The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-01-01
WIZARDS OF MEMORY
FAMOUS MEN WHO HAD WONDER
Full POWERS OF RETENTION.

The Remarkable and Authentic Cases
of Leonard Euler, the Mathemati-
clan, MagIiabechi, the Literary
Prodigy, and Rev. DIR. John Wallis.
Writers on psychology and philoso-
ply have cited many examples Of pro-
digious memory No doubt some of
these are exaggerations, others are fab
ulous, and only a comparatively few
admit of verifcation. Recently have
found In my reading three cases so
well authenticated that they may be
used to illustrate the wonderful power
of a we'll cultivated memory in mind
of strong native endowment. In each
instance, too, this remarkable reten
tiveness seems in no way to have re
tarded the fullest development of other
mental powers.
Probably the most remarkable Of the
three was the memory of Leonard
Euler. Euler was a native Of Basel,
but most of his life was spent In st.
Petersburg. He was born In 1907 and
died In 1888 He was a teacher of
More than half Of the forty-six quarto
volumes of mathematics published by
the ST. Petersburg academy between
1927 and 1888 were from his pen. Al
his death he left more than 200 manu-
script treatises.
In the later years of his life he was
totally blind Then and probably ear
lier, too, he carried In his memory q
table OF the first six powers Of the
series of natural numbers up to q
hundred" 1t is related that on one oc
casion two of his students attempted to
calculate a conyerging series. AS they
progressed they found disagreement in
their results These differed by unit
at the hftieth figure. The question was
referred to Euler, who decided to make
the calculation He did this mentally
and his result was found to be cor
rect
1t was not only in mathematics that
Euler gave proof Of prodigious mem
DRY. He was well read in general liter
AZURE and was an excellent classical
scholar Virgil was one Of his favOrite
writer's 1t Is said that he knew this
author so well that he could repeat the
"Aeneid" "from beginning to end with.
out hesitation and indicate the first
and last line of every page of the edi
ton which he used
The seventeenth century furnishes
the other two instances to which / call
especial attention. The first is that OF
the Italian scholar Antonio da Marco
Magliabechi Magliabechi was the lit
erary prodigy of his time. Royalty and
other distinguished personages paid
tribute to his wonderful learning His
contemporaries have said that his
memory was so prodigious that he was
able to retain verbatim most OF the
contents of his ''multltudinous books"
comparatively recent writer has
declared that Magliabech could name
all the authors that had written upon
any subject, giving the name Of the
book, the words and often page. This
is doubtless exaggeration; but, on the
other hand, 1t should be remembered
that the number Of books on any sub
ject were much fewer then than at the
present day Besides this, there are
two stories that have come down from
Magliabechi's time to ours that give
color to its truth. On one occasion
gentleman of Florence desired to test
Magliabechis memory and ascertain
for himself whether the wonderful
stories told were truth or fiction. He
gave him a manuscript to read; then,
some days after its return, pretending
to have lost it, he asked Magilabechi to
recall 1t. which, 1t Is said, he did with
remarkable exactness. At another time
the grand duke OF Florence asked If he
could procure certain book for him
Immediately came the response: mo,
sire; 1t is impossible. There is but one
In the world That Is In the grand
seignior's library at Constantinople and
is the seventh book on the seventh
shelf on the right hand as you go In"
The other Instance in the seventeenth
century is that of the Rev. DR.. John
Wallis. 1t is not however, as a theo-
logian that Wallis name is enrolled In
the temple Of fame. but as mathema.
ticlan. In mathematical history he
ranks as the greatest OF Newton's Eng
lish precursors He was started ON his
mathematical career by reading Ough.
tred's "Clavic Mathematical" but the
special bent of his genius came from
Togriceslps writings on THE Method Of