The Evening critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1881-1885, 1884-12-13
THE ART OF MEMoRIzING.
AnaocintIon ot Idona fha nav

"How often do We hear tho exclamation,
ION, that reminds mel' when the mention OF
something In the course Of conve rsation 70.
calls TO tho memory some other matter that
had been forgotten. Yet most people use the
expression unconscious OF tho fact that one
thing recalls another, not through mere chance
or haphazard, but In obedience to n liked law
OF tho mind. very often, too, whom thoughts
or Ideas seem TO spring spontaneously In the
mind, we would flnd, II We could trace tho
preceding train OF mental Impressions, that
those thoughts or ideas had not risen sponta-
neously, but link by link in obedience to the
same law. Such 10 the keynote OF my system
OF cultivatlng the memory"
This was said 70 reporter by Professor
Yule, lecturer on the art OF memorizing, who
onerB an exposition of his method at the
American Institute Fair.
"This method Of rnemorizatlon," he con
tinued, "has this advantage, that IL can Guilt
waite naturally detective memory up TO
ttato or comparative proficiency with even
easc man ~ Sam ons pHreonn WIKI
bad memories are almost invariably more
Imaginative than persons with good memories.
Now, IL fs by utilizing this stronger faculty,
tho imagination, to assist It's weaker com.
panion, that the method teach Is enabled to
do so much. And this is done by visualize
tion. Take your notebook, for instance, ana
Get down, say, flfty simply words, tho names
OF wholly disconnected thlngs Just as they
chance TO suggest themselves
suggestions from the multlfarious objects sur
rounding him, hastily 1otted down nifty words,
beginning with boy, table, stove, gaslight,
perfumery ana chickens.
"Now," pursued the professor, ''you will OBJ
serve that tho words you have set down are
the names OF objects that may DO readily WIS.,
ualized, or pictured In the minds eye. In or
der to commit the list to memory It is not
nee eesary to employ the ordinary and tedious
method OF frequent repetition, or learning by
one reading by totally different MEANS Now
begin with pictures conveyed by your FIRST two
worde-boy, table. Picture in your imsgina.
49,. ent.l .0elx
chooee-peaceful, dramatic or ludicrous.
Have the boy standing on bis head on the
table, for instance; for often tho moro gro
tesQue or ridiculous tho situation the more
strongly will It impress the mind"
"Ali right" said the reporter, making
mental photograph.
careful not TO burden the mind by trying TO
remember anything, and simply follow my
directions. Let the frst word, boy, drop from
form now and distinct mental picture of the
two ideas-table, stove. A table, for instance,
may be pictured as leaning and smoking
standing on the table, or the table on tho
stove; or connect them In any way your fancy
may suggest. Let your mind dwell upon this
then let this picture also pass away. Now
from your mind, and, taking up the next pair,
stove and gaelight, associate them In q men,
tnl picture, es before. Proceed ip the same
wny through the entire list. In this manner,
even Il there be hundreds Of words to memo
iize, tho process will continue simple, for
there will never be more than two ideas In the
mind at once"
The reporter followed these instructions
throughout his list OF nifty words.
snow" continued the Professor, ''in repeat.
ing the series from memory do not say, Boy
standing on head on tables; table leaning
against hot stove &c, but, although mentally
recalling the pictures one by ono, speak aloud
only the words contained In the list, which
Will hold while you repent. Go on"
repeat the whole list with ease and without q
single break. Then, at the Professors sugges.
lion and without any further study. he re.
verBed the order and found that he could re.
peat the series Just as easily backward.
"There you arei" exclaimed the Professor.
"You have already mastered parliamentary
step, namely, esec ciation or ideae, which, with
n little practice, will prepare you to proccsd
swiftly and understandingly through the ovo-
buttons Of my method. In the same manner
after one reading, those fifty names OF ma.
terial objects, other words which do not SO
readily suggest mental pictures-words ex-
beauty, hideousnese-nia likewise, by pra;-
tice, be distinctly associated by INSTALLATION
In symt olic way, and re called to their regu.
lor order with equal facility. In thus asso-
ciatipg chain of idees, and the words that
represent them, the 1rst step 10 to have q WE'LL
remembered post, or nxed Idea I, which 70
festen the end OF the chain, SO that tho whole.
no matter what its length 10, may DO recovered
link by link from the abyss Of forgetiulness.
"Mem0randa Oh orrandB or engagements
may be thus impressed upon the mind for a
long limo. Thou. in preparing for an elab
orhte Interview with some distinguished per
son, oil you have TO do Is to memorize by this
associative method the heads of subjects to be
referred to, while OF course the name OF the In.
dividual to be interviewed would form the post
or fixed idea TO which to attach the chain. In
the case OF a verbal interview his answers
would, on the same principle, remain I'm
pressed in the mind as associated pictorIally
with the questions that evoked them. You
Will also see, as you advance, that the method
can DO applied TO figures Just as well 81 e
words. You are only acquainted with rudi.
ments OF tho system as yet. 1t ia by translat-
ing words into numbers, through the key Of
coneonante, in numerical order, that the great
eat results OF the system ore obtained.
81 will make this clear to You. The key OF
consonants is as follows: to, de, 1 ne, 2; me
3;re, d: le, 8; je, che, che, zhe, @; ke, que, Sc
thardl, z; fe, We, 8; pc, be, % CO, Sc, re, o. All
braced in this key, with the exception OF W, b
va, Ell, and u, which are not used ana
have no numerical value resigned to them
The mai is used merely to give convention
sound to es ch copsonant, so THAI the key may
be more readily learned. Now, you cal
acquire this hoy by memorizing, with thu
knowledge you already possess, this series o
words, which contains in order all the conso
nants embraced In the keys Toad, Inn, ham
oar, whale, Jew, watch, shoe, Asir, key, quag
Snow 70 form words into syIlabler, accord
Ing 10 the key, and then translate them Int
fgures, take the word ditch combination
whole word. 'Ripg'-re az and 60 90, ng be
ing sounded as go hard, becomes AZ. 8, begin
ming o word, has no numerical sound; 60 thu
'satin'-ti ~ aud ne (2)-bc ONES IL. Doubl
lettei5 are rockoned as single letters, as II
'nnpy'-fe (S) and NO (2)-which becomes 81
But where the double letters belong to sepa
rate and distinct calculations, cash letter he
it's value. Thus, 'thinne,s.-ti ~, no (2), N
(2l and SO 0)-becomes 1920; and, on tn
same principle, 'jinging'-ge C7) and GO "a 4
a.: while 'sipgle-ge CD, go "a and 10 OIL
ION this principle have formed table o
liked ider3, the ngure.syllablos OF which OF
is, perhaps, longer than you would wish Z
print, but II starts with hat tie, ~, which 1
followed by honey (ne. q, homo (me, ~, har
row (rc, d., hill nc, b), watch (che, 81, an,
winds up with beef (be, o, 10, 81, pipe (pe, Q
pc, 0), so, and diocese (de, i, ce, O, Sc, o. loo
This table may be- studied III you can tell In
stantly that, Tor instance, the nineteenth wor.
10 tub tie, ], be, 9), the thirtieth, me ose (me
sc, o., the ffty.nintp, lobby, lie, 5, be, 81, an
80 on; and also until you can lust as readll
translate the words into figures, thus; Dove
49, snake, 81; vat 81.
'The substance OF lectures, speeches, an
printed pages may be remembered with sur
prising fuliness and accuracy by an intelli
gent application or this Table OF Fixed Ideas
"Ono may frame phrase or clause contain
ing words ex pressing the figures, which phra9
or formula is 10 BIO memorized or associated 4
connection with the historical event or othe
fact TO BIO remembered. Nouns and adjective
there Will be no difficulty In knowing VIVA
words OF the formula stand for the deslro
figures. / VIII give you a few instance:
Suppose ono capable OF forgetting that Colum
bus discovered the Bahama Islands In 49,
Let him frame clause In connection with tn