Natchitoches spectator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1867-18??, 1868-05-07


| Writers upon mental science have
carefully preserved many instances OF
the most amazing powers of memory.
Cyrus, it is said, knew the name of every
officer, Pliny that of every soldier that
served under him. Themistocles could
call by name each one of the twenty
thousand citizens of Athens. Horton
sius could sit all day at an auction, and
at night give an account OF everything
sold, the purchaser and the price. Mu-
lretus saw at Paduad asyoung Corsican,
who could repeat, without hesitation,
thirty-six thousand names in the order
in which he heard them, and then re-
verse the order, and proceed backward
to the first. oF ff9I1t oes .!i9i
DIR. Wallis, of Oxford; on one occasion,
at night, in bed, proposed to himself a
number of fifty three places, and found
its square root twenty seven places,
and, without writing down numbers at
all, dictated the result from memory
twenty days afterwards. 1t was not
unusual with him to perform Arithmetic
cal operations in the dark, as the extrac-
ton of roofs, e. g., to fortify decimal
places. The distinguished Euler, blind
from early life, had always in his mem
DRY u table of the first six powers of all
Plumbers, from one to one hurc red. On
one occasion two of his pupils, calcult-
ting a converging series, on reaching the
seventeenth term, found their. results
differing by one unit at the fifteenth fig
ure, and in order to decide which was
correct, Euler went over the whole in his
head, and his decision was afterwards
found to be correct. Pascal forgot moth
ing of what he had read, or heard, or
seen. 'ii a"f
Perhaps the most remarkable instance
of great memory in modern times is the
case of the celebrated Magliabechi, libra
rian of the'Duke of Tuscany. He would
inform airy one who consulted him, not
only who had directly treated OH any
particular subject, bnt who had indi-
rectly touched upon it in treating of
ether subjects, to the number of, per-
ltaDs,, one hundred different authors,
giving the name of the book, the words,
often the page where they were to be
found, and with the greatest exactness.
To test his memory, one day, ~ gentle
man of Florence lent him at one time q
manuscript he had prepared for the
press, and some time afterward came to
him with sorrowful face, and pretended
to have lost his manuscript by accident
The poor author seemed inconsolable,
and begged Magliabechi to recollect
hat he could and write it down. He
assured the unfortunate man, that he
would, and setting about it, wrote out
the entire manuscript without missing a
word. He hada local memory, also, and
knew where every book stood. One day
the Grand Duke sent for him to inquire
if he couId secure book which was
very scarce. s'No, sir" answered Mag
liabechi, sit is impossible; there is but
one in the world; that is in the Grand
Seignor's library at Censtantinople, and
is the seventh book on the seventh shelf,
on the right had as you &C in"
The question has been discussed by
writer's upon the human faculties, chow
far the power of memory may be regard
ed as test of intellectual ability"
Some have contended that an extraordi-
nary memory is incompatible with Il
sound Judgment, and even that an unu-
sual development of the faculty is at
tended with corresponding deficiency
OF some other mental power. Others,
and it is believed the majority of sound
writer's on the subject, entirely cOntro-
vert this idea, contending that the men
of the most active and commanding in
tellect have been men also of tenacious
and accurate memory. Napoleon being
produced as u remarkable instance in
point. s'H." ,tH ai 't'-