Chapter 12

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: "_Vol_taire ... (1) ... volatile ... (2) ... 'fixed' ... (1) ... 'The Shaper' {Th}e {Sh}a{p}e{r} (1694);" or "Vol_taire_ ... (1) ... tear to pieces ... (1) ... mocking dissector ... (1) ... {Th}e {G}i{b}e{r} (1694)." If he had known that Voltaire was a born writer, he would have found the analytic relation in "Voltaire ... {Th}e {Sh}a{p}e{r} (1694)" or if he had known that he was a terrible mocker, he would have said: "Voltaire ... {Th}e {G}i{b}e{r} (1694)." If he wished to fix the date of the discovery of America, he might think of "{T}e{r}ra{p}i{n}" (a large tide-water turtle, abounding in Maryland), and correlate thus: "Discovery of America ... (1) ... Maryland ... (3) ... {T}e{r}ra{p}i{n} (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) {T}{r}ue {B}oo{n} (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) ... {D}oo{r} o{p}e{n} (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 ... {P}i{n}ta (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.

1. To what must we correlate a person's name? 2. What will be the result if we memorise the correlation? 3. To what do Mnemonists resort to remember proper names? 4. Does this _alone_ give a starting point? 5. 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

1. Is it ever possible to remember two extremes without thinking of the intermediates? 2. In what cases? 3. What did Dr. Johnson sometimes do when introduced to a stranger? 4. What sometimes occurs with people who have adopted the Johnsonian Method? 5. Why is this? 6. 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.

1. Are you required to make any original correlations? 2. How many? 3. Between what extremes? 4. Do you find it difficult? 5. Have you any evidence given here that others have experienced any difficulty in making them? 6. Did they finally succeed? 7. 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_.

1. What new burden do they impose on the memory? 2. What do I require from my pupils? 3. To what is the first intermediate connected? 4. Through what? 5. How do I deal with the other intermediates? 6. What is a memory process? 7. Is the memory used to help the memory in any way? 8. Do I add anything to the extremes? 9. Is memory improved by exercise? 10. 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 Hom_m_age." At first sight it seems as if this plan were a good one (and some still recommend it[H]). 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._"

[H] The "New Memory-Aiding French Vocabulary" by Albert Tondu, published by Hachett et Cie, London, in 1881, is a somewhat similar work to Charles Turrell's.

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.

1. Do we ever see words spelt differently but with the same pronunciation? 2. Is the use of the Dictionary required? 3. What examples have we here of the benefits derived from Rec.-Synthesis? 4. With what words did he make himself familiar? 5. Does the same word frequently occur in a book? 6. What proof can you mention? 7. What task was accomplished in about one hour by one of my pupils? 8. 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 _Ap_ple--_ap_fel [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 ... emporos Move ... move on ... next stage ... next-of-kin ... kineô True ... naked truth ... pith of the matter ... pithy ... pithanos Course ... coarse hair ... camel hair ... dromedary ... dromos Servant ... light fare ... dole out [maid ... bride ... dowry] ... doulos Tanner ... leather ... leather purse ... disburse ... burseus Cup ... tea-cup ... tea-pot ... potêrion Fetters ... criminal ... desperate ... desmos Fragile ... thin ... rapier ... "thrust us" ... thraustos ---- glass houses ... "throw stones" ---- Fruit ... fruit-knife ... fish-knife ... carp ... karpos Round ... fat ... stout ... strong ... strongylos Bride ... fair ... fairy ... forest nymph ... nymphê Pearl ... Necklace ... sweetheart ... Sweet Margery ... margaritês Bread ... baker ... baker's art ... artos Marry ... lottery of life ... risky game ... gameô Join ... engaged--[suited ... apt] ... apt to disagree ...aptô Culprit ... cull ... select a few ... few gone ... pheugôn Milk ... milky way ... galaxy ... gala Drink ... water ... small leak ... pinhole ... pinô Suffer hunger ... ng of hunger ... pining away ... peinaô Time ... watch ... chronometer ... chronos ---- Father Time ... old age ... old crony ---- Deliver ... capture ... lasso ... apalassô Spread ... Christmas feast ... deck a church ... dye a spire ... diaspeirô Uncover ... bare ... bare foot ... a Kaliph's toe ... ekkalyptô Shut ... shut out ... severe weather ... bad climate ... kleiô I judge ... condemn ... refute ... refuse ... cry "no" ... krinô Found ... establish ... fix ... fasten thus ... tie so ... ktizô Soldier ... art of war ... strategy ... stratiôtês

1. In the case of Foreign words, what must the last intermediate necessarily be a case of? 2. Do pupils always agree on a good In. by S.? 3. What is sufficient, if it refers to one syllable only? 4. What are you never to do in getting at an English word? 5. What may you do in getting at a Foreign word? 6. Could you not omit "camel hair"? 7. Could you not omit "leather," which follows "tanner"? 8. Could you not omit after "cup" the word "tea-cup"? 9. Is not "tea-pot" connected by Con. with "cup"? 10. After "bread" could you not omit "baker"? 11. Are not "bread" and "baker's art" connected? 12. 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[I]] ... canis Egg ... boiled egg ... boiled hard ... over boiled ... ovum Fox ... jackall ... carcass ... vulture ... vulpes Bread ... sweat of brow ... labour ... pain ... [bread-pan ... pan[I]] ... panis Table ... figures ... calculation ... mensuration ... mensa Master ... schoolboard ... fines ... magistrate ... magister Tree ... mast ... ship ... harbour ... arbor Mother ... wife ... helpmeet ... help-mate ... mater

[I] In some English schools the first syllable in "panis" sounds "pan," in others "pain." If an English word derived from a foreign word (or from the same root) occurs to you, use it; but do not spend time hunting for derivations. Unfamiliar words are no help; do not think the word "panification" will help you to "panis," because it is an English word meaning "bread-making," and you are an Englishman. You would be much wiser to try to remember the English "panification" by the aid of the Latin "panis," than _vice-versa_, that is, if any mortal ever does want to remember that pedantic dictionary word.