Speaker 1: Celebrated cases of memory. In order that the student may
appreciate the marvelous extent of development possible to the memory,
we have thought it advisable to mention a number of
celebrated cases, past and present. In so doing, we have
no desire to hold up these cases as worthy of imitation,
for they are exceptional and not necessary in everyday life.
We mention them merely to show to what wonderful extent
development along these lines is possible. In India. In the past,
the sacred books were committed to memory and handed down
from teacher to student for ages, and even today it
is no uncommon thing for the student to be able
to repeat word for word some voluminous religious work equal
in extent to the New Testament. Max Muller states that
the entire text and glossary of Panini's Sanskrit grammar, equal
in extent to the entire Bible, were handed down orally
for several centuries before being committed to writing. There are
Brahmins today who have committed to memory and who can
repeat at will the entire collection of religious poems known
as the Mahabarata, consisting of over three hundred thousand slocas
or verses. Leland states that the Slavonian minstrels of the
present day have by heart, with remarkable accuracy, immensely long
epic poems. I have found the same among Algonquin Indians,
whose sagas or mythic legends are interminable, and yet are
committed word by word accurately. I have heard in England
of a lady ninety years of age, whose memory was miraculous,
and of which extraordinary instances are narrated by her friends.
She attributed it to the fact that, when young, she
had been made to learn a verse from the Bible
every day, and then constantly review it. As her memory improved,
she learned more, the result being that in the end
she could repeat from memory any verse or chapter called
for in the whole scripture. It is related that Mithridates,
the ancient warrior king, knew the name of every soldier
in his great army and conversed fluently in twenty two dialects.
Pliny relates that Charmides could repeat the contents of every
book in his large library. Hortensius, the Roman orator, had
a remarkable memory, which enabled him to retain and recollect
the exact words of his opponent's argument, without making a
single notation on a wager. He attended a great auction sale,
which lasted over an entire day, and then called off
in their proper order every object sold, the name of
its purchaser and the price thereof. Seneca is said to
have acquired the ability to memorize several thousand proper names,
and to repeat them in the order in which they
had been given him, and also to reverse the order
and call off the list backward. He also accomplished the
feat of listening to several hundred persons, each of whom
gave him a verse, memorizing the same as they proceeded,
and then repeating them word for word in the exact
order of their delivery, and then reversing the process with
complete success. Eusebius stated that only the memory of Esdras
saved the Hebrew scriptures to the world, for when the
Kaldians destroyed the manuscripts, Esdras was able to repeat them
word by word to the scribes who then them. Though
Mohammedan scholars are able to repeat the entire text of
the Koran letter, perfect Scallager committed the entire text of
the Iliad and the Odyssey in three weeks. Ben Johnson
is said to have been able to repeat all of
his own works from memory with the greatest ads. Bulwark
could repeat the Odes of Horace from memory. Pascal could
repeat the entire Bible from beginning to end, as well
as being able to recall any given paragraph, verse, line,
or chapter. Lander is said to have read a book
but once, when he would dispose of it, having impressed
it upon his memory, to be recalled years after if necessary.
Byron could recite all of his own poems. Buffin could
repeat his works from beginning to end. Bryant possessed the
same ability to repeat his own works. Bishop Sanderson could
repeat the greater part of Juvenile and Persius, all of Tully,
and all of Horace. Fedisovha, a Russian peasant, could repeat
over twenty five thousand poems, folk songs, legends, fairy tales,
war stories, etc. When she was over seventy years of age.
The celebrated blind alec An aged Scottish beggar could repeat
any verse in the Bible called for, as well as
the entire text of all the chapters and books. The
newspapers a few years ago contained the accounts of a
man named Clark, who lived in New York City. He
is said to have been able to give the exact
presidential vote in each state of the Union since the
first election. He could give the population in every town
of any size in the world, either present or in
the past, providing there was a record of the same.
He could quote from Shakespeare for hours at a time,
beginning at any given point in any play. He could
recite the entire text of the Iliad in the original Greek.
The historical case of the unnamed Dutchman is known to
all students of memory. This man is said to have
been able to take up a fresh newspaper, to read
it all through, including the advertisements, and then to repeat
its contents word for word, from beginning to end. On
one occasion, he is said to have heaped wonder upon
wonder by repeating the contents of the paper backward, beginning
with the last word and ending with the first lion.
The English actor is said to have duplicated this feat
using a large London paper and including the market quotations,
reports of the debate in Parliament, the railroad timetables, and
the advertisements. A London waiter is said to have performed
a similar feat on a wager, he memorizing and correctly
repeating the contents of an eight page paper. One of
the most remarkable instances of extraordinary memory known to history
is that of the child Christian Miniken, when less than
four years of age, he could repeat the entire Bible,
two hundred hymns, five thousand Latin words, and much ecclesiastical history, theory, dogmas, arguments,
and an encyclopedic quantity of theological literature. He is said
to have practically retained every word that was read to him.
His case was abnormal, and he died at an early age.
John Stuart Mill is said to have acquired a fair
knowledge of Greek at the age of three years, and
to have memorized Hume, Gibbon and other historians at the
age of eight. Shortly after, he mastered and memorized Herodotus, Xenophon,
some of Socrates, and six of Plato's dialogues. Richard Porson
is said to have memorized the entire text of Homer, Horace, Cicero, Virgil, Livy, Shakespeare, Milton,
and Gibbon. He is said to have been able to
memorize any ordinary novel at one careful reading, and to
have several times performed the feat of memorizing the entire
contents of some English monthly review. De Rassi was able
to perform the feat of repeating one hundred lines from
any of the four great Italian poets, provided he was
given a line at random from their works, his hundred
lines following immediately after the given line. Of course, this
feat required the memorizing of the entire works of those poets,
and the ability to take up the repetition from any
given point, the latter feature being as remarkable as the former.
There have been cases of printers being able to repeat
word for word books of which they had set the type.
Professor Lawson was able to teach his classes of the
Scriptures without referring to the book. He claimed that if
the entire stock of Bibles were to be destroyed, he
could restore the book entire from his memory. Reverend Thomas
Fuller is said to have been able to walk down
a long London street, reading the names of the signs
on both sides, then recalling them in the order in
which they had been seen, and then by reversing the order.
There are many cases on record of persons who memorized
the w words of every known tongue of civilization, as
well as a great number of dialects, languages, and tongues
of savage races. Bassuet had memorized the entire Bible, and Homer,
Horace and Virgil Beside. Neibour, the historian was once employed
in a government office, the records of which were destroyed.
He thereupon restored the entire contents of the Book of Records,
which he had written, all from his memory. Asa Gray
knew the names of ten thousand plants, Milton had a
vocabulary of twenty thousand words, and Shakespeare one of twenty
five thousand. Cuvier and Agasy are said to have memorized
lists of several thousand species and varieties of animals. Mayobichi,
the librarian of Florence, is said to have known the
local of every volume in the large library of which
he was in charge, and the complete list of works
along certain lines in all the other great libraries. He
once claimed that he was able to repeat titles of
over a half million of books in many languages and
upon many subjects. In nearly every walk of life are
to be found persons with memories wonderfully developed along the
lines of their particular occupation. Librarians possess this faculty to
an unusual degree. Skilled workers in the finer lines of
manufacture also manifest a wonderful memory for the tiny parts
of the manufactured article, etc. Bank officers have a wonderful
memory for names and faces. Some lawyers are able to
recall cases quoted in the authorities years after they have
read them. Perhaps the most common, and yet the most
remarkable instances of memorizing in one's daily work is to
be found in the cases of the theatrical profession. In
some cases, members of stock company must not only be
able to repeat the lines of the play they are
engaged in acting at the time, but also the one
that they are rehearsing for the following week, and possibly
the one for the second week. And in repertoire companies,
the actors are required to be letter perfect in a
dozen or more plays. Surely a wonderful feat, and yet
one so common that no notice is given to it.
In some of the celebrated cases, the degree of recollection
manifested is undoubtedly abnormal, but in the majority of the
cases it may be seen that the result has been
obtained only by the use of natural methods and persistent exercise.
That wonderful memories may be acquired by anyone who will
devote to the task. Patience, time, and work is a
fact generally acknowledged by all students of the subject. It
is not a gift, but something to be won by
effort and work along scientific lines.