Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-10-21
CuriOsitieS of Memory.


Seneca complained of old age when
be could not, as formerly, repeat 1900
words in the order in which they were
read. At a certain recitation of his
class, when student, 200 verses had
been unconnectedly recited by the diff
ferent pupils, when he repeated them
from the last to the first in pefectly re-
versed order, and without misplacing
word. The Druids taught their whole
circle of sciences in 10000 verses,
which students were called upon to COM
NIT to memory, and which frequently oc-
cupied a space Of twenty years. Blind
Tom, the pianist, affords an example of
marvellous memory All that he knows
or performs he has either heard or i'm
provised. His repertoire embraces the
vast number of 5000 distinct pieces.
Estimating the average number of notes
in single bar to be eight, and the aver
age number of bars in a single perform
ance to be two hundred, we discover
that the facts retained by the musical
prodigy amount to the astonishing
number of eight millions. Liszt and
Rubenstein, the gifted pianists, are
both accredited with the possession OF
great memories. 1t is related also of
Wiegis, German violinist, that upon
the discovery that the score of certain
valuable opera had been lost, he volun-
teered to write it from memory; this he
successfully did, to the incest detail,
and was paid therefore handsome sum
of money. Upon many an occasion
Wiegis accurately performed his part
Of hn VIII no 1T,+C cd
as to make it necessary to provide him
with his instrument and rightly adjust
it in his hands. Rollins tells us, of the
remarkablememory possessed by Adrian.
John Wilson, the painter, Queen Eliza
beth, and Julius Caesar were about
equally endowed with this valuable
faculty. The conversation of the histo-
rian Macauley exhibits an infinite store
ofperfectly appropriate and correct quo
tations, while Professor Person could re-
cite very many lengthy poems with an
astonishing accuracy. Racine could re-
cite all the tragedies of Euripides. Eu-
Ter, the mathematician, could repeat the
Euclid. Lord Granville repeated the
New Testament from beginning to end,
in the original Greek; and Cooke, the
tragedian, is said to have committed to
memory the contents of large daily
newspaper. STRANGELY is said to know
the name and place Of every one of the
hundred thousand volumes of Aston
Library. The same was said of the
librarian Magliabecchi, who besides
knowing the name of every book of his
vast library, could repeat the contents
of great number of them, and could
tell any inquirer not only what book
would best satisfy his wishes, but the
chapter and page where the desired date
would be found. Mirandola would
| commit to memory the contents of the
book by reading it three times over, and
could frequently repeat the words back
ward as we'll as forward: Thomas
Cramer committed to memory, in three
months, an entire translation of the
Bible; and Leidnitz. when an old
man, could recite the whole Of
| Virgil, word for word. Bossuet
could repeat not only the whole Bible,
but all of Homer, Virgil, and Horace,
than any of these is that of Carneades,
who when required, could repeat
any volume found in his library as
if he were reading. Mr.. Henkle.
through the Journal of Speculative
Philosophy, has brought to light an ex-
ample of memory that is unsurpassed
inancient or modern times. This gifted
individual is one Daniel McCortney, an
humble laborer, in Salem, Columbiana
County, Ohio. He is quite illiterate
and nearly blind, but he remembers the
occurrences of every day since Jan. l,
1927, when he was 8 years old. Mention
any date to him in the last forty-four
years, and he tells instantly what day Of
the week it was, what manner of wealth
er prevailed, what he was individually
doing or conversed about. Mr.. Henkle,
paying personal visit to Cortney, pro
vided him with journal for forty-fVe
years, and after several severe cross
examinations, proved Mr. McCortney
to be correct invariabl y.-Llastrated
Anaal Of -Phrueaology and Physioy-
2lOn1y. es