The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-02
ARTIFICIAL MEMORY.
Hundreds Of Different Systems Of
Mind Training.
Instances of tho Wonderful Power or
Memory Possessed by Great Men
Erroneous Methods of Cultivate
Ing the Memory.

A recent writer who firmly believes
that he has discovered complete sys-
tenn of making the human memory per-
feet says that up to the present time
there have been produced 400 mncmonic
systems, al bcnring different names
200 before this century and 200 within
the ccntury'-and yet he admits, more in
sorrow thnn in anger, that most poo
pies forgetting" is much moro rcli-
able than their memory, and that no
one of the 400 systems has ever sue
ccctled il making n man remember
every time to post his wifc's letter the
day on which it was handed to him
The fact thnt there have been 400 sys-
TENS of Inncmonics devised md tried
would seem to indicate the impossible
ty of the complete cultivation of the
memory, says the San Francisco Chron-
iclc. 1t has not required any 400 at
tcmpts to demonstrate the bfnomial
thcorcm nor to prove the impossibility
Of squnring the circle, though the latter
Is still believed possible by some half
educated mathcrnaticians, nor has it
been necessary to devise 400 systems
for the development of the muscles of
the human body.
That the memory can be improved
both in capacity and accuracy is indis-
putable, but that it can be made into o
machine which shall respond with GER
tainty to the will of it's possessor is
another matter Persons of remarkable
memories like Lord Mncaulny, Cardinal
Mezzofanti and others arc of no use TO
the believers In or advocates Of
mHcmonic systems, hut simply because
they could not forget. Mezzofanti,
whose wonderful memory was chiefly
linguistic, said that he never forgot
word in a foreign language that he once
heard, and Macaulny said that most of
what he remembered with accuracy had
been acquired with ease and was re
tanned without conscious effort, like the
roll of the archbishops of Westminster,
for example, or the fugitive pieces of
poetry which he had read as n child.
The inherent weakness of every sys-
tenn of artificial memory is it's artiti-
ciality-that is, it's attempt to teach one
to remember one set of things by re-
melnbcring another. To do this tho
student must remember not only the
new set of things, but the connecting
links, which is certainly imposing upon
his memory Il double burden. at least
No man can fail to know and under
stand the aid which association supplies
to memory, but to devise artificial and
fictitious associations to enable one to
remember is too like promising the
children at table that the one that cats
the most bread and butter shall have
the most pudding. When the pudding
comes there is no vacancy to be filed.
There is, we think, an infalliblc rule
for aiding the memory, but it cannot be
reduced to n system. 1t is to cultivate
the faculties of observation and atten-
ton Robert IIoudin, the celebrated
French conjurer, who invented the sec
ond-sight trick, has given us an insight
into this in his interesting memoirs lie
says TINT it was the custom of himself
and his son, who was his assistant,
when passing along the street to glance
into shop window and then try to sec
how many of the objects on exhibition
they could recall by so doing he says
they both became expert in very short
time, but that the boy could see and re-
call nearly third more than he could
ing, say box of bluinE, he had to re-
call, first, sonp, then tub, then laundry,
then shirt, and then bluing, it is easy
to see that his list of articles would
have been very much shorter, and yet
this is no eXaggeration of the methods
proposed by some professors of mnc-
monies.
Another great aid to memory rs the
determination not to forget Even if
we adopt the theory that it is inpossi-
bic to forget anything we may, by a
vigorous exercise Of will power, keep
one or moro things at the top of the
heap in that storchouse which we call
memory. We may insist with ourselves
that objects of value shall not be COW
cred up with rubbish and trash, but
shall be ready at hand when we want
them 1t Is true that we often do for
get important matters and remember
triiles. but that is because of our care
lessncss and Indifference, not because
Of any congenital defect of memory.
The sum of the whole matter seems to
be that while there arc good memories
and bad as there are strong eyes and
weak, the poor memory may be i'm
proved by the systematic and proper
exercise, but that the numerous invcn-
tons which have been tried for the put
ting symbols and catchwortls in the
place of memory are not successful, and
never will be. The art of memories
was once summarized by ono who said
that he had devised a perfect system.
and now if he could only remember the
system he would be all right.
Flowers Growing In Snow.
Recently Explorer John W. Kelly
aSccndcl the Pitlnc0Sn river for q dis