The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-07-15
FREAKS OF MEMORY.
Queer Franks for Which There Is No
 Accounting.

Oueer Franks for Which There Is No
 Accounting.
 The queer freaks of memory are constant puzzle to those who study psy- chical phenomena. Who has not been driven to the verge of distraction by the total inability to recall a name when an effort was made to do so and when the occasion for such remembrance was past had the missing name flash into the mind apparently of its own volitlon?
 Great minds have wrestled to find an explanation for the pranks that mem ory plays and have had to give up the effort. In the course of a systematic at tempt to arrive at some understanding with regard to the wonders of memory l very valuable and unique body of testimony has been obtained. The fol- lowing questions have been put to 200 American university students and pro fessional persons 151 being men and 49 being women. The answers are here given with the questions:
 Question 1.-When you cannot recall name you want, does it seem to come back spontaneously without being sug- eested by any perceived association or | ideas? To this Il per cent. answered "No" and S1 per cent Yes. 1 Question 2.-Does such recovery ever come during sleep? To this r per cent. answered No and 28 per cent. Yes 1 Some examples given:
 | l.. This morning l tried to recall the name of, a character l had read of the { night before in one of Scotts novels and ] failed. I taught class, and walking 1 home in the afternoon all the names re- | cured to me without effort. ?. I tried to recall the name of book. Gave it up. Half an hour later, while talking of something else, blurted it out without conscious volition.
 Question 3-On seeing a sight or hear ing a sound for the first time, have you ever felt that you had seen Cor heard) the same before? Fifty-nine per cent. answered Yes"
 The action of unconscious memory during sleep is illustrated by further queries:
 Question 4.-Do you dream? Ninety four per cent answered Yes" Question 5.-Can you wake at a given /, hour determined before going to sleep without waking up many times before? Fifty-nine per cent. answered Yes. V Thrty-one per cent. answered NO
 Question eff you can, how about failure? Sixty-nine per cent, seldom failed; 25 per cent often.
 Question 7-Do you come direct from oblivion into consciousness? Sixtyfour per cent. answered Yes" and Is per cent Gradually"
 Examples:
 l 1. I had to give medicine every two hours exactly to my wife. l am very sound sleeper, but for six weeks l woke up every two hours and never missed giving the medicine
 }. I am always awake five minutes before the hour l set the alarm.
 3. I had had little sleep for ten days and went to bed al 9, asking to be called at midnight. I fell asleep at once. rose and dressed as the clock struck 1: and could not believe I had not beer called.
 A strange phenomenon has come tc light in the course of the inquiry into the mystery of memory. It has beer discovered that by gazing steadily at crystal consciousness is partly lost Into the void thus produced those who have practiced crystal gazing find tha there enter unbidden forgotten incl | rTn oiNrp a instances A lady in crystal gazing saw bit of dark wall covered with white flowers She was conscious she mus
 have seen it somewhere, but had nc recollection where. She walked over th' ground she had just traversed anC found the wall which she had passed
 unnoticed.
 She took out her handbook another day. Shortly afterward she was gazinS at the crystal and saw nothing but th' number one. She thought it was som' , back number, but, taking up the bank
 book, found to her surprise it was thu number of the account.
 At another time she destroyed let ter without noting the address. Sh'
 could only remember the town. Afte gazing at the crystal some time she say
 321 Jefferson Avenue. She addressed the letter there, adding the town, anC found it was right.
 | A lady sat in a room to write Wher she had sat eight years before. Sh felt her feet moving restlessly under tn table and then remembered that eigh } years before she always had a foo , stool. It was this her feet were seeking Psychical research brings to ligh ] many cases of similar strange tricks O 5 memory It is easy to find instance , that serve to deepen the mystery. It i not so easy to give an explanation, Tn : cleverest men who have attempted to d so have had to admit to defeat-Wash . ington Post.
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