijf nine- 
 monic words and phrases help in the speedy 
 memorizing of ideas which possess little natural 
 relationship. How far these and similar devices 
 are to be utilized, each student must decide for 
 himself, and in accordance with the special object 
 he has in view. If he wishes to develop his 
 powers of memory he will set about cultivating 
 by daily exercises his powers of observation, his 
 sense perceptions, his attention, and by daily 
 
RATIONAL MEMORY TRAINING. 
 
 03 
 
 The Prismatic 
 Colors. 
 
 memorixi.i!- and daily review under right condi- 
 tions he will largely increase his pov.er of recol- 
 lection. If, however, he should find it necessary 
 or convenient to memorize a list of words lacking 
 all logical connection, or a long row of figures, he 
 may find it convenient to use some of the simpler 
 of the mnemonic devices. For example, most 
 people who desire to commit the seven prismatic 
 colors— violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, 
 red- will do so more easily by memorizing the one 
 word Vibgyor, composed of the first 
 letters of the seven, than by the old 
 method of repetition. It is true, rat- 
 ional memory training would seek to find a reason 
 for the order of these prismatic colors, and knowing 
 the reason, would have such a mental grasp upon 
 them that the mind could not readily lose them. 
 But for the majority of persons no such plan is 
 possible even if the philosophy of the prismatic 
 colors were known and available to the literati. 
 
 In like manner, the names of that notorious 
 ministrv formed in 1667, in the reign of Charles II, 
 on the dismisal of Clarendon, are best recalled by 
 the mnemonic word Cabal, which gives the first 
 letter of the names oi its chief members:- -Clif- 
 ford, Ashlev, Buckingliam, Arlington, Lauderdale. 
 As pointed'out before, the Hebrews were accus- 
 tomed to form mnemonic words bv combining the 
 first letters of severed words it was found advis- 
 
i>6 
 
 MNEMONIC DEVICES. 
 
 able to memorize, and this custom lias thus 
 weathered the storms of many centuries. 
 
 In a somewhat similar way the j^ames of the 
 "Minor Prophets" have been learn- 
 ed by the multitudes throup-h mne- _, , ^ 
 ; ^ . . Prophets. 
 
 monic words, made up by combinini^ 
 the first two letters of each name. Thus, Hosea, 
 Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Ha- 
 bakuk, Zephaniah, Hag"gai, Zechariah, Malachi, 
 ~ Hojoam — Objomina — Ha/ehazema. 
 
 Again, we read in Galatians V, 22-23, (l^^^vised 
 Version) that "the fruit o( the spirit is love, peace, 
 longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
 meekness, temperance." Here wo observe the 
 first letters of the nine kinds of fruit are 1, j, p, I, 
 k, g, f, m, t; and on these has been constructed 
 the following: /ar^v cipplc (uul keg of ))ieat. The 
 vowels throughout and the word " and" are non- 
 significant, and the "rg" in large is sounded as j. 
 Another method of associating these fruits of the 
 spirit is by introducing intermediate words sug- 
 gested b}- sound or sense, by a process known as 
 "bridging." By way of illustrating we give an 
 application oi this process to the above table, 
 leaving the reader to decide upon its utility. Jt 
 is taken from W. W. White's memory training 
 lessons :- — F^iyve — dove — -joy — boy — piece of pie — ■ 
 /><v/rf'-- piece-meal -long drawn out- ~/ongsi(ffen'ng 
 
KATIONAI. MH.MOKV TKAIMNCi. 
 
 .">/ 
 
 The Fruit of 
 the Spirit. 
 
 — suftering luimanit> -niaiikiiul - Xvy/r/z/cw -mincl 
 — spirit — God— ^^oodj If. ss — food — ap- 
 ple-tree -leaf -belief — faith — /a/'/Zi- 
 ////;/f\v.v— faithless— Israel — Moses — 
 t)2eckncss — reek — soaking; mass— whiskey sot — 
 fenipernucc. Whether the above is easier to com- 
 mit than the simple nine words is a question the 
 student should decide for himself. But this by 
 no means is the only question, the main one being 
 by which method one will best retain and can 
 most readily recall. A much better way of com- 
 mitting- these would be for the student to search 
 out some apparent or real connection between 
 the various fruits enumerated, or if he must intro- 
 duce intermediate ideas, do his own work ot 
 ''bridging." 
 
 Students beginning music may readily learn the 
 names of the notes on the five lines of the staff— 
 E G, B, D, F — by the mnemonic sentence:— 
 Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, and the notes 
 in the four spaces by the word FACE. 
 
 A knowledge of the different Keys, with their 
 Sharps or Flats, may be obtained from the follow- 
 ing rhymes, which we find in Middleton's Memory 
 Systems, new and old:— 
 
 .4-MAJOR key three sharps will toll; 
 The MINOR-/4 is natural; 
 And ^-/n-Z-MAjOR all will say, 
 \<:\\\\ foia fiats ever we must play. 
 
i.V^ 
 
 MNEMONIC DEVICES. 
 
 With yh\]OH-B/ivr .'sharps are sent; 
 ^-MINOK is with /ti'o content; 
 To B-/fti/-y,.\]OR tz.'utlals place; 
 With B-fli!t->\\sCfK Jivi' Jlats trace. 
 
 To prove our maxim plain and true 
 C-MAJOR key we natural view; 
 On MINOR-C three flats attend; 
 -And C-sha rp-'sll'SOK four befriend. 
 
 The MAJOR-/) tz.<o sharps doth crave; 
 The MINOR-Z) one flat must have; 
 With D-Jlat MAJOR /?tv are told; 
 With D-sharp-MlSOR six behold. 
 With y\\]OR-E four sharps we'll own; 
 The MiNOR-^" has only one; 
 To E-Jiat-S\\]OK three flats Hx; 
 As E-fat'^wsOR must have six. 
 
 F-yi\]OR key has one poor fat; 
 The MINOR-.'^ hasyr>/^^ times that; 
 For /Vs-A(7r/)-MAJOR six sharps score; 
 To F-shnrp-y\lS0R three, — no more. 
 
 rZ-MAjOR key with one sharp make; 
 rZ-MlNOR-key two fats will take; 
 To (T-sharp-ywsoRfive sharps name; 
 And (r-fat-M\]OR six fats claim. 
 
 To learn the piiino keys the following- is helpful: 
 
 " All the (>' and A keys 
 .Are between the black threes; 
 And 'tween the twos are all the D's; 
 Then on the riirht side of ihe threes 
 Will be found the B's and Cs; 
 But on the left side of the threes 
 Are all the E's and all the E's." 
 
 Multitudes of boys ;uid g-irls have learned the 
 
KATIOXAL MEMORY I RAINING. 
 
 159 
 
 number of days in each month by the following 
 simple rhymes: 
 
 " Thirty days hath September, 
 
 April, June and November; 
 
 All the rest have thirty-one, 
 
 Excepting February, which alone 
 
 Has four and twenty-four. 
 
 And each fourth year has one day more." 
 
 I. — THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES. 
 
 The philosophical method of learning a spoken 
 language is indicated by the way children learn to 
 speak their mother tongue. Languages are 
 easily and naturally learned by imitation. We 
 first hear, then learn to speak, and in many cases 
 comprehend fully at a later stage of 
 the process. At the age of six 
 years a child will learn all the com- 
 mon words of a language in less 
 than a year if he hears it continually 
 spoken. It is true there is a flexibility in the or- 
 gans of articulation and a readiness in remember- 
 ing new words in children which gradually decays 
 as\ears advance. Still numberless experiments 
 have shown that adults, by accustoming them- 
 selves to the sound of a new language, c. g., by 
 taking up residence among those who speak the 
 language, can in the course of a few months, 
 learn to speak it readily, and thus learned, the 
 written language can easily be mastered. The 
 
 Leading 
 
 Principles in 
 
 the Study of 
 
 Languages. 
 
 order then in language study se«ms to be: 
 
 an 
 
I ') 
 
 MNT.MOMt l-»r.\icn6. 
 
 education of the car to distiiii^uisli the sounds ot 
 the lantruaire, next an education o\' the organs ot 
 articuhition to reproduce the sounds committed 
 with more or less comprehension of their mean- 
 ing, and then a knowledge of the written langu- 
 age in its forms and structure. 
 
 As Ascham observes, he who learns a language 
 through the grammar, "learns lirst an evil choice 
 of words, then a wrong placing of words, and 
 lastlx", an ill framing of sentences, with a perverse 
 ludirment, both of words and sentences," A per 
 son who wishes to acquire a practical knowledge 
 of French or German should if possible reside for 
 a few months among people who speak only the 
 language desired. If this is impracticable, the 
 second choice should be a native teacher, or one 
 who is capable of teaching the language by the 
 conversational method. 
 
 The most advanced teachers now pursue the in- 
 ductive method and begin with a selection of the 
 language to be studied, ajul by analysis, compar- 
 ison of forms, etc., they teach the pupils to dis- 
 cover for themselves the rules of grammar and 
 the idiomatic structure. 
 
 While the natural order of language study does 
 not require a knowledge of grammar at the be- 
 ginning it must be admitted that no latiguage is 
 fully learned until its grammatical principles are 
 mastered, aad this involves, soon or late, a mem- 
 orizing of rules and of a vast deal of minutia?. 
 
RATIONAL MKMORV IKAIMNG. 
 
 \b{ 
 
 i 
 
 The ease or cJiiTiculy ol acquiriiii^ these rules 
 and details will depend very largely on the way 
 in which they arc arranged, and on the number of 
 natural associations that may be discovered be- 
 tween them. Certain subjects in each language 
 present special difficulties and the ingenuity of 
 masters has been taxed to discover some way of 
 lightening the burden ot memorizing. In the fol- 
 lowing paragraphs we are indebted for some oi' 
 the suggestions offered to a little work, by the 
 Rev. J. H. Bacon, o\\ "The Improvement oi' the 
 Memory." 
 
 II. — LATIN. 
 
 Several Latin words may easily be committed 
 and easily retained from their English equivalents 
 bv attention to the following fac*^^s: — 
 
 1. Most Enjflish WDrcls rndiii^ in nee or ncy are trans- 
 lated into Latin by chanj^'inj;' cc. or i-y into tia; as Kn;^., 
 patietict', (ievicnry; L.atin, pafientia, dementia. 
 
 2. English words ondinj^ in ion become Latin by omitting 
 the final letter; as Eng., relii^ioti, opinion; Latin, rc/igin, 
 opinio. 
 
 ,V Words ending in ty in Englisli are changed in ending 
 to tas; Eng., libetty; Latin, liberias. 
 
 4. English words ending in vide become Latin by chang- 
 ing the e into o; as Kng., fortitude, magnitude; Latin, 
 fartitndoy magnitudo. 
 
 5. Most adjectives of two or more syllables that end in d 
 become Latin by the addition of us; as I'-ng. , rapid, 
 putrid; Latin, rapidus, put rid us. 
 
 6. English words having in their endings r, t, or n, be- 
 tween two vowe's, iire translated into Latin by changing- 
 
 1 
 
1 62 
 
 MNEMONIC DEVICES. 
 
 the last vowel into us; as Eng-., pun\ muit\ obscetie; Latin, 
 punis, mutnsy obsccnus. 
 
 7. Most English words of two or more syllables tMiding- 
 in nt become Latin by changing- the t into s ; as Eng., 
 vig'ilant, latent; Latin, vignlans, lateus. 
 
 8. Many English words ending in ai become Latin by 
 adding is; as Eng., mortal, liberal; Latin, mortalis, 
 liberulis. 
 
 GENDER OF LATIN NOUNS. 
 
 The grammatical gender of Latin nouns de- 
 pends either on their signification or on declension 
 and termination. 
 
 According to signification the following are 
 general rtiles of gender: — Names of males, rivers, 
 tvinds and months are masculine. Nar^es of fe- 
 males, con7itries, towns, islands, trees, plants, ships, 
 poems and gems are feminine. 
 
 According to termination and declension the 
 following rules may be noted:— 
 
 First Declension. 
 
 All nouns which end in a and e, are feminine as all 
 agree; while those that end with es and as, among the 
 masculine we class. 
 
 Second Declension. 
 
 In um and on the neuters end, as all ma)- clearly com- 
 prehend; nouns masculine without mistake must er, />, its 
 or OS e'er take. 
 Third Declension . 
 
 '' How en-or rose \s \\o\ quite plaii.," which bring.- the 
 masculine in again. In .v, is, as, ys 1 ween, the feminine 
 list is plainly teen. 
 
KATIOXAT. MKMORV TRAIN'ING. 
 
 163 
 
 Hut two adilitioits nui.st he In-t'iicd: 
 
 •v by ;i (.•onson;int iiivced^'tl, 
 <'.s~ in (Tonitivo //"/ Inrrensitig. 
 Let these be i oniied with care unceasing'. 
 C-l-c-n-ii i-nr uitli t', v, ^is and ur 
 Make up the hst wi- call neuter. 
 Fourth. Declotsioii. 
 
 Xouns of the fourth that end in /^ we neuter call and 
 
 they are few; 
 \Vhile those that we call masculine have its for their 
 constant sign. 
 Fifth Declension. 
 
 The fifth is easy all confess; its feminine ends in ex. 
 
 in. — FRENCH. 
 
 The following facts will be found helpful to 
 .students beginning- the study of French:— 
 
 1. Nouns and adjectives in hlc, ion, ent, gt\ n\ ne and de 
 are generally the same in French and English. 
 
 2. English words ending in /"i' become French b}- chang- 
 /V into _/?■<'/; as Eng., .i^7()/-//V,' French. glon'Jier. 
 
 ;\. Most English words ending in ish become F""rench by 
 i-hanging sJi into r; Eng., aholish; French, abolir. 
 
 4. Most \erbs ending in .v or t between two vowels be- 
 i-oine French by adding ;• to the English; as English, uxe; 
 French, user. 
 
 5. Flnglish words t>nding in cy or ()' become French by 
 changing these terminations into re and A- respectively; 
 as Eng., ch'wcncv, beauty; French, element Cy heaiite. Other 
 nouns ending in y ihange y into ie; as English, y}//;i'; 
 French, furle. 
 
 6. Worils ending in ^tyy or orr become French by chang- 
 ing thesiMerminations into r/m- oi- "/>.' as Eng. . inililtny, 
 victury; l'"rench, viiiitaire, victoire. 
 
 7. Words ending in our ov or bei-onie French by chang- 
 
I<>4 
 
 MM.MOXIC DF.VK'ES. 
 
 iiig- llu'so tfrniliiHtion-- inio v/-; as Fln.q:., odour, doctor; 
 Fr<MU"h, <idrut\ dvctriir. 
 
 S. \\'orJs iiiLlin;^- in ous ciiungi* ilii''' 1o vux in FriMU'h; as 
 I-'iii^lish, I'igvritu.;: !~ivncli, riq'orcux. 
 
 Gender presents v>ne of the chief difficulties in 
 
 niasterino- French. Tlie following- facts will help 
 
 the student in mercoming' this "laborious task." 
 
 I. Xouns cndiiii; in a lonsoiiant are masmiline, but 
 lliose wiiifli IiMminato in n. L-ur, ion, son preceded by fi 
 vowi'l. AW fcininini". 
 
 This rule includes nearly 5,000 words and the 
 followini^- are the chief exceptions, which are 
 feminine:— - 
 
 (.^vfy i'oui\ iicj, /our, vis, cuillvr, dent, chair^ 
 fcu'ni, soi't, hoisson, c/unist)7i, njoisson, cuissoii^ facou, 
 part, ih)f, ni(ii)i, Iccon, fofs, nnii, soitris, foret^ mer^ 
 nincou, hart, luori, fhi. 
 
 J. Xovnis eailinic in a, e, i, o, 11, are in iseuline, but the 
 endin^vs tc antl //(■ are mostly reniininr. 
 
 This rule includes over 1,000 words, and the 
 follow'ini; are the chief exceptions, which are 
 feniine:— 
 
 Mi<ii\ ran, pcuu, i^/t/, Jounni\ tribu^ foi^ loi\ 
 mcrci, vcr/u. 
 
 T,. Nouns ending- in aj;i', esfc, uge, aire, oire, le, aunie, 
 eine, oine, sin*' and isti- are niaseuline. 
 
 This rule has upwards oi 1,000 words and has 
 few exceptions. 
 
 • 
 
 
? 
 
RATIONAL 
 
 TRAIN' 
 
 H V 
 
 B. F. AUSTIN, B.A., B.D. 
 
 Ex-Principal of Alma College 
 
 'fur 
 
 ,^.. KK VI i:\VS 
 
 "TIav«> cxaiiiiucd the sy«t«iiis of Loisette. Pick, Downs aiul others. Tl;is is do- 
 , . fidely the best I havi; seen.'" .J. W. Kussell. iissisUinl editor, (Juiirdian. 
 
 "An epitonie of •-iiffKestions, valuable to every teaeher and student."— J. S. Deaeon, 
 Insj)e»tor of Schools. 
 
 "Am ospoeially pleased with ('lmi)lers VI.. VII. and VIII. "-D. Curry, I. I*. S. 
 
 "The book is a very valuable and timely one" -tJuardian. 
 
 "Well written and exceediiiKly interesting;." -Observer. 
 
 ".\ brief buf, valuable treati.-.e on the best way of cultivating,'' and strenj^theninfjf 
 the iiu'mory on philo-opbical and pedaj,'-o^ieal princirles." Educational .Journal. 
 
 " We commend the book to all studi'iits and to everyone wishing; to cultivate his 
 X memor.v." I»r. \\ it brow, K. K.S.C. 
 
 "The book is full of excellent Ideas." J. A. Wismer, M.A.. .lanu'son Ave. Colley. 
 Inst.. Toronto. 
 
 "I shall «lo what I I'an to place a cujiy in the hands of eatb member of my Model 
 Clasti." A. Orton, T«'aclier of Moflel .School, Jirantfoi'd, Out. 
 
 "It is a thorouj^^hly scienlKle treatise, clearly and adnurably siaJnj,' the funda- 
 mental principles oi memory and };ivin;;' important iiints for its cultivation." Orello 
 ("one, I».l).. President Hulrlivll ("olloKe. .\ki-on. Ohio. 
 
 " I ha\c been interested in several treatises upon the Memory aiid this is certainly 
 theliest I havtiseen. Il is bolb seientitic and pra<'tical. liascl on an exhaustive stinly 
 of previous writer.--.' Kev. W'm. (). Krost, I'h.b., I'l'esident, Herea College and Profes- 
 sttr of Mental ami Moral Science. 
 
 "The hook is an admirable elassitication antl analysis of the views of Main. Uihot, 
 Carpenter. W'undt, Spencer. Delb.^eul. ^iaudsley, Hamilton, Leil)nitz and others. The 
 author proece<ls to explain Ihi^ laws which yovern uusniory, anil the proces.ses which 
 st.rcn;;then it." The Canadian Mii^azine. 
 
 " If the sujrtfcst ions of Ibis book were carried out they would bring; yrcnt K<)od to 
 us."- W. P. .lohnslon, M..\.. President, (Je/ieva Coliet^e. Pa. 
 
 " I find it very interesting — The sult.je<'t is an impoitant on(>aiul s(!(Mns to he 
 treated witli c.ire and skill, (ierirj^c W. .Sniilli. P.!*.. I'residenI, Triiuty Collen'e, Hart- 
 ford, Conn. 
 
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