‌THOUGHTIVE UNIFICATIONS. CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTED.

A Congressman could not remember the name of Zachary Taylor, the twelfth President of the United States, but he could always readily recall his nick-name, “Rough and Ready.” In this case there was no revivable connection established in his mind between the name Zachary Taylor and the idea or image of the man known as Zachary Taylor—but there was a revivable connection in his mind between the name “Rough and Ready” and the idea or image of that man. Now the thing to be done to enable this Congressman to readily recall the name Zachary Taylor was to establish or make a revivable connection between the name Zachary Taylor and the image of him, or some characteristic of him, as it was known to that Congressman; or to connect the well-remembered name “Rough and Ready” to the usually forgotten name Zachary Taylor. This would be a device for helping him to revive this hitherto unrecallable name. But another and better way to aid him would be to strengthen his reviving power generally, so that he could readily recall the name Zachary Taylor as well as his other previous experiences; for there is no doubt that he had a record in his mind of the name Zachary Taylor; for whenever he failed to recall it, he recognised it the moment he saw it, or it was mentioned in his presence. This proved that he knew the name but could not revive it.

What difficulty did the Congressman have in connection with Z. Taylor?

What caused it?

What would have been his best aid to remember the name?

‌HOW TO HELP THE MEMORY.

There are therefore two ways of helping the memory. (1) By a device resorted to in each separate case to help make a more vivid First Impression. Nearly all Memory Systems hitherto taught have only been such Devices; of little benefit except in the cases where they have been actually applied—mere temporary appliances, and many of them of doubtful value, devoid of any strengthening power. (2) By a Method of Memory Training. This is the unique character of my System. It is used as a device during the process of developing the latent powers of the Memory and the Attention, but the result of its use is to so strengthen the Memory that, as a Device it is no longer required. As a trainer my System operates in three ways. (1) It increases the general Impressionability, so that all First Impressions must be more vivid than they have ever been before. (2) It increases the general Revivability, so that First Impressions are more under the control of the will, and can be afterward recalled when desired. (3) It compels the Intellect to stay with the senses and thereby it abolishes mind-wandering.

Did he have a record of the name in his mind?

How many ways are there of helping the memory?

What is the first way?

The second?

What is meant by Memory Training?

What is the unique character of my system?

What is the result of its use?

In how many ways does my system operate as a Trainer?

What are they?

A one-sided view of the Memory proclaims that if vivid First Impressions are made in all cases, that is enough. This opinion implies a limited acquaintance with the different kind of memories. In some cases where a person is troubled with chronic forgetfulness, a vivid First Impression may be received, and no recollection of it will long survive. That a vivid impression was received is proved by the fact that, shortly after the occurrence, his memory of the details of it is possibly nearly perfect, and yet, after the lapse of a few days, or weeks, or months, the recollection of every trace of the occurrence has vanished. After the total oblivion of the matter in his waking moments, he will sometimes recall all the details of the affair in a dream. This is demonstration irresistible that the trouble in this‌ case lies, not in receiving vivid First Impressions, but in the weakness of his reviving power. In fact, some memories are much oftener weak from deficiency in reviving power than from feebleness of first impressions. If, however, Impressionability be increased to the highest degree in all cases, and Revivability be strengthened to the same extent, all memories will be good, however bad some of them may theretofore have been in any or in all respects.

MODES OF ESTABLISHING CONNECTIONS.

Recollective Analysis is used to memorise a series of words or facts between every pair of which the relation of In., Ex., or Con. exists. It equally applies to a single pair of such words or facts.

Recollective Synthesis or Thoughtive Unification is used where no relation exists.

A revivable connection is established in such cases by means of a Correlation which always consists of one or more unifying intermediates. And the words, hitherto un-united, which are thus cemented together, are called Extremes.

We had experience in learning the Series in the first chapter that the application of the Laws of In., Ex., and Con. enable us to memorise those Series in much less time than it would have taken had we not known how to make use of those Laws. Many people could never have committed to memory such Series by mere rote or repetition, and not one in a hundred could have learnt to say them backwards by rote alone. Yet my Pupils easily learn them both ways, because Analysis affords the highest possible aid to the Natural‌ Memory. In fact, the deepest and most abiding impression that can be made upon the Natural Memory is by impressing it with relations of In., Ex., or Con.; because these are the Memory-Senses (if the phrase be allowed), these are the Eyes, Ears, Touch, Taste, and Smell of the Memory: and we have only to impress the Memory according to the laws of its own nature and the Memory will retain the impression. This is exactly what my Art does: for I translate every case of Synthesis into an Analytic series by supplying one or more Memory-intermediates that grow out of the “Extremes,” each one of which is an instance of In., Ex., or Con.—Thus, every example of Synthesis is a developed or extended Analysis. To make this translation from Synthesis into Analysis requires no intellectual ingenuity—no constructive power of imagination—but only a recall to consciousness, through In., Ex., or Con., of what we already know about the “Extremes.” I call a specimen of developed Analysis a Correlation, because the Intermediates sustain the direct, immediate, and specific relation of In., Ex., or Con. to the “Extremes” (having nothing in common, in principle or nature, with the old-fashioned Mnemonical “Links,” or “Phrases”).

When is Rec. Analysis used?

Rec. Synthesis?

How is a revivable connection established?

Have you carefully read every question at the bottom of the previous page, and thought out or written out answers to them?

Since questions are valuable helps to the learner, will you faithfully read all the questions hereafter in this lesson, and write out or think out the answers thereto?

What have the laws of In., Ex., or Con. enabled us to do?

Could all people have learned them by rote?

What affords the highest possible aid to the natural memory?

How are the deepest and most abiding impressions made on the Natural Memory?

What are the Memory-Senses?

EXAMPLES OF CORRELATIONS.

Make your own Correlation (different from mine, given below) between each of the following seven pairs of Extremes:

[

In.

may be represented by 1,

Ex.

by 2, and

Con.

by 3]:

1. ANCHOR (1) Sheet Anchor (1) Sheet (1) Bed (1) BOLSTER

—— (3) Capstan (1) Night-cap (3) Pillow (3) ——

—— (3) Roadstead (1) Bedstead ——

—— (3) Sea Bed (1) ——

2. PEN (3) Ink (1) Ink-bottle (1) Smelling-bottle (3) NOSE

—— (1) Pensive (2) Gay (1) Nosegay ——

—— (3) Wiper (3) ——

3. SLAIN (3) Battle (3) Joshua (3) MOON

—— (1) Struck-down (1) Moon-struck (1) ——

—— (3) Fallen (2) Risen (3) ——

4. TEA (1) Teaspoon (1) Spooney (1) LOVER

—— (3) Sugar (1) Sweet (1) Sweetheart (1) ——

5. ARROW (3) Tell (3) Apple (3) Cider Mill (1) TREADMILL

—— (3) Flight (3) Arrest (3) Convict (3) ——

6. BEE (1) Beeswax (1) Sealing-wax (3) Title deeds (3) ATTORNEY

—— (1) Queen Bee (1) Queen’s Counsel (3) ——

7. LASH (1) Eye-lash (1) Glass Eye (1) Substitute (1) VICARIOUS

‌Children and Adults, who have thoroughly learned Recollective Analysis and practised its exercises, find no difficulty in making Correlations, unless they are so afflicted with Mind-Wandering that they have never digested the impressions they have received, or unless their intellectual operations have been twisted out of the natural order by perversities of early education; but even in these cases the diligent student will be able—usually before these pages are finished—at once to correlate any word whatever to any or all the words in any dictionary. A learned Professor declared that no person unacquainted with astronomy could correlate “Moon” to “Omnibus.” He did it thus: Moon—(3) Gibbous [one of the phases of the Moon]—(1) “Bus”—(1) Omnibus. I asked a pupil then present—a girl nine years old—to connect them. She promptly replied, “Moon—(1) Honey-moon—(3) Kissing—(1) Buss—(1) Omnibus.” A moment after, she gave another: “Moon—(1) Full Moon—(1) ‘Full inside’—(3) Omnibus.” Once more: “Moon—(1) Moonlight—(1) Lightning—(3) ‘Conductor’—(3) Omnibus.” Another pupil imagined it would be impossible to correlate the following letters of the alphabet to words beginning with the same letters, as “A” to “Anchor,” “B” to “Bull,” “C” to “Cab,” “D” to “Doge,”—as well as “Cooley” to “The.” There are, however, no words which my Pupils cannot soon learn to correlate together with the greatest readiness, as:

“A” (1) First Letter (1) First Mate (3) Ship (3) “ANCHOR”

" (1) Aviary (3) Bird (3) Flew (1) Fluke (1) ——

“B” (1) Bee (3) Sting (1) Sharp Pain (1) Sharp Horns (1) “BULL”

" (1) Below (1) Bellow (3) ——

“C” (1) Sea (3) Ocean Steamer (1) Cabin (1) “CAB”

“D” (1) “D.D.” (1) Clerical Title (1) Venetian Title (1) “DOGE”

“COOLEY” (1) Coolly Articulated (1) Definite Article (1) “THE”

What must we do in order to make the memory retain the impression?

Does my Art do this?

Into what do I translate every case of Synthesis?

What does it then become?

What is a correlation?

Are correlations difficult to make?

All possible cases to be memorised can be reduced to (1) Isolated Facts, where each fact is correlated to some‌ fact in its surroundings through which you must think as the Best Known, in order to recall it—many instances will be given in this lesson:—or, (2) Serial Facts, which must be remembered in the exact order in which they were presented to the mind—illustrated by many examples in this Lesson.

Never Forget that this System serves two distinct purposes: (1) That it is a Device for memorising any Isolated Fact or Serial Facts by means of mere Analysis, otherwise called Instantaneous Assimilation or memorised Correlations, as well as by other means. (2) And that by memorising and repeating for a considerable period Analytic Series, and especially by making and memorising one’s own Correlations, it is an unequalled system of Memory-TRAINING. Let the ambitious Pupil learn as many examples as I give in the lessons in order to so strengthen his natural memory that he will no longer have to use the device for memorising, his natural memory permanently retaining all he desires to remember. This result comes only to those who carry out all the directions with genuine alacrity—not shirking one of them.

Do all persons find them easy?

What persons do not?

Can such persons become expert in making them?

How?

Make an original correlation of your own between these extremes.

To what may all possible cases to be remembered be reduced?

What are Isolated facts?

What two distinct purposes does my system serve?

ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS COMPARED.

It is sometimes asked, cannot “Analysis” cement together unconnected “Extremes”? This question implies a contradiction of terms. I reply, “Yes, by accident, and by accident only.”

Analysis is declaratory—Synthesis is constructive. Analysis discovers and describes the relations actually existing—Synthesis applies connecting intermediates where no relations previously existed, and then Analysis characterizes the relations introduced by the cementing intermediates.

Even in the First Exercises the Series are Synthetic.‌ Every pair of words of which such Series consists exemplifies the relations either of Inclusion, Exclusion, or Concurrence. I used to call that Lesson Recollective Analysis, because in it the pupil is engaged in familiarising himself with those Laws of Assimilation, and in discovering and declaring the character of the relations between the words of such Synthetic Series. He commits to memory such a series by thinking of the relations between the words. A minor object is to memorise the Series—but a greater and higher object never lost sight of in these Lessons is to train the Memory and Attention. And let the pupil clearly notice how this training comes about. Merely running over a Series—two words at a time—without discriminating the kind and quality of the relations between the words—hoping that the mind unpractised in the Laws of Assimilation will intuitively feel those relations, constitutes no training of the Memory. Such reading neither strengthens the old power nor develops any new power. It is a blind act of unconscious absorption, however little be absorbed. But if the mind acts in such cases and tries to find and characterise the relations, then the appreciation of the relations of In., Ex., and Con., is quickened and invigorated and becomes in time so intensified that those relations are thereafter almost automatically felt, and the impression they make on the Memory, henceforth, is the most vivid possible.

To whom only does this result come?

What question is frequently asked?

What is the reply?

Is analysis declaratory?

If so, why?

Is Synthesis constructive?

If so, explain why?

Why is the first lesson called Rec. Analysis?

Every Correlation is a Synthetic Series. It can be and should always be analyzed, but Analysis never makes a Correlation. That is the function of Synthesis. Since “extremes” are words with no relation between them, Analysis cannot find what does not exist. But accident sometimes makes a spelling or letter relation between the “Extremes,” and then Analysis can memorise these “extremes” by means of such accidental relations. To illustrate:—

A physician was troubled to remember on which side of the heart are the “mitral valves.” As they are on the left‌ side of the heart, he might have noticed that “mitral” ends with the letter “l,” and that the word “left” begins with the letter “l”—as “l” belongs to both of these words, here would be a case of analysis. Such a device, however, could never be erected into a rule, for it is founded on accident only, and cannot be used in all cases. How much more vivid to many persons in this example is a Correlation, thus: “Mitral valves … mitred Abbots… none left … left.”

To remember which of the University crews wears dark blue and which light, we can note that the vowel “I” belongs alike to Cambridge and “Light” and is absent from Oxford and “Dark.”

Take a case in Trigonometry—a Complement is what remains after subtracting an angle from one right-angle. Take 60 degrees from 90 degrees, and we have the complement 30 degrees—a Supplement is what remains after subtracting an angle from two right-angles. Take 120 degrees from 180 degrees and we have the supplement 60 degrees. How to remember that “Complement” relates to one right-angle, and “Supplement” relates to two right-angles, is a difficulty for a poor memory. Looking at the accidents of the subject, we see that Supplement and two right-angles have a relation in this, that Supplement begins with S and two begins with T. S … T. Hence we must remember that Supplement relates to Two right-angles, and, of course, the word Complement to one right-angle.

Or to use the Synthetic Method: “Complement (compliment) … praise bestowed … prize-winner … won … one right-angle” (Complement completes right-angle … one … right-angle) or “Supplement … supple … bend double … ‘two double’ … two right-angles” (Supplement … added to … more than one right-angle … two right-angles).

‌I could give many other illustrations of the narrow scope of this Method of Accidents, though genuine within that scope, and how, in all cases, by the Synthetic Method we can find in the facts to be remembered the means of their recollection. One case more: In regard to memorising the statement that “the Posterior Nerve of the Spinal Column is Sensory, and the Anterior Nerve is Motor,” using this Method of Accidents, “You observe that Posterior and Sensory go together, and that Anterior and Motor go together. The initial letters of Posterior and Sensory are P and S, and the initial letters of Anterior and Motor are A and M. By considering that A and M are in the upper part of the Alphabet and P and S are in the lower part of it, you will be sure to remember that Anterior is associated with Motor and Posterior with Sensory.” I admit that the first time one hears this elaborate method applied the novelty of the principle of it might make an impression; but, after that, the method would probably fail from its lengthy exposition; because it is difficult to retain the steps of an argument in a weak Memory and therefore such a method cannot certainly act as a Means for Aiding the Memory. How do I manage this case? By correlating Posterior to Sensory, thus: Posterior … Post-Mortem … Insensible … Sensory; or Anterior to Motor, thus: Anterior … Ant … disturbed anthill … commotion … Motor; or Anterior … antediluvian … rush of water … water-power … Motor. In uniting the two unconnected “Extremes” together by means of a developed Analysis memorised, the Natural Memory is aided in a very high degree.

What is every correlation?

Does Analysis ever make a correlation?

Why would not “A” make a good In. by sound with “Anchor” on preceding page?

Is the method of remembering by accidental coincidences always reliable?

If not, why?

Are there cases where it cannot be used?

Make an original correlation between “Mitral valves” and “left.”

How does the accidental coincidence in connection with the University crews compare with Synthesis?

Does this method make an impression on the novice at first?

Does the novice adhere to it?

Why?

By memorising a Correlation, you so unite the two extremes in memory, that you need not afterwards recall the intermediates. The intermediates drop out of the memory by what Prof. E. W. Scripture, Psychologist, of Yale University, calls the Law of Obliteration.

Why does the method fail?

Is it difficult to retain the steps of an argument in the natural memory?

Can you give any instances in your own experience where Analysis has helped you to cement Extremes together?

Can such a method act as a means for aiding the memory?

How would I manage the case spoken of?

‌HOW TO MEMORISE A CORRELATION.

To memorise a Correlation you must at first, if your Natural Memory be weak, repeat from memory the intermediates forwards and backwards, as:—Anchor … sheet-anchor … sheet … bed … Bolster—Bolster … bed … sheet … sheet-anchor … Anchor, at least three times each way. These six repetitions from memory, three forward and three back, are only required at first. In a short time you will infallibly remember every Correlation you make; at last, the memory will become so strong, that you will no longer have to make Correlations at all. After you have repeated the Correlation, then repeat the two extremes, thus—“Anchor” … “Bolster.” “Bolster” … “Anchor.” “Bolster” … “Anchor.” “Anchor” … “Bolster.”

Nothing else is so easy to memorise as a Correlation, for a Correlation is not a “mental picture” or “story”—it is neither a proposition, sentence or phrase. It has no rhetorical, grammatical, argumentative or imaginative character. It is simply an elemental primordial Psychological Sequence of Ideas in which one includes another, excludes another, or in which one idea has been so often or so vividly united with another in past experience that the two are inseparably connected in memory—and a little practice in making and memorising these Correlations soon makes it impossible to forget them.

What is the result of uniting two unconnected “Extremes” by means of a developed Analysis?

What are the first steps in memorising a correlation?

How long are these repetitions required?

What will be the result in a short time?

What will be the final result?

Are correlations easy to remember?

What is the result of making and memorising them?

When does the most vivid concurrence take place?

ASSIMILATIVE ASSOCIATION AND MEMORY.

Probably no psychological mistake was ever fraught with greater injury to the cause of public or self-education than the too prevalent opinion amongst teachers generally that “physiological retentiveness” is the memory’s sole reliance in all stages of life. It is nearly the sole reliance in infancy, and a partial reliance in youth. But when an‌ accumulation of experiences and a fair command of language have been gained, new acquisitions are henceforward principally made by the affiliation of one idea upon or with another or the making of associations between ideas already established.

And, if this be so, then memory must be very greatly improvable, since no mental power is susceptible of so much improvement as assimilative association.

A good memory, whether natural or acquired, belongs to quick and vivid associability and revivability rather than to mere inherent and perpetual physiological record making.

After a certain number of experiences the child learns the appearance of a square. All his future experiences, however varied, of squares become affiliated upon, or connected with the record of this original square. If each new square had to be separately impressed on the brain as a distinct and independent physiological record, it would take as much time and trouble to learn every new square as it did to learn the first square. But the instant recognition of every square after learning the first one shows that the old brain record is used in the case of each new experience of squares or that the new square is interpreted by the old or original record through the Laws of Association. Again: Taking the prefixes com., de., im., op., re., sup., &c., which are used in thousands of cases, and the suffixes ment, sion, ible, ibility, &c., also used in thousands of words, and using these in connexion with the root word “Press” we have compress, depress, impress, oppress, repress, suppress, and also compressible, depression, re-impress, suppression, impressment, &c.

Must a new physiological record be made for each form of the sixty or more words of which Press constitutes the base, and must a new record be also made for each of the prefixes and suffixes in the thousands of combinations in which they occur? No one believes any such absurdity.

If space permitted it would be easy to offer additional considerations tending to show that after infancy and early youth new acquisitions are mainly made by combinations and recombinations of ideas already possessed, and not by new and independent records physiologically reimpressed on each occasion.

‌RULES FOR MAKING CORRELATIONS.

1. Never make a correlation except in conformity to In., Ex., and Con. Carelessness here is fatal to success.

2. When the pupil reads a correlation of mine, he should indicate the relations between the words by writing in the figures 1, 2, or 3, and he should pursue the same course with his own correlations.

3. Ofttimes “extremes” are in different planes of thought, so occasionally three intermediates are necessary to cement them; two are often required; but after considerable practice in making correlations one usually suffices.

What is fatal to success in making correlations?

What do the figures 1, 2, and 3 indicate in Rule 2?

How many intermediates should there be?

4. A correlation is a successive advance, and an intermediate must not refer back to any except its immediate antecedent, never to its second or third antecedent. A pupil wrote:—Short steps … stepson … real son … more a son … Morrison. Here, “more a son” refers to the comparison between “real son” and “stepson,” but the latter is the second antecedent so the correlation is a defective one. He might have said: Short steps … stepson … Morrison.

5. A word may be used twice but never three times. Pen … pensive … gay … nosegay … Nose. Here “gay” is properly used twice, and after that, it is dropped and you can go on with the rest of the word, to wit, nose.

6. A compound phrase including a verb is rarely allowable, since the intermediates must be the simplest elements, either sensations or perceptions [relations among sensations] or abstractions [relations among relations], or one of these with either of the others, always exemplifying either In., Ex., or Con.

7. My correlations are good for me, but they may not be so vivid to others, especially where the concurrences are used. To fix the date of Magna Charta (1215), the pupil could memorise this Correlation—Magna Charta …‌ King John … Jew’s teeth … DeNTaL. But if the pupil did not know before that King John had granted that charter, and if he did not also know the story about the extraction of the Jew’s teeth to make him pay the royal exaction, there would be no concurrence as to the first word and second, or second and third, and if he learned the Correlation it would be by mere repetition without aid from Analysis. In such a case he would make and memorise his own Correlation, perhaps thus: Magna Charta … magnify … diminish … DwiNDLe. When a pupil makes his own Correlations, every concurrence he uses is a real concurrence to him, and so with his Ins. and Exs. This is a decisive reason why the Pupil should merely look upon my Correlations as models, but make and memorise his own Correlations in all cases, as being more vivid to him and, therefore, more certainly remembered, as well as more effectively strengthening the Memory in both its Stages.

8. Vivid Ins. by meaning are better than Ins. by S. (the latter when used, should be as perfect as possible). Ear … Eel makes a weak In. by S. to some persons, but it would make a much more vivid first impression to most persons to deal with them in this way: Ear … (w)ring … twist … wriggle … Eel. But “Bivouac … aqueduct” is a perfect In. by S. as to the last syllable of the former and the first syllable of the latter, since those syllables are pronounced exactly alike. We may connect Bivouac to Rain thus: “Bivouac … aqueduct … flowing water … falling water … Rain.”

9. Never—in the early stages of the study of the System—make a second Correlation until you have memorised the first.

10. Although making and memorising Correlations serves the useful purpose of fixing specific facts in the memory, yet the main object in making and memorising Correlations is to develop the latent power of the Natural Memory to such a degree that all facts are hereafter remembered without the aid of conscious Correlations.

11. Never try to find analytic date or number words until you know the material facts connected with the date or number before you. The student wishes to fix the date of‌ Voltaire’s birth, in 1694. “The Shaper” and “The Giber” occur to him. If he is ignorant of the facts of Voltaire’s life, he will correlate thus: “Voltaire … (1) … volatile … (2) … ‘fixed’ … (1) … ‘The Shaper’ The Shaper (1694);” or “Voltaire … (1) … tear to pieces … (1) … mocking dissector … (1) … The Giber (1694).” If he had known that Voltaire was a born writer, he would have found the analytic relation in “Voltaire … The Shaper (1694)” or if he had known that he was a terrible mocker, he would have said: “Voltaire … The Giber (1694).” If he wished to fix the date of the discovery of America, he might think of “Terrapin” (a large tide-water turtle, abounding in Maryland), and correlate thus: “Discovery of America … (1) … Maryland … (3) … Terrapin (1492).” But if he remembers that Con. covers all cases of Cause and Effect, Instrument or Means to End, Person by whom, &c., and if he reflects that this discovery has been a blessing to the Old as well as the New World, he would say: “Discovery of America … (3) True Boon (1492).” Or, if he considers that the moment America was made known to Europe the whole of the Western Continent was open to every new-comer, he would find analytic date-words thus: “Discovery of America … (3) … Door open (1492).” If he merely wants to fix the fraction 92, he could use the first two consonants of the name of one of his ships, and say: “Discovery of America … Pinta (1492).”

ISOLATED FACTS.

Correlate an Isolated Fact to something (to some fact in its environment or entourage that is best known and) which you are sure to think of when you wish to recall the Isolated Fact.

HOW TO REMEMBER PROPER NAMES WHEN INTRODUCED.

An infallible method of remembering proper names is (1) Get the name when introduced. If not quite sure, ask for it. (2) Pronounce the name aloud whilst looking at the‌ person. Do this several times, if possible. The object is to produce a concurrence or connection between the sight-image of the Person and a sound-image of his Name. (3) To help the ear for sound, always pronounce everyone’s name aloud whenever you meet him. This helps nature. These directions carried out never fail to make a pupil perfect in remembering proper names.

To remember proper names in the absence of the person, correlate the Person’s Name to the name of some Peculiarity of the Person (as the best known and) which you are sure to think of whenever you think of the Person. If you memorise the Correlation, you will recall the Name whenever you think of this Peculiarity (whatever struck you about him).

To remember a proper name, Mnemonists resort to In., by S. But this alone gives no starting point, no “Best Known” which you are certain to think of, and which will enable you to recall the name, provided you cement by a memorised Correlation the “Best Known” to the name itself; in fact, a similarity of sound alone and by itself is likely to mislead you into reviving itself instead of the name. A celebrated Member of Parliament (who in the days of his youth, before he had greatly tested Mnemonics, gave a high opinion of its value) was to deliver an address at the Birkbeck Institution, some years ago. Having difficulty in remembering proper names, he thought he would fix the name of its founder in his memory by the Mnemonical device of finding a word that sounded like it; he said to himself, “It reminds me of ‘Pinchbeck.’” He commenced as follows: “Before coming to the subject on which I am to speak this evening, I desire to pay a deserved tribute of praise to the founder of this great Institution, the celebrated Mr. Pinchbeck.” A shout of laughter revealed to him that Mnemonics may get us into trouble, and fail to help us out: he could not remember the real name, Birkbeck, until it was told him. If he had mastered this System, his new memory-power would have enabled‌ him to remember the true name without any device; or, if he was but a beginner at my System he could have remembered the name Birkbeck—which he was afraid he would forget—by correlating it to the word—“Founder,” which he did remember, thus:—Founder … lost way … hark-back … Birkbeck; or, Founder … foundered horse … chestnut horse … chestnut … bur … Birkbeck. If he had memorised either of these Correlations, or one of his own, by repeating the intermediates forwards and backwards two or three times, and then recalled the two extremes, “Founder,” “Birkbeck,” several times, the moment he thought of Founder, he would instantly have recalled Birkbeck, one extreme recalling the other without the intermediates being recalled. When one has received only a third of the benefit of this System as a Memory-trainer, the mere making of a Correlation ensures remembering two extremes together without thinking of intermediates.

To what must we correlate a person’s name?

What will be the result if we memorise the correlation?

To what do Mnemonists resort to remember proper names?

Does this alone give a starting point?

What is a similarity of sound alone likely to do?

[Dr. Johnson, when introduced to a stranger repeated his name several times aloud and sometimes spelled it. This produced a vivid first impression of the man’s name; but it did not connect the name to the man who bore it. People who have adopted the Johnsonian Method sometimes remember the name but apply it to the wrong person, because they did not establish any relation between the name and the man to whom it belonged.]

EXERCISES IN CORRELATING.

Make 20 of your own Correlations between faces and names (or between words and meanings), using some of the extremes given by me, and, as other extremes (words, &c.,‌ of your own selection, or) names and faces of your own acquaintances.

Peculiarity. Correlation. Proper Names.

Cross-eyed Cross-bow … bowman Mr. Archer

Wavy hair dancing wave … Morris dance Mr. Morrison

Black eyes white … snow … pure as snow Mr. Virtue

Retreating chin retiring … home-bird Mr. Holmes

High instep high boots … mud … peat Mr. Peat

Crooked legs broken legs … crushed Mr. Crushton

Apprehension suspension … gallows Mr. Galloway

Sombre sad … mourning … hat-band Mr. Hatton

Music stave … bar Mr. Barcroft

Violinist violin … high note … whistle Mr. Birtwistle

Painter paint … colored cards … whist Mr. Hoyle

Plumber plum-pudding … victuals Mr. Whittles

Joiner wood … ash Mr. Ashworth

Is it ever possible to remember two extremes without thinking of the intermediates?

In what cases?

What did Dr. Johnson sometimes do when introduced to a stranger?

What sometimes occurs with people who have adopted the Johnsonian Method?

Why is this?

As Max Müller names mental acts in this order: Sensation, Perception, Conception, Naming, and Memory, would he hold that failure to remember names implies weakness of naming power? No! Remembering a name is an act wholly unlike imposing a name in the first instance. Such failure arises from weakness of the auditory function, or of the perception of individual peculiarities or failure of the sight-image to become cemented to the sound image.

A CONTRAST.—When unconnected ideas have to be united in the memory so that hereafter one will recall the other, the teachers of other Memory Systems say: “What can I invent to tie them together—what story can I contrive—what foreign extraneous matter can I introduce—what mental picture can I imagine, no matter how unnatural or false the juxtaposition may be, or what argument or comparison can I originate—no matter how far-fetched and fanciful it may be, to help hold these ‘Extremes’ together?” They do not reflect that all these mnemonical outside and imported schemes must also be remembered, and that being in the form of sentences expressing loose relation of mere physical juxtapositions or the complex relations invented by constructive imagination or subtle intellect, they are, to most, more difficult to recollect than the extremes would be without these ponderous aids. Hence, in their professed attempt to aid the memory, they really impose a new and additional burden upon it.

Are you required to make any original correlations?

How many?

Between what extremes?

Do you find it difficult?

Have you any evidence given here that others have experienced any difficulty in making them?

Did they finally succeed?

What question is frequently asked by other memory teachers?

On the other hand, I simply ask the memory what it already knows about the “Extremes.” The first intermediate of a correlation is directly connected through In., Ex., or Con., with the first “Extreme,” and the last intermediate with the last “Extreme,” and the intervening intermediate (if there be one) with the other two, and thus, the intermediates being already in the memory, and not the result of invention or ingenuity, my Method of Correlation is purely‌ and solely a Memory process. In this way, I use the Memory to help the Memory, I use the reviving power of the memory to make a vivid First Impression between two hitherto unconnected “Extremes.” I add nothing to the “Extremes,” import nothing from abroad in regard to them, invent nothing. I simply arouse, re-waken to consciousness, what is already stored away in the memory in regard to those “Extremes,” and, by reciting the Correlation a few times forwards and backwards, cement the “Extremes” themselves so vividly together, that henceforth one “Extreme” revives the other “Extreme” without the recall of the intermediates.

And in the chapter on Recollective Analysis, and also in the previous part of this chapter, I have given the attentive student such a familiarity with the Memory Laws of In., Ex., and Con., that he can make Correlations as easily as he breathes.

When learning prose or poetry by means of endless repetitions to acquire, and endless views to retain, the mind soon wanders, and thus discontinuity is promoted; but, in reciting a Correlation forwards and backwards from memory, the mind cannot wander, and thus the continuity is greatly strengthened. Again, memory is improved by exercise, and improved in the highest degree by making and memorising correlations, because in making them the reviving power of the memory is exercised in conformity to Memory’s own laws; and in memorising the Correlations both stages of memory are most vividly impressed. Thus, making and memorising the Correlations TRAINS both Memory and Continuity. And if to this training process there be added the habit of Assimilation which the use of the Analytic-Synthetic and Interrogative Analysis Methods of learning Prose and Poetry by heart imparts, as well as my other training methods, then the NEW memory thus acquired will not demand the further use of the System any more than the adult swimmer will need the plank by which as a boy he learned to swim.

What new burden do they impose on the memory?

What do I require from my pupils?

To what is the first intermediate connected?

Through what?

How do I deal with the other intermediates?

What is a memory process?

Is the memory used to help the memory in any way?

Do I add anything to the extremes?

Is memory improved by exercise?

When is the System laid aside?

‌LEARNING FOREIGN WORDS.

“The Guide to Memory, or a New and Complete Treatise of Analogy between the French and English Languages,” compiled by Charles Turrell, Professor of Languages, and published in 1828, contains the words which are the same in each language (alphabet, banquet, couplet, &c.), and those almost the same—“Letters necessary in English, and superfluous in French, are included in a parenthesis, thus Bag(g)age. Letters necessary in French, and superfluous in English are printed in Italics, thus Hommage.” At first sight it seems as if this plan were a good one (and some still recommend it Footnote [J]). But of the words which are the same in both languages, some of them have meanings one rarely if ever needs to express, while others are seldom seen except in Dictionaries, so the student who uses this method does not make much useful progress. The Rev. W. Healy, of Johnstown (Kilkenny), long before he had finished my course of lessons, stated: “I wrote out the French words that correspond to the English of everything around us and that are in common use, and found that by the aid of Rec. Syn. I could commit them much faster than the time taken to write them out.”

The words he had made himself familiar with were those most frequently met with in reading, and useful in speaking and writing.

Mr. D. Nasmith employed a clerk in finding the number of occurrences of the same word in three books. Some words occurred thousands of times, and others only five, or fewer. The words which frequently occurred he arranged‌ in order, the commonest first, and compiled exercises to suit them. His “Linguists” (German and French) are published by Mr. D. Nutt, of 270, Strand, London, and by the aid of them, and of my System, a useful knowledge of German (or French) can be rapidly acquired.

A pupil who had a very slight acquaintance with French learned an Analytic Series of French words, asking a French friend the meaning and pronunciation of the words unfamiliar to him. By doing this he in about an hour learned the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of nearly 100 French words. Since then he has been extending the exercise, and in that way he has learned 1,000 French words. In doing so he is strengthening his memory by exercising it in accordance with its own laws, increasing the control his will has over his attention, and extending his French vocabulary.

Do we ever see words spelt differently but with the same pronunciation?

Is the use of the Dictionary required?

What examples have we here of the benefits derived from Rec.-Synthesis?

With what words did he make himself familiar?

Does the same word frequently occur in a book?

What proof can you mention?

What task was accomplished in about one hour by one of my pupils?

What language was he studying?

To remember Unfamiliar English Words or foreign words, correlate the Definition as the best known to the Unfamiliar or Foreign Word, and memorise the Correlation. In the case of Foreign Words, the last Intermediate is necessarily a case of Inclusion by sound. Sometimes there is In. by sight or by sound between a part or the whole of the English word, and a part or the whole of its Foreign equivalent, as Apple—apfel [German]. Of course, the pupil will not need the aid of a correlation in such cases if he notice the analytic relation. The French word Anachorète might have for its equivalent by sound either “Anna,” or “Core,” or “Ate,” or “Anna goes late,” or “Ann a core ate,” or “Anna’s cold hate,” and perhaps to some of my readers it would seem like something else. Cravache might sound like “Crack of lash.” Pupils often disagree as to what is good Inclusion by sound; let each use what suits himself, and not trouble about other people’s ears. In. by sound, or by sense, or by spelling, is sufficient even if it refers to only one syllable.

‌ English. Intermediates. Greek.

Merchant … market … emporium … ἔμπορος

Move … move on … next stage … next-of-kin … κινέω

True … naked truth … pith of the matter … pithy … πιθανος

Course … coarse hair … camel hair … dromedary … δρόμος

Servant … light fare … dole out [maid … bride … dowry] … δούλος

Tanner … leather … leather purse … disburse … βυρσεύς

Cup … tea-cup … tea-pot … ποτήρίον

Fetters … criminal … desperate … δεσμος

Fragile … thin … rapier … “thrust us” … θραυστος

—— glass houses … “throw stones” ——

Fruit … fruit-knife … fish-knife … carp … καρπος

Round … fat … stout … strong … στρογγύλος

Bride … fair … fairy … forest nymph … νυμφη

Pearl … Necklace … sweetheart … Sweet Margery … μαργαρίτης

Bread … baker … baker’s art … ἄρτος

Marry … lottery of life … risky game … γαμέω

Join … engaged—[suited … apt] … apt to disagree … ἄπτω

Culprit … cull … select a few … few gone … φευγών

Milk … milky way … galaxy … γάλα

Drink … water … small leak … pinhole … πίνω

Suffer hunger … dying of hunger … pining away … πεινάω

Time … watch … chronometer … χρόνος

—— Father Time … old age … old crony ——

Deliver … capture … lasso … ἀπαλασσω

Spread … Christmas feast … deck a church … dye a spire … διασπείρω

Uncover … bare … bare foot … a Kaliph’s toe … ἐκκαλυπτω

Shut … shut out … severe weather … bad climate … κλείω

I judge … condemn … refute … refuse … cry “no” … κρίνω

Found … establish … fix … fasten thus … tie so … κτίζω

Soldier … art of war … strategy … στρατιώτης

In the case of Foreign words, what must the last intermediate necessarily be a case of?

Do pupils always agree on a good In. by S.?

What is sufficient, if it refers to one syllable only?

What are you never to do in getting at an English word?

What may you do in getting at a Foreign word?

Could you not omit “camel hair”?

Could you not omit “leather,” which follows “tanner”?

Could you not omit after “cup” the word “tea-cup”?

Is not “tea-pot” connected by Con. with “cup”?

After “bread” could you not omit “baker”?

Are not “bread” and “baker’s art” connected?

Could you not omit “watch,” after “Time”?

English. Intermediates. Latin.

Heart … heart-sick … fainting … cordial … cor

Wickedness … dishonesty … blackmail … malum

Book … printed thoughts … freedom of thought … liberty … liber

—— … books … library … ——

‌Breast … front … front view … aspect … pectus

Spear … thrust … quick motion … hasty … hasta

Suitor … princely suitor … married by proxy … procus

Ask … borrow … swindle … rogue … rogare

Marrow … Old English arrow … victory … medal … medulla

Captain … head of hundred … century … centurio

Surveyor … measure … dimension … agrimensor

Furniture … bent-wood chairs … bent legs … supple legs … supellex

Vine … wine … luxury … pampered … pampinus

Liar … false pretence … mendicant … mendax

Cow … cow-pox … vaccination … vacca

Sing … boatman’s song … canoe … cano

Kill … kill by hanging … broken neck … necare

Redden … blush … kissing … ruby lips … rubesco

—— … red … ruby … ——

Dry … dry mouth … feverish … sick … siccus

Man … married man … home … homo

War … victory … rejoicings … bells rung … bellum

Rob … robber … hue-and-cry … policeman’s rap … rapto

Tanner … russet leather … russet apple … apple core … coriarius

Dove … married love … United States … Columbia … columba

Bench … table … shop counter … selling … subsellium

Oar … Roman galley … Rome … Romulus and Remus … Remus

Garret … unhealthy … medicine … salts and senna … cenaculum

Garret … store-room … grain store … granaria

Horse … race … dead heat … equal … equus

Cock … spurring … goading … galling … gallus

Lazy … tramp … knave … ignavus

Make heavy … rich food … gravy … gravo

Sign … musical signs … notes … nota

Poverty … drafty garret … sleeping draught … opium … inopia

Messenger … news … false news … nonsense … nuntius

Top … high perch … hen’s perch … cackle … cacumen

Face … bare face … bare headed bird … vulture … vultus

Useless … needless impatience … irritation … irritus

Dark … dark staircase … insecure … obscurus

Writer … bad writer … scribbler … scriba

‌Harvest … harvest home … “Mrs. at home?” … messis

Dog … dog’s tail … tin can … [cane carrier … cane Footnote [K]] … canis

Egg … boiled egg … boiled hard … over boiled … ovum

Fox … jackall … carcass … vulture … vulpes

Bread … sweat of brow … labour … pain … [bread-pan … pan Footnote [K]] … panis

Table … figures … calculation … mensuration … mensa

Master … schoolboard … fines … magistrate … magister

Tree … mast … ship … harbour … arbor

Mother … wife … helpmeet … help-mate … mater

If “mendicants” are known to be liars, why could not “false pretences” be omitted?

If “vaccination” means inoculating with “cowpox,” why could not “cowpox” be omitted?

If “broken” neck means a violent death, why not omit “kill by hanging”?

Ought not “billing and cooing” to be inserted after “Dove”?

What relation is there between “married love” and “United States”?

If “musical” be added to “notes,” why could not “musical signs” be omitted?

If “scribbler” is a writer, why could not “bad writer” be omitted?

English. Intermediates. German.

Joy … play-day … free day … Friday … Freude

Sad … tomb … mason … trowel … traurig

Clear … clear tones … clarionet … klar

Indolent … “lazy bones” … lazy lass … lässig

Dangerous … storm … steamboat fare … gefährlich

Part … part of house … roof … tile … Theil

Empty … hollow … fox’s hole … lair … leer

Take … take husband … new name … nehmen

Diffidence … shy girl … schoolgirl … Miss … Misstrauen

Little … grow less … on the wane … wenig

Much … more … mourn … feel grief … viel

Recompense … repayment … loan … Lohn

Question … answer … fragmentary answer … Frage

Foot-stool … low … shame … Schemel

Pressure … too heavy … droop … Druck

Voice … voice lozenges … stimulation … Stimme

Child … young kindred … Kind

Threaten … stinging words … stinging bee … drone … drohen

Mirror … reflect … think … speak … Spiegel

‌Beetroot … red heart … rib … Rübe

Potato … dig up … remove … cart off … Kartoffel

Love … lovers’ meeting … meat … Liebig’s extract … Liebe

Campaign … pain … feel … felt … Feldzug

Medicine … science … arts … (pr. artsnei) Arznei

Evening … hour of prayer … bend the knee … Abend

Heaven … angels … harps … hymns … Himmel

Song … choir … choir leader … lead … Lied

Table … soiled table cloth … dirtyish … Tisch

—— … dinner … dish … ——

Chair … chairman … session … Sessel

Bottle … Leyden jar … electric spark … flash … Flasche

Beloved … attached … hooked … trout … traut

Could not “boiled hard” be omitted?

If we use “mensuration tables,” could not “figures … calculation” be spared?

What is the relation between “Tree” and “mast”?

Could not “lazy bones” be omitted after “indolent”?

Why could not “schoolgirl” be omitted?

Why could not “answer” be omitted after “question”?

English. Intermediates. French.

Fat … Fat ox … clover … rich grass … gras

Mouth … Flesh eater … butcher … bouche

Asphalt … assafœtida … fish bait … béton

To lash … circus … Hengler … cingler

Current … nerve current … vague function … vagus

Armchair … reclining … gouty … foot oil … fauteuil

—— … arm … leg … foot … ——

Railway station … railway guard … guard … gare

Smoke … tobacco … smell … perfumer … fumer

Carpet … fine design … tapestry … tapis

Head … foot … root … potato … tête

Oar … boat … war-ship … ram … [See Latin] … rame

Tears … hysterics … fainting fit … alarm … larmes

Canvas … rope … oakum … hard labor … toil … toile

Wave … washing … unwashed … vagabond … vague

—— … current … nerve current … vagus … ——

Bed … bed of sea … sea-shore … lee-shore … lit

Pane … pain … sore eyes … vitriol … vitre

—— … glass … vitreous … ——

Gun … gunsmith … spark … fusée … fusil

—— … foot soldier … fusilier … ——

Shovel … shoved about … crowd … Pall Mall … pelle

—— … sand … spade … pail … ——

Side-walk … walking fast … trotting along … trottoir

—— … mid road … horses … trotting … ——

‌Dirty … second-hand furniture … furniture … sale … sale

Faithful … dog-blind fiddler … fiddle … fidèle

—— … faithfulness … fidelity … ——

Pity … pitying … misery … miséricorde

Misfortune … missing train … mail hour … malheur

Hang fire … fire engine … “haste” … tear along too … faire longfeu

Star … diamond … ball dress … toilet … étoile

—— … Star … Inn … hotel … ——

Cake … cheesecake … mouse … cat … gateau

Sword … soldier … soldier’s pay … épée

—— … war … misery … happy … ——

Book … pages … leaves … [See Latin] … livre

Castle … ruined … shattered … château

To speak … converse … dispute … parley … parler

Why could not “feel” be left out?

Why not omit “science,” and say “medical arts”?

Why not omit “angels” and “harps,” and simply add “celestial” to “hymns”?

If the pupil does not know who “Hengler” is, should we not omit the name and insert instead “singing clown”?

Why should not “fare” be a better In. by sound with “gare” than “guard”?

If tapestry means other things besides carpets, would not “tapestry carpet” be a sufficient intermediate?

If “pelle” is pronounced as if applied “pel,” ought not “Pall Mall” to be pronounced as if spelled “Pell Mell”?

English. Intermediates. Italian.

Basket … horse-basket … pannier … paniéra

" … casket … ring … bull … bellow … corbello

Gold … nugget … ore … óro

His … his own … zone … bind … sew … suó

Thy … thy face … head … foot … toe … tuó

Uncle … “Dutch uncle” … Holland … Zuyder Zee … Zio

Pius … church … pew … Pio

Month … Month of May … mace … mése

Made … servant-maid … cook … fat … fátto

Synonyms, as well as words having but a slight difference in sound like Insidious and Invidious are easily discriminated by memorised Correlations: Insidious … inside … hole … fox … treachery.—invidious … invade … hostility … ill-will.

Is the letter “i” in Zio pronounced as if spelled Zeeo?

If so, is “pew” a good In. by sound with Pio?

Why would not these be good correlations, viz., Insidious, hideous … moral turpitude … Treachery.—Invidious … perfidious … betrayal. Ill-will.

How many correlations have you made so far?

Have you made your own in every case, or memorised mine in every case?

Have you indicated the relations in all cases by writing in 1, 2, or 3?

If not, why not?

HOW TO MEMORISE DATES, &c., WHERE YOU ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE FACTS, &c.

Let every Pupil write examples of his own selection of names Correlated to Dates of birth and death worked out‌ as below, or some other pairs of extremes, such as name of ship to its captain on one side, and its tonnage (or destined port) on the other.

To remember Dates of Birth and Death (&c.) of men, correlate the surname as best known to the word expressing the date of birth, and correlate the birth-word to the death [&c.] word:—

Do not look for Analytic Date-words in the following cases until you have first memorised my Correlations or your own. You can then review the examples and easily find Analytic Date-words if you are sufficiently acquainted with the facts of the cases, as: Lord Beaconsfield (18)05, Salient. Footnote [L] Here is a supposed Analytic formula by English Liberals, of Gladstone’s birth:—Gladstone—“Supreme” (18)09; by Foreigners—“Supereminent;” by Tories, “Spoliator;” by Home Rulers—“Supporter;” by Parnellites—“Asperser;” by Churchmen—“Spiritual;” by Agnostics—“Superstitious;” by Unionists—“Separatist;” by admirers of eloquence—“Spellbinder;” by decriers of speaking—“Spouter.”

Memorise the correlation you make.

Do you find it difficult to get analytic date-words?

What is necessary in order to get them readily?

Lord Beaconsfield … beacon … the rock … the vessel [born 1805]

… Vessel … anchor … hope … to have faith [died 1881]

Mr. Gladstone … gladness … sorrow … the heavy sob [born 1809]

… heavywaters … Noah’s flood … few saved … too few men [M. P. in 1832]

Napoleon Bonaparte … banishment … embarkation … Took ship [born 1769]

… Took ship … masthead … Godhead … Divinity … [died 1821]

Robert Burns … Scottish poet … map of Scotland … map of the World … The globe [born 1759]

… “The Globe” … newspaper … page … Waiting page … [died 1796]

Oliver Goldsmith … poverty … plenty … Took enough [born 1728]

… “bread enough” … prodigal son … The younger [died 1774]

‌Nelson … Britain’s bulwark … White cliff [born 1758]

… White fossil [died 1805]

Cardinal Wolsey … butcher … steel … straight … Direct [born 1471]

… point … horns … Dilemmas [died 1530]

Cardinal Newman … “kindly light” … Vesta [born 1801]

… fire goddess … sun god … Phœbus [died 1890]

The Marquis of Salisbury … St. Paul’s burial … The famous [born 1830]

The famous … Livingstone … travelling … voyaging [succeeded to title 1867]

J. J. Rousseau … “Emile” … early education … Educate now [born 1712]

… draw out thought … I think of you [died 1778]

Charles Darwin … “Natural Selection” … The chosen one … Happy [born (180)9] Footnote [M]

… greatest happiness … To have heaven [died 1882]

George Eliot … Adam Bede … add … Advance [born 1820]

… Money … £10 … Two fives [died 1880]

Richard Wagner … “Music of Future” … future time … To have time [born 1813]

To have fame [died 1883]

The Duke of Albany … delicate … pale … white … White flame [born 1853]

Fire [died (18)84]

Charles Dickens … “Pickwick Papers” … picnic biscuits … biscuit-tin … Tin [born (18)12]

Case [died (18)70]

Titus Oates … barley … mash-tub … man’s tub … Diogenes [born 1620]

… harsh critic … He attacks all [died 1705]

The specific gravity of the Iridium is 22.40 Iridium … I ridicule … Ridiculous … All laugh … 22.40 none serious.

‌See Analytic Substitutions, concerning the expression of decimals.

One pound avoirdupois equals .45355 of a kilogram— Pound Avoirdupois … old measure … new measure … new reign … (.45355) His rule may hallow all.

Great Earthquake at Lisbon in 1755— LISBON … Listen … Hush!… 1 7 5 5 TALK LOWLY.

Sorata (Andes) 21,286 feet high. SORATA … sore … cured … salt fish … 2 1 2 8 6 UNEATEN FISH.

FOUNDATION OF ROME … Seven hills … up hill … (753) climb.

FIRST PRINTING IN ENGLAND … Book … Pamphlet … (1471) tract.

COUNCIL OF TRENT … rent … rent roll … (1545) daily roll.

SPANISH ARMADA DESTROYED Many ships sunk … few escaped … 1 5 8 8 THEY LEAVE A FEW.

America discovered in 1492— AMERICA … Merry … Sad … sad irons … Handcuffs … 1 49 2 TURPIN.

Mariners’ Compass invented, 1269— MARINERS’ COMPASS … pocket compass— 1 2 6 9 TINY SHAPE.

Learning dates and other figures by Synthesis is never recommended except where the pupil is ignorant of the subject matter and cannot in consequence use Analytic Substitution. Synthesis power has a good training effect in all cases.

Is it always necessary for us to know the dates of the birth and death of men?

Then why do we do this exercise?

What do I want you to get thorough control over?

What will you then be able to do?

The specific gravity of Iridium is 22.40, represented by the phrase none serious; of what use is the first “s” in the word “serious”?

Why would you not give it the value of (0)?

Give a phrase indicating the height of the Washington Monument (555 ft.).

Now correlate “Washington Monument” to the phrase you have given.

Make original correlations for all the events on this page.

Are unfamiliar words of any help in a correlation?

Should they ever be used as intermediates?

Do you try to use as few intermediates as possible?

Are short ones more easily learned?

Serial Facts.

There are two kinds of Serial Facts.

(1) One is where names or facts are stated in a certain order, as in alphabetical order, for instance, and yet a different order could be given. Lists of exceptions in Grammar are usually stated in the alphabetical order, yet if the component parts or words of the list are remembered, the alphabetical order is of no consequence. One teacher has re-arranged Series in Foreign Grammars in such a manner that he finds a natural suggestiveness between the words. No doubt such a re-arrangement can be made, but I question whether his doing it for another would help the latter much. For the pupil to benefit, he should re-adjust the Series for himself. My Pupils, when trained in Analysis and Synthesis, have no difficulty in correlating the Series just as they may find it. No time is spent in trying to discover relations that may not exist.‌ At best, when found, they will be weak; but, by correlating the series together, my Pupils make a strong and vivid relation between all of the words of a Series to be memorised, and at the same time exercise attention in both its functions, and increase appreciation of In., Ex., and Con.

How many kinds of Serial facts are there?

What are the characteristics of the first kind?

Is it advisable for the pupil to re-adjust Series in Foreign Grammars?

Suppose we wish to memorise the 11 prepositions which form part of certain Latin verbs which are followed by the dative, to wit:—Ad., Ante., Con., In., Inter., Ob., Post., Pre., Pro., Sub., and Super. This Series is usually learned by endless repetition, as a succession of sounds to the ear, or sight to the eye, by mere rote. What a waste of time to attempt to re-arrange it in order to learn it more easily. Yet such a Series can be learned by correlating the words together in a very short time, thus:—

Ad addition … front addition … ante-room….

Ante antecedent … consequent….

Con converse … inverse….

In

Inter interject … object….

Ob obligation … postponed obligation….

Post post-office … prepayments….

Pre predilection … propensity….

Pro produce … soil products … subsoil….

Sub subordinate actor … Super.

And, similarly, we can deal with any Series in Grammar, or elsewhere.

Do my pupils ever find any difficulty in correlating the series as they may find it?

What training must they have in order to do so?

Is any time misspent in trying to discover a non-existing relation?

What are the eleven Latin prepositions here given?

How are they usually learned?

Is time gained thereby?

(2) The other kind of Series is where the words, facts, or things must be memorised as given. The seven primary colours are given as they occur in nature, thus:—Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red. The unconscionable word VIBGYOR has been given as a means, through the initial letters of the colour words, to enable us to remember those words, and ROYGBIV to enable us to remember the Series backwards. To such a pass are educators driven when they lack my Universal Method of cementing Extremes. We know the Series both ways if we Correlate the words, thus:

‌Violet … let go

Indigo … indigestion … “blues”

Blue … blue sea … sea green

Green … green corn … ripe corn

Yellow … yellow fruit

Orange … orangemen … fights … blood split … blood-red … Red.

ORDER OF THE ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS.

The true Method of learning the Order and Dates of the English Sovereigns, as of the American Presidents, or of any other list of Rulers, is to deal with them only in the course of reading. When met with in History, all the facts are before the reader, and, if he fails to hold the order of succession clearly in mind in any case, he can easily correlate the Names together. And if he fails to retain some of the dates, he can readily make forgetfulness impossible by correlating names to date-words—or, as the details of the reigns are known to him, he can at once find analytic date-words. The reader wishes to infallibly remember that the date of the beheading of Charles I. was 1649. The formula is “Charles I.—Too sharp (1649).” If the reader’s memory-training is imperfect, and he is ignorant of the facts, he had better correlate. If his memory-education is complete, and the facts are within his knowledge, he will need no aid, or he will use analytic date-words as in above case (1) Then (6) Charles (4) rightly (9) beheaded. If he feels that he needs some advice to help him remember the order of succession of the Kings, he can refresh his recollection by turning back and reading the method already given.

EXERCISE.—CASES IN EVERY-DAY LIFE.

The student must exercise his judgment as to what is the best known to which he will Correlate an isolated fact.

The following anecdote is taken from the Era Almanack, 1882, p. 36. The actor, whose name was Taylor, could not remember the name assigned to him in his part of the play. We shall see how Mnemonics helped him.

Association of Ideas.—Macready was once victimised in Virginius. The Numitorius could not remember the‌ name given him in the play. “You will remember it, sir,” said the tragedian, carefully pronouncing it for him, “by the association of ideas. Think of Numbers—the Book of Numbers.” The Numitorius did think of it all day, and at night produced through “the association of ideas” the following effect:

Numitorius—“Where is Virginia? Wherefore do you hold that maiden’s hand?”

Claudius—“Who asks the question?”

Numitorius—“I, her uncle—Deuteronomy!”

The actor should have correlated the word “Numitorius,” which he could not remember, to the word “Uncle” as the BEST KNOWN that preceded it, which he could remember, or to his “cue” the word “Question” thus:

UNCLE [2] Nephew [1] You [1] You knew—NU-mitorius. Or,

UNCLE [2] Niece [1] Neat [1] Neat and New [1] A new mitre o’er us [1] NU-mitorius. Or,

QUESTION [1] Wants to know [1] Know [1] Knew [1] knew my story [1] NU-mitorius. Or,

QUESTION [1] Quest [1] Guessed [1] Knew [1] Knew a mighty Tory [1] NU-mitorius.

Had the actor memorised either of these Correlations, he would not have forgotten Numitorius in his performance. In all similar cases mere In. by sound, like the word “Numbers” which Macready proposed, and which is really not a genuine In. by sound, is of little service to a poor memory. A Correlation would have been much better.

To any conceivable “Isolated Fact” you can find a Best Known to which you can correlate it, and thereby always have it at command. This is true, even in cases of anticipatory memory. Instead of tying a string round your finger to remind you to buy something when you get to the bazaar, and when you get there forgetting to notice the string or forgetting what the string was intended to remind you of, correlate the name of what you wish to purchase to the name of something you are sure to think of at the place you are going to, and memorise the Correlation. When you see the Best Known, the thing you correlated to it will at once occur to mind. I will add only one more illustration:—A commercial traveller was in the habit of putting his watch under his pillow, and also in the habit of forgetting‌ that he put it there! After losing two watches in this way, he came to me to improve his memory, and asked me if my System could aid him to think of his watch and where he had put it. “Infallibly,” I replied, “if there is anything you can mention which you are certain to think of when you get up, such as boots, trousers, hat, &c.” “There is one thing,” he rejoined, “I am more certain to think of than any article of clothing. I always think what a shame it is I have to get up.” “Well, you are sure to think of the words ‘get up;’ that then is your Best Known. Correlate the word ‘watch’ to it … thus: ‘GET UP’—Spring up—Watch Spring—WATCH.” After a tour of four months he reported he had always thought of his watch the moment he awoke.

SPEAKING WITHOUT WRITTEN OR PRINTED NOTES.

After the clergyman has decided on his text, or the speaker on any subject he has selected for his special topic, the next step is to think it out—to make his plan—his mode of development of his ideas—their order and sequence, illustrations, &c. All this will constitute an outline—the SKELETON OF THE DISCOURSE. This should usually be committed to paper. If he possesses the requisite command of language to enable him to express his views, all he now requires to do is to thoroughly memorise this Skeleton.

When this is done, the orator will have no occasion to have any notes before him to refer to, and thereby to remind his audience that he is merely rehearsing fervour a week or more old; but, having the exact order of ideas in his memory, he can proceed to speak on each successive topic until he has exhausted all the points and illustrations that he had intended to use.

A young clergyman is very apt to imagine that he will correlate together 20 to 100 propositions in every discourse—a theoretical conjecture never verified in fact. In practice, he will find that he will very rarely correlate more than ten propositions together, and he will correlate sub-propositions, citations, or illustrations to the respective propositions‌ to which they belong. Instead of correlations, he may unite his propositions together by analysis. Each person will manage this matter as he finds most convenient to himself; or, if he desires to literally memorise his discourses, he can do so in the manner pointed out in learning sentences, or by two or three careful perusals. But, by one who speaks without notes is generally understood one who has only memorised his leading ideas, and it is always a judicious practice for a beginner to rehearse his leading topics and their amplifications in private, that he may test his memory, and then become familiar with a procedure in private in order to be sure to be perfect in it before the public. This private discipline is all the more necessary in the early stages of extempore speaking—if the speaker is at all troubled by nervous anxieties or mind-wandering.

Suppose a teacher of the Art of Expression has studied Moses True Brown’s [see his Synthetic Philosophy of Expression] reduction of Delsarte’s Nine Laws of Gesture to Brown’s One Law of Correspondence—and suppose this teacher wishes to explain to his class, or to an audience, how Mr. Brown proceeded. If he desires to do this without notes, he must memorise the order of those Nine Laws; they are abstractly stated and difficult to correlate, but it can be done. The Laws are as follows:—

Motion,

Velocity,

Direction or Extension,

Re-action,

Form,

Personality,

Opposition of Agents,

Priority, or Sequence,

Rhythm.

The teacher must correlate these heads or topics of his discourse together, and so memorise his correlations that he can recall the series in the exact order. Perhaps he may proceed thus:

Motion.

[Rate of motion.]

Velocity.

[Relation of motion to time and space—.]

‌Direction or Extension.

[Direction reversed.]

Re-action.

[Mould of Action.]

Form.

[Form of the Human.]

Personality.

[Its extremes.]

Opposition of Agents.

[First opponent.]

Priority or Sequence.

[Periodicity of Sequence.]

Rhythm.

Knowing these Nine Laws in the above order, he can discuss them one after the other. When he has finished his explanation of the reduction of the three Forms of Motion [Concentric, Poise, and Eccentric] to the Law of Correspondence, he can proceed to the consideration of the sub-topics under Velocity, and so on. When he has fixed the other of his topics in mind, he has a mental chart or map to guide him in his exposition, and similarly in other cases.

EXERCISE.

Learn some of the “Antidotes,” and at least two of the following series. Do not learn the extracts from Quain’s Anatomy unless you understand what is meant, or are a medical student.

DISTANCES OF PLANETS FROM THE SUN.

Mercury—36,000,000 [Mercury Shines].

Venus—67,000,000 [She’s a Goddess].

Earth—93,000,000 [Planetary Mother].

Mars—141,000,000 [This World’s Outsider].

Jupiter—482,000,000 [Rather Flattened Ends, or, A Roundish Form Unequalled].

Saturn—885,000,000 [Floods of Light].

Uranus—1,780,000,000 [Disturbances Caused Fruitful Searchings].

Neptune—2,789,000,000 [Neptune Constitutes a Frontier Boundary].

How many planets are here mentioned? Make your own correlations between each.

‌EXTRACTS FROM QUAIN’S ANATOMY. To be studied by none but Medical Students.

“The Branches of the External Carotid Artery are eight in number, viz., three directed forwards, the superior thyroid, the lingual, and the facial; two directed backwards, the occipital and the posterior auricular; and three extending upwards, the ascending pharyngeal branch, together with the temporal and internal maxillary, the two terminal branches into which the artery divides.”

Dissect, or study a model or diagram of these branch arteries, and then the facts are easily learned by means of Correlations:—

CAROTID … rotten … ruinous … ivy (eight branches) … growth … advance … go forwards …

Forwards … lead forwards … conduct … ductless … Thyroid

… spheroid … earth … many languages … Lingual

… tongue … mouth … face … Facial

… front … back…

Backwards … back of head … occiput … Occipital

… occult … secret … confession … Auricular

… ocular … eye … high up…

Upwards … ascending… Ascending Pharyngeal

… congeal … frozen Thames … temporary… Temporal

… pour out shot … Maxim gun or “be temperate” … maxim … Maxillary

To memorise the attachments of muscles, first of all familiarise yourself by diligent dissection with the aspects of the muscles and the actual facts of their attachments. It is possible to memorise their origins and insertions by my System, merely from their written descriptions; but this is not learning. It is a vicious system of cramming, which can do no good. When you have thoroughly familiarised yourself with the actual facts proceed to fix these facts‌ in your memory by my System. In dealing with facts of such complexity as the origin and insertion of muscles, it may be needful to have free recourse to the assistance of homophones, &c. In the whole of anatomy there is no task so difficult as that of learning the precise attachments of the muscles of the back. Few students master these attachments thoroughly, and those who do, fail to retain them long.

Are all students required to learn extracts from Quain’s Anatomy?

How many branches are there of the External Carotid Artery?

Describe them.

Is it an advantage in studying Anatomy to dissect or study a model?

How are the facts, then, easily learned?

Make original correlations for this Extract.

Do you use any unfamiliar words in your correlations?

How do you memorise the attachments of muscles?

Is it possible to memorise their origins and insertions by my System?

Is this learning?

What is it then?

By the System it is easy to learn facts of Anatomy. But the System is no substitute for dissection and experiment. You can get a comprehension of anatomical facts only by actual experience, and to attempt to require an understanding of them from books is to substitute a knowledge of words for a knowledge of things.

The following will indicate one way in which you may proceed in memorising the attachments of the muscles of the back:

(1) First make a homophone of the name of the muscle.

(2) Indicate each attachment of the muscle by two words. The initial letter of the first word should indicate the part of bone to which the muscle is attached, e.g., Sp = spinous process, T = transverse process, R = rib, &c. The second word should indicate by its consonants the numbers of the bones to which the attachment is made.

(3) Correlate the homophone of the muscle to the first pair of words, and the first pair to the second pair. For example:

“The Splenius Colli is attached, inferiorly, to the spinous processes of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth dorsal vertebræ, and superiorly to the transverse processes of the first two or three cervical vertebræ.”

spleniuS COLLi (homophone) SCOLD. SCOLD … cold … marble … SPLENDID IMAGE … gold statuette … chimney ornament … clock … ’TIS TIME.

In the first pair of words the initial of Splendid shows‌ that the attachment is to the Spinous processes, and the word Image indicates that the vertebræ implicated are the third to the sixth. The second pair show that the transverse processes, from the first to the third, are those into which the muscle is inserted.

“The Splenius Capitis arises from the spines of the seventh cervical and two upper dorsal vertebræ and from the ligamentum nuchæ. It is inserted into the lower and back part of the mastoid process, and into the outer part of the superior curved line of the occipital bone.”

spleniuS CAPitis (homophone) ESCAPE.

ESCAPE … flight … projectile … trajectory … conic section … SPLIT CONE.

split … spliced … ligatured … LIGAMENTUM NUCHÆ.

new keel … ship … mast … MASTOID.

masticate … eat … drink … sip … OCCIPITAL.

Do you need to use Homophones in this study?

What is the most difficult task in Anatomy?

Do students generally master this thoroughly?

What makes the learning of Anatomy easy?

Is my System a substitute for dissection?

How can you get a comprehension of anatomical facts?

POISONS AND ANTIDOTES.

Narcotic poisons are neutralized by vinegar:—Narcotics … torpor … strong wine … sour wine … vinegar.

Wine, brandy, coffee, and camphor may be used to rouse those who have taken laudanum or any other preparation of opium … Opium … opium eater … intemperate … brandy … wine … beverage … coffee … cough … cold … camphorated spirit … camphor.

Mucilage, camphor, and oil may be taken to neutralize cantharides:—Cantharides … hair-grower … oil … smooth-running … ease … comfort … camphor … fur cat … mew … mucilage.

Ten drops of ammonia in a glass of sugared water sobers a tipsy man:—Drunk … alcohol … volatile spirits … volatile … alkali … ammonia … to moan … to sigh (10) … pathos … sweet tears … sugared water.

Aconite … night boat … sea sick … emetics … exhaustion … stimulants … hard drinking … spontaneous combustion … animal charcoal.

Are antidotes for Poisons easy to remember?

Should not all persons have a knowledge of the antidotes for the ordinary poisons?

What method have I given to obtain such knowledge?

What is the relation between “Narcotics” and “torpor”?

‌Chloride of Lime … bad smell … bad egg … white of egg … fowl … grain … flour … flour and water … milk fluid … milk.

Oil, milk (any fatty mucilaginous substance), may protect the coats of the stomach against oil of vitriol and other acrid poisons:—Acrid … curd … curdled milk … milk … butter … melted butter … oil.

Strong Acids [Sulphuric Acid (oil of vitriol), Nitric Acid, Hydrochloric Acid] … alkali … lemon kali … effervescing draught … citrate of magnesia … Magnesia … antacid … Bicarbonate of Soda … potash … potash soap … soap suds … emollient … Emollient Drinks.

Carbolic Acid … liquid … oil … sweet oil … castor oil … aperient … Epsom Salts … white … white of egg.

Prussic acid (Hydrocyanic Acid) is neutralized by alkalies and freshly precipitated oxide of iron:—Prussic Acid … tartaric acid … carbonate of soda … alkali … lie on the side … oxide of iron … steel file … rasp … artificial respiration. [Hydrocyanic Acid … cyanotic … asphyxiated … no respiration … Artificial respiration … perspiration … hot … cold effusion … exposed to wet … rust … fresh precipitated oxide of iron.]

Soap and Sulphide of Potassium are antidotes against arsenic and other metallic poisons: Metallic … lick … cat-lick … wash … soap … potash soap … potassium … sulphide of potassium.

Tartrated Antimony … tartar emetic … vomiting … irritating … emollient drinks … ladies drink … strong tea … bitter infusion … tannic acid.

Nitrate of Silver … silver sand … seashore … sea water … common salt … white … white of egg … fowls … barley … barley water … warm water … vomiting … emetics.

Perchloride of Mercury … quicksilver … white … white of egg … piecrust … wheat flour … flowers of sulphur … milk of sulphur … milk.

Can you discover more than one relation existing between “grain” and “flour”?

Why could we not use the single word “white,” to connect “white of egg” to “flour”?

What is the relation between “liquid” and “oil”?

What two relations exist between “vomiting” and “irritating”?

What one, between “fowls” and “barley”?

Why?

What is the relation between “wheat flour” and “flowers of sulphur”?

Strychnine … nerve stimulant … nerve sedative … Bromide of Potassium and Chloral Hydrate … organic compound …‌ heated organic compound … charcoal … animal charcoal … charcoal fumes … asphyxia … artificial respiration … perspiration … tea … tannic acid … acidity … dyspepsia … vomiting … emetics.

Belladonna … deadly nightshade … deadly sick … emetic … mustard and water … brandy and water … stimulants … hot … perspiration … pilocarpine [p. injected hypodermically causes profuse perspiration].

THE TWELVE PAIRS OF CRANIAL NERVES.

The following list is worked out for practice much more fully than a medical student would do if he were learning the list in his studies. The medical student would doubtless first objectively identify these nerves in dissection, and then use correlations to help him remember those which his natural memory could not carry. If not a medical student, my pupil may omit this and the previous examples from Quain’s Anatomy.

THE TWELVE PAIRS OF CRANIAL NERVES.

CRANIAL NERVES … within the skull … within (12 pairs) … withdrawal … draw oil … oil factory … Olfactory (1st pair) … manufactory … smoke … smell … scent-bottle … glass … optical glass … Optic (2nd pair) … optician … eyeglass … sight … eye-witness … ocular demonstration … Occulo Motor (3rd pair) ocular motions … move the eye many ways … tear in the eye … Trochlear or Pathetic (4th pair) … moving … move the eye obliquely … obtuse angle … triangle … Trigeminal (5th pair) … gem … sparkling … eye … eyetooth … jaw … talk … tongue … taste … good taste … good feeling … feeling … feelers … motion … ocean … sailors … absent from home … Abducent (6th pair) … sent out‌ … see out … moves the eye outwards … face outwards … Facial (7th pair—motor to muscles of expression) … face … audience … Auditory (8th pair, sensory for hearing and equilibration) … ear-ring … shiny … glossy … Glosso-pharyngeal (9th pair, taste, swallow) … congeal … unfixed … vague … Vagus (10th pair, pneumogastric) … gusty … blown back … backbone … Spinal accessory (11th pair, moves head) and motor … spines … sharp criticism … hypercritical … Hypoglossal (12th pair) … glossary … foreign tongue … Tongue Muscles.

Between “perspiration” and “tea”?

Why so?

Explain the relation between “Belladonna” and “deadly nightshade.”

What advice is here given the medical student?

Are you required to learn the twelve pairs of cranial nerves if you are not a medical student?

What do the words printed in italics indicate in this exercise?

Is it essential for the medical student to know these uses?

What word indicates the number of pairs of cranial nerves?

Through what consonant?

PROTOPLASM.

Albumen, gluten, fibrin, syntonin, are closely allied substances known as proteids, and each is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

Proteids … Protector … commonwealth … for all … albumen … all men … liars … fibs … fibrin … brindled … spotted … sin … syntonin … toe nails … hoofs … glue … gluten.

The foregoing exercises show that there are no facts of Science, &c., or in Daily Life, with which the System cannot cope—thus proving the greatest saver of Labour and Time if the pupil makes an application of it to his studies or business when once he has mastered the system. ←ToC