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The subconscious record file. The old
writers on the subject were wont to consider

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the memory as a separate faculty of
the mind, but this idea disappeared before

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the advancing tide of knowledge, which
resulted in the acceptance of the conception now

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known as the new psychology. This
new conception recognizes the existence of a vast

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out of consciousness region of the mind, one phase of which is known as

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the subconscious mind or the subconscious field
of mental activities. In this field of

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mentation, the activities of memory have
their seat. A careful consideration of the

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subject brings the certainty that the entire
work of the memory is performed in this

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subconscious region of the mind. Only
when the subconscious record is represented to the

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conscious field and recollection or remembrance resultults
does the memorized idea or impression emerge from

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the subconscious region. An understanding of
this fact simplifies the entire subject of the

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memory and enables us to perfect plans
and methods, whereby the memory may be

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developed, improved, and trained by
means of the direction of the subconscious activities,

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by the use of the conscious faculties
and the will. Hearing says,

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memory is a faculty not only of
our conscious states, but also, and

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much more so, of our unconscious
ones. Kay says it is impossible to

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understand the true nature of memory or
how to train it aright, unless we

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have a clear conception of the fact
that there is much in the mind of

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which we are unconscious. The highest
form of memory, as of all mental

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powers, is the unconscious, when
what we wish to recall comes to us

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spontaneously, without any conscious thought or
search for it. Frequently, when we

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wish to recall something that has previously
been in the mind, we are unable

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to do so by any conscious effort
of the will. But we turn the

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attention to something else, and after
a time the desired information comes up spontaneously

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when we are not consciously thinking of
it. Carpenter says, there is the

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working of a mechanism beneath the consciousness, which, when once set going,

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runs on of itself, and which
is more likely to evolve the desired result

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when the conscious activity of the mind
is exerted in a direction altogether different.

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This subconscious region of the mind is
the great record file of everything we have

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ever experienced, thought, or known. Everything is recorded there. The best

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authorities now generally agree that there is
no such thing as an absolute forgetting of

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even the most minute impression. Notwithstanding
the fact that we may be unable to

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recollect or remember it owing to its
faintness or lack of associated indexing, it

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is held that everything is to be
found in that subconscious index file, if

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we can only manage to find its
place. Kay says, in like manner,

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we believe that every impression or thought
that has once before consciousness remains ever

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afterward impressed upon the mind. It
may never again come up before consciousness,

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but it will doubtless remain in that
vast, ultra conscious region of the mind,

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unconsciously molding and fashioning our subsequent thoughts
and actions. It is only a

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small part of what exists in the
mind that we are conscious of of.

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There is always much that is known
to be in the mind that exists in

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it unconsciously and must be stored away
somewhere. We may be able to recall

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it into consciousness when we wish to
do so, but at other times the

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mind is unconscious of its existence.
Further, everyone's experience must tell him that

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there is much in his mind that
he cannot always recall when he may wish

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to do so much that he can
recover only after a labored search, or

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that he may search for in vain
at the time, but which may occur

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to him afterwards, when perhaps he
is not thinking about it again, much

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that we probably would never be able
to recall, or that would not recur

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to us under ordinary circumstances, we
may remember to have had in the mind

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when it is mentioned to us by
others. In such a case, there

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must still have remained some trace or
or scintilla of it in the mind before

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we could recognize it as having been
there before. Morrell says, we have

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every reason to believe that mental power, when once called forth, follows the

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analogy of everything we see in the
material universe. In the fact of its

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perpetuity, Every single effort of mind
is a creation which can never go back

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again into nonentity. It may slumber
in the depths of forgetfulness, as light

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and heat slumber in the coal seems, but there it is ready, at

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the bidding of some appropriate stimulus,
to come again out of the darkness into

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the light of consciousness. Beatty says, that which has been long forgotten,

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nay, that which we have often
in vain endeavored to recollect will, sometimes

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without an effort of ours, occur
to us on a sudden and if I

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may so speak of its own accord, Hamilton says, the mind frequently contains

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whole systems of knowledge, which,
though in our normal state they may have

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faded into absolute oblivion, may in
certain abnormal states, as madness, delirium,

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somnabulism, catalepsy, etc. Flash
out into luminous consciousness. For example,

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there are cases in which the extinct
memory of whole languages were suddenly restored.

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Lecky says, it is now fully
established that a multitude of events which

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are so completely forgotten that no effort
of the will can retrieve them, and

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that the statement of them calls up
no reminiscences, may nevertheless be so to

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speak, embedded in the memory,
and may be reproduced with intense vividness under

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certain physical conditions. In proof of
the above, the authorities give many instances

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recorded in scientific annals. Coleridge relates
the well known case of the old woman

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who could neither read nor write,
who, when in the delirium of fever,

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incessantly recited, in very pompous tones, long passages from the Latin,

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Greek, and Hebrew with a distinct
enunciation and precise rendition. Notes of her

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ravings were taken down by shorthand and
caused much wonderment, until it was afterwards

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found that in her youth she had
been employed as a servant in the house

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of a clergyman who was in the
habit of walking up and down in his

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study, reading aloud from his favorite
classical and religious writers. In his books

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were found marked passages corresponding to the
notes taken from the girl's ravings. Her

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subconscious memory had stored up the sounds
of these passages heard in her early youth,

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but of which she had no recollect
in her normal state. Beaufort,

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describing his sensations just before being rescued
from drowning, says, every incident of

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my former life seemed to glance across
my recollection in a retrograde procession, not

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in mere outline, but in a
picture filled with every minute and collateral feature,

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thus forming a panoramic view of my
whole existence. Kay truly observes by

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adopting the opinion that every thought or
impression that had once been consciously before the

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mind is ever afterwards retained, we
obtain light on many obscure mental phenomena,

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and especially do we draw from it
the conclusion of the perfectibility of the memory

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to an almost unlimited extent. We
cannot doubt that could we penetrate to the

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lowest depths of our mental nature,
we should there find traces of every impression

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we have received, every thought we
have entertained, and every act we have

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done through our past life, each
one making its influence felt in the way

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of building up our present knowledge or
in guiding our everyday actions. And if

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they persist in the mind, might
it not be possible to recall most,

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if not all, of them into
consciousness when we wish to do so?

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If our memories or powers of recollection
were what they should be. As we

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have said, this great subconscious region
of the mind, this memory region,

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may be thought of as a great
record file, with an intricate system of

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indexes and office boys, whose business
it is to file away the records,

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to index them, and to find
them when needed. The records record only

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what we have impressed upon them by
the attention, the degree of depth and

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clearness depending entirely upon the degree of
attention which we bestowed upon the original impression.

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We can never expect to have the
office boys of the memory bring up

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anything that they have not been given
to file away. The indexing and cross

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references are supplied by the association existing
between the various impressions. The more cross

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references or associations that are connected with
an idea, thought, or impression that

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is filed away in the memory,
the greater the chances of it being found

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readily when wanted. These two features
of attention and association, and the parts

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they play in the phenomena of memory, are mentioned in detail in other chapters

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of this book. These little office
boys of the Memory are an industrious and

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willing lot of little chaps. But
like all boys, they do their best

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work when kept in practice. Idleness
and lack of exercise cause them to become

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slothful and careless, and forgetful of
the records under their charge. A little

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fresh exercise and work soon take the
cobwebs out of the brains, and they

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spring eagerly to their tasks. They
become familiar with their work when exercised properly,

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and soon become very expert. They
have a tendency to remember on their

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own part, and when a certain
record is called for, often they grow

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accustomed to its place and can find
it without referring to the indexes at all.

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But their trouble comes from faint and
almost illegible records caused by poor attention.

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These they can scarcely decipher. When
they do succeed in finding them,

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lack of proper indexing by associations causes
them much worry and extra work, and

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sometimes they are unable to find the
records at all from this neglect. Often,

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however, after they have told you
that they cannot find a thing,

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and you have left the place in
disgust, they will continue their search,

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and hours afterward will surprise you by
handing you the desired idea or impression which

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they had found carelessly indexed or improperly
filed away in these chapters. You will

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be helped if you will carry in
your mind these little office boys of the

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memory record file, and the hard
work they have to do for you,

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much of which is made doubly burdensome
by your own neglect and carelessness. Treat

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these little fellows right, and they
will work overtime for you willingly and joyfully.

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But they need your assistance and encouragement, and an occasional word of praise

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and common daytions