The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-29
MEMORY'S

foreign Governments at its back"
MEMORY'S MYSTERIES.
Frnncisque Snrccy Writes EntertaiuingI
OF Those Ie Has Observed.
Francisque Sarcey wrote the following for a
recent number Of the Paris Figaro:
WHO in conversation IN. when seeking a name.
adate. or any detail that flies before the memory
and escapes, has rot cried out in a tone OF i'm
patience, L have IL on the tip Of my tongue p
and, true enough. that name, that date. or that
detail Is on the tip OF the tongue. 1t seems as II
the slightest effort would suffice to formulate 1t;
but by what strange phenomenon does 1t refuse
to allow itself to be captured The moro you
follow 1t the more IL runs back into the depths
OF the mind. Your hands almost tremble with
impatience and your eyebrows knit in the effort
to catch 1t; but all is in vain. That wretched
name you cannot seize, and you are Obliged to
replace 1t by some other word. And what Is
more extraordinary is the plain fact that, II the
name conceals itself. you have present in your
mind all the circumstances which accompany
1t. which distinguish it. and make it known.
There are people with whom these failures Of
memory are frequent and insupportable. For
my own part, am very subject to them. In con-
versation when l suffer from them | have to be
resigned, but In public speaking l find the in
convenience very painful. l am never sure that
! may not have to stop short before the name of
the author, or Of the book that | am talking
az" lua. n"nne ! nv aiIeauy
49, -. n Az - ~ u -. .'u u SUI
- vi -, m'nos 1 h"'e'
~ ~ :. Nh' nhu ion.a"'
..r.a,n ,,hiah T.. 80 vp "
the cause of it? That is a question which
l have often asked myself. and many others
must have asked themselves the same question:
because in reality this disease Is very common,
and the theatre continnaIIv draw com,oai
- " o"Na
scenes out OF lt. have Just read an article In
the Rerue des Reruss which throws some curious
~. spU ms l VI II meniorS' its ny
Alfred Binet. and gives an account of the in
nv some learned En,lishnen Tho on,hnr ,al1s
v sV"' "'n Ens'shheh' II au'hor 'eiis
Paris, he made some interesting experiments.
Eor avom,,o . u.t -, e,,x wo,as r,. ,oa, 49,.
n.,,sn, u = .nhiao, and w. w. mo'u EVA was = a 90
them. He discovered about ten in his mem.
orv, t. was rarely ,bat onvhodv cour,
repeat twenty. The thirty others were gone.
But were they gone forever, destroyed? Not at
ali. The nerson who heard them reta,nei them
in his memory, but could not grasp them; and
n.ie u ,mo proo, VI y. a ,st VI siH1s worus"as
m~u.' anio"s Which thrown II lhe lh,rty
the subject. with the request that he would in.
$50 -. u .eiu.s' az no
u'a'0 NV "ofuS previously re"u' II ne couio
orally pointed out the thirty words that he had
torao,tsn Now :, hs rscoanInoI tham :, =.
iorsolten. Now II ne recognized them' IL Is
plain that he must have them.
u.mro d.. :. -" 10 ~
sen.ous; nv ~ we are constantly repeating II IN
MR. % a ny ~ = t fUr thsasnee; YOU are sometimes
that you have forgotten. You can hardly re-
nitnoer Lne UTE. iou are asked 10 give the
suostan'u . ! .he piece. because you oueht 10 re-
memoer III i9r you saw the nrst representation
Q 1ne wErS' out no recoiiectioh OF u comes to
Suur mInu anu YOU cahI ahswer. ne irst
SIemes nse prnyeu, hnu men sudaeniy inc whole
pptay uses up from tne uepth or the past ana
sn,rty years ol exile, you return to the land
Wnere your cniiunoou was passed, no sooner have
sour e'es snhGn upon me oha Town CLOCK Than a
swarm OF recollectlons mat have slept for years
becomes aroused and huns again. What are
we 10 ooncluue from TINS, II not that OF all the
reco!iectiohs that are stored in our mind, about
,IniIv : ~ . fI1hs "a at our disbonai TOT our
aaiIy use; while ths other two-thirds arg PIT
away IN drawers, whose Keys we nave lost We
hre IKE those women VINO know well That they
nnnvi 9oheW heru III NO mouse, ci3lce ihces
are lhey ought 70 pc In TINS or mat wardrobe.
Out me lock cant ne opened. Sohetlines the
eoon Woman even iorgets that she ever pos
ia as Irh ages nmIi s0me nne Gay, when the
cry 81 SURPRISE: Why, my laees.
IL Is the same WIN ne recollection. one Is
oiten hsiohisned az discovering the sudden
rTsurrsu1toh o, nongI purieu memories, we
oIteh fancy mat there Is mystery surr3nnding
the tnlhH, out hothIhg v more slmple. ne tact
10 .nat ia lea'AtS tnlse lheil3rles were NOT buried
IT destT1yea. Mltnout our khowiedge they re-
ma preserved ~ me archives OF the mind.
pui We eoui9 not bring them out, because we
haa no need Ipr theh;
s,udMva u n}y wno puSiisned q very remarkG6le