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Speaker 1: How to remember faces. The memory of faces is closely

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connected with the memory of names, and yet the two

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are not always associated, for there are many people who

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easily remember faces and yet forget names, and vice versa.

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In some ways, however, the memory of faces is a

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necessary precedent for the recollection of the names of people,

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for unless we recall the face, we are unable to

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make the necessary association with the name of the person.

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We have given a number of instances of face memory

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in our chapter on name memory, in which are given

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instances of the wonderful memory of celebrated individuals who acquired

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a knowledge and memory of the thousands of citizens of

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a town or city, or the soldiers of an army.

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In this chapter, however, we shall pay attention only to

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the object of the recollection of the features of persons,

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irrespective of their names. This faculty is possessed by all persons,

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but in varying degrees. Those in whom it is well

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developed seem to recognize the faces of persons whom they

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have met years before, and to associate them with their

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circumstances in which they last met them, even where the

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name escapes the memory. Others seem to forget a face

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the moment it passes from view, and fail to recognize

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the same persons whom they met only a few hours before,

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much to their mortification and chagrin. Detectives, newspaper reporters, and

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others who come in contact with many people usually have

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this faculty largely developed, for it becomes a necessity of

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their work, and their interest and attention is rendered active thereby.

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Public men often have this faculty largely developed by reason

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of the necessities of their life. It is said that

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James G. Blaine never forgot the face of any one

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whom he had met and conversed with a few moments.

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This faculty rendered him very popular in political life. In

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this respect, he resembled Henry Clay, who was noted for

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his memory of faces. It is related of Clay that

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he once paid a visit of a few hours to

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a small town in Mississippi on an electioneering tour. Amidst

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the throng surrounding him was an old man with one

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eye missing. The old fellow pressed forward, crying out that

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he was sure that Henry Clay would remember him. Clay

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took a sharp look at him and said, I met

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you in Kentucky many years ago. Did I not, Yes,

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replied the man. Did you lose your eye since? Then,

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asked Clay. Yes several years after, replied the old man.

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Turn your face sideway so that I can see your profile,

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said Clay. The man did so. Then Clay smiled triumphantly,

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saying I've got you now. Weren't you on that jury

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in the Innis case at Frankfort that I tried in

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the United States court over twenty years ago? Yes, sir ee,

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said the man. I knowed that you know me, and

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I told him you would, And the crowd gave a whoop,

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and Clay knew that he was safe in that town

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and county. Vidoc, the celebrated French detective is said to

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have never forgotten the face of a criminal whom he

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had once seen. A celebrated instance of this power on

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his part is that of the case of de la Franche,

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the forger who escaped from prison and dwelt in foreign

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lands for over twenty years. After that time, he returned

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to Paris, feeling secure from detection, having become bald, losing

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an eye, and having his nose badly mutilated. Moreover, he

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disguised himself and wore a beard in order to still

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further evade detection. One day, Vidoc met him on the

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street and recognized him at once his arrest and return

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to prison following instances of this kind could be multiplied indefinitely,

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but the student will have had a sufficient acquaintance with

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persons who possess this faculty developed to a large degree,

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so that further illustration is scarcely necessary. The way to

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develop this phase of memory is akin to that urged

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in the development of other phases. The cultivation of interest

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and the bestowal of attention. Faces as a whole are

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not apt to prove interesting. It is only by analyzing

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and classifying them that the study begins to grow of

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interest to us. The study of a good elementary work

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on physiognomy is recommended to those wishing to develop the

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faculty of remembering faces, For in such a work, the

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student is led to notice the different kinds of noses, ears, eyes, chins, foreheads,

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et cetera. Such notice and recognition tending to induce an

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interest in the subject of features. A rudimentary course of

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study in drawing faces, particularly in profile, will also tend

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to make one take notice and will awaken interest. If

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you are required to draw a nose, particularly from memory,

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you will be apt to give it your interested attention.

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The matter of interest is vital. If you were shown

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a man and told that the next time you met

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and recognized him, he would hand you over five hundred dollars,

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you would be very apt to study his face carefully

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and to recognize him later on, Whereas the same man,

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if introduced casually as a mister Jones, would arouse no

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interest and the chances of recognition would be slim. Hallick says,

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every time we enter a street car, we see different

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types of people, and there is a great deal to

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be noticed about each type. Every human countenance shows its

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past history to one who knows how to look. Successful

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gamblers often become so expert in noticing the slightest change

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of an opponent's facial expression that they will estimate the

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strength of his hand by the involuntary signs which appear

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in the face, and which are frequently checked the instant

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they appear. Of all classes, perhaps artists are more apt

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to form a clear cut image of the features of

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persons whom they meet, particularly if they are portrait painters.

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There are instances of celebrated portrait painters who were able

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to execute a good portrait after having once carefully studied

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the face of the sitter, their memory enabling them to

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visualize the features at will. Some celebrated teachers of drawing

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have instructed their scholars to take a sharp, hasty glance

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at a nose, an eye, an ear, or chin, and

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then to so clearly visualize it that they could draw

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it perfectly. It is all a matter of interest, attention,

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and practice. Sir Francis Galton cites the instance of a

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French teacher who trained his pupils so thoroughly in this

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direction that after a few months practice, they had no

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difficulty in summoning images at will, in holding them steady,

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and in drawing them correctly. He says of the faculty

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of visualization thus used, a faculty that is of importance

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in all technical and artistic occupations, that gives accuracy to

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our perceptions and justice to our generalizations, is starved by

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lazy disuse, instead of being cultivated judiciously in such a

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way as will, on the whole bring the best return.

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I believe that a serious study of the best means

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of developing and utilizing this faculty without prejudice to the

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practice of abstract thought and symbols is one of the

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many pressing desiderata in the yet unformed science of education.

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Fuller relates the method of a celebrated painter, which method

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has been since taught by many teachers of both drawing

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and memory. He relates it as follows. The celebrated painter

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Leonardo da Vinci invented a most ingenious method for identifying faces,

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and by it is said to have been able to

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reproduce from memory any face that he had once carefully scrutinized.

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He drew all the possible forms of the nose, mouth, chin, eyes, ears,

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and forehead, numbered them one, two, three, four, et cetera,

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and committed them thoroughly to memory. Then, whenever he saw

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a face that he wished to draw or paint from memory,

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he noted in his mind that it was chin, four eyes,

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two nose, five ears, six, or whatever the combinations might be,

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And by retaining the analysis in his memory, he could

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reconstruct the face at any time. We could I scarcely

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asked a student to attempt so complicated a system, and

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yet a modification of it would prove useful. That is,

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if you would begin to form a classification of several

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kind of noses, say about seven the well known Roman, Jewish, Grecian,

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giving you the general classes in connection with straight, crooked,

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pug and all the other varieties, you would soon recognize

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noses when you saw them, and the same with mouths.

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A few classes being found to cover the majority of cases.

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But of all the features, the eye is the most

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expressive and the one most easily remembered when clearly noticed.

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Detectives rely much upon the expression of the eye. If

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you ever fully catch the expression of a person's eye,

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you will be very apt to recognize it thereafter. Therefore,

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concentrate on eyes in studying faces. A good plan in

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developing this faculty is to visualize the faces of persons

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you have met during the day. In the evening, try

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to develop the faculty of visualizing the features of those

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whom you know. This will start you off right. Draw

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them in your mind, see them with your mind's eye,

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until you can visualize the features of very old friends.

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Then do the same with acquaintances and so on, until

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you are able to visualize the features of everyone you know.

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Then start on to add to your list by recalling

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in the imagination the features of strangers whom you meet.

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By a little practice of this kind you will develop

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a great interest in faces, and your memory of them

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and the power to recall them, will increase rapidly. The

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secret is to study faces, to be interested in them.

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In this way you add zest to the task and

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make a pleasure of a drudgery. The study of photographs

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is also a great aid in this work, but study

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them in detail, not as a whole. If you can

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arouse sufficient interest in features and faces, you will have

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no trouble in remembering and recalling them. The two things

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go together