Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-18

One Of the most remarkable attributes
OF the human mind lie memory. It is well
attested by those who have been restored
TO Consciousness after being rescued from
drowning, that at the point where con-
sciousness ceased and Inconsistencies be-
gan In one brief moment the whole life Of
the individual appeared before the eye OF
the mind, and as the moving picture passes
on from the beginning to the end, so the
events from the cradle TO the watery grave
have marched past in unbroken process
sion.
Just now the psychologists and the edu-
Gators are changing their opinion as to
what really makes up the memory. Is 1t
one composite whole, to be trained In re-
Numbering every sort Of thing by remem-
bering some special thlngs7 Or is 1t a col
lection OF faculties that must have each
part trained for the special function 1t Is
to exercise? The newer school Of psycholo-
gists believe it to be the latter. and that
1t is impossible to train the mind to re-
member botanical names by giving it exer-
else in the sequence of numbers They
offer the fact that a man who can remem-
Der the names of every kin Of fish that
swims may have great difficulty IN master
ing the multiplication table, while a man
who can match colors to a remarkable
degree Of accuracy cannot retain the name
of the last person introduced. Likewise,
the musician who can sing over again
every song he has ever heard. may not re-
call the face OF the man he met only yes
terday.
Throughout the history Of the world per-
sons endowed with remarkable memories
have been objects of great interest, Pliny
gives us the statement that Cyrus knew
all OF his officers and soldiers, and could
greet each one by name as hi was pre-
scented. And some say that Cyrus had a
million soldiers, although the chroniclers
Of that day may have been too liberal in
their estimates. Pllny also declares that
Cyneas, who visited Rome as the am
bassador of Phyrrhus, was presented to
the Members Of the Roman senate on the
day Of his arrival. and that upon meeting
them again the next day ne addressed
every senator by his name and surname,
without a single error in the whole sem
ate. Upon which the senators greatly mar
yelled at the powerful mind of the visit
ing ambassador.
In at least one case Of great memory
gained a throne. Ohio, while the head of
his army, remembered every soldier by
name, and knew something OF his business,
his habits, and his relations. The soldiers
concluded that IL he had such a deep in
terest in them as their general, as their
emperor he would not forget them, so they
elevated him to the throne. But there he
forgot the name Of them all. and straight
way he lost the throne.
Plutarch is responsible for the statement
that Scipio Aslatlcus was one of the great
est memorizers of history, and accredits
him with knowing the name os every Ro-
man citizen. Reference to the population
statistics of Sclpio Asiaticus' time shows
that Rome and it's environs had a popula-
ton of $4,000 souls. This same historian
vouches for the fact that Themistocles
knew every citizen Of Athens by name, Of
whom there were some 25,0OO. 1t is also
recorded that this was a great political
asset for Thenistocles, which shows that
politics has not greatly changed.
Caesar made something of a reputation
for himself in the line of a good memory
1t is told that not only had he a great
memory for the names OF the men who
made up his leglons, but that languages
and dialects were easy for him to master.
One historian declares that he could die
tate to four or five st-enographuers at one
time, and In a different language to each.
But even immortal Caesar must take sec
ond place in history as q dictator to secre-
taries, even II he docs not as a dictator to
peoples and nations. 1t is recorded that
Marcel, an official of the government undeg
Louis XIV. of France, could dictate to at
least ten secretaries at one time and to
each in q different language, the while
keeping the lenses, the number. and the
punctuation Of very sentence perfect.
cleopatra is reputed to have been a great
l%inquIst, and 1t is said that she could speak
in any one OF thirty or forty dialects, as
well as If each were her native tongue
Cardinal Mezzafonti of Rome, was perhaps
the foremost linquist of any age or time
1t is declared tina he was able to converse
perfectly in any one OF flfty-two differen
languages. 1t is said that there came K
Rome one time a scandinavian who spok'
a peculiar patios, which was unknown L
any one in Rome. Cardinal Mezzafonti haC
this man to visit him several times. anC
then spoke to him in his own peculiar
dialect. Mezzafontlf claimed that his gf
in language was a miraculous endowment
and the pope shared his opinion.
One of the most remarkable mathemati
cal memories OF history was that Of Jede
diah buxton, born in England in the day.
Of Garrick. He could measure distance
with his eye to the very breadth of a hal
and could guess the flight of time to
second. So astonishing were his feats o
memory that the learned men of LondoI
examined him, and certified to the success
with which he met the hardest tests i'm
\ posed upon him. At last they took hin
to see the immortal Garrick In "Richar'
III" When he came away his converse
tion was about the number of steps tn
dancers took. the number Of sounds ut
tered by Garrick, and the number Of word
spoken by the whole cast.
: But all the great men of ~tenaciou
memory did not live in the remote past
1t is said that John Stuart Mil begal
studying Greek at 8 years of age. an
that by S he had read xenaphen's AN
basis" Socrates Memorabilia" and 81
Of the dialogues OF Plato. Prof. Asa Gray
1t is said, could recall the names Of 25,0
flowers. and Prof, Theodore Gill coul
II