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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



through the ear, but something else through 

 the eye; something else through the touch; 

 something else through our feelings— anger, 

 love, hatred, etc. If memory is seated in 

 the iDrain, and it rather looks that way to us 

 poor ignorant mortals, these vibrations, 

 sensations, or cylinders with something en- 

 graved on them are probably laid away in 

 this little brain of ours; and in order to have 

 them convenient of access. Nature (pei'haps 

 I had better say God, the beloved Father) 

 has planned compartments of pigeonholes 

 for filing away these records— well, may be 

 something like what they have in our large 

 ofiices. Our own office adjoining is now 

 filled with great cases and ingeniously 

 planned files for putting away records so the 

 clerks can get at them instantly. One of 

 these great filing-cases near the center of 

 our large office became so heavy that it 

 caused the floor to sag a few days ago; and 

 the business manager said before it was re- 

 lieved of some of its burden it might acquire 

 twice as much weight. All these great ex- 

 pensive cases are to record the transactions 

 of our establishment for ten or fifteen years. 

 Inventors have been at work very busily for 

 the past few years in making these records 

 so an expert clerk can lay his hand on any 

 letter in a moment. The above is just to 

 give you a little glimpse of what the human 

 brain has to do with this wonderful faculty 

 of memory. Why, almost any of us can 

 answer a thousand questions positively, one 

 after another, even though many of them 

 may go back a good many years. If we can 

 not remember all we have done, we can re- 

 member pretty well what we have not done. * 

 Now, how is it possible for this little brain 

 of ours to be so arranged that it can contain 

 such a perfect record of, say, a life of fifty 

 years? Well, that is not all. Not only is 

 the record wonderful, but the most aston- 

 ishing wonder of all is that a human being 

 can instantly "place his finger" on any 

 thing that has happened during that period 

 of fifty years. Then tljere is one funny 

 thing about this faculty of memory. If you 

 are getting to be toward seventy years old 

 you have noticed that you can recall things 

 that happened fifty years ago far more dis- 

 tinctly than things that happened only five 

 years ago. I wish I could go on and tell you 

 whether this brain of ours, so fearfully and 

 wonderfully made, uses cylinders like those 

 of a phonograph to take down impressions, 

 and filps them away in convenient cabinets. 

 But I think I will not go into that. I will, 

 however, touch on something else that is 

 almost as wonderful. 



* Some years ago a banker said he had a note with my 

 name on it. I told him I never signed that note. But 

 he was so sure it was my signature that he was willing 

 to bet $1000 that I did sign it but had forgotten it. But 

 I unhesitatingly declared positively that I never put my 

 nameon any note for that person. Some of my friends 

 tried to persuade me that I was becoming forgetful in 

 my old age, and that it really iras my signature. O f 

 course. I was right, and the young man finally confessed 

 that he himself copied my signature. If it be true we 

 can not always instantly recall what we have done, we 

 can say very positively what we have not done, espe- 

 cially in the case of a forged signature. 



Man is not the only animal that has a 

 memory. Our noble friend the horse has a 

 magnificent memory. It often outstrips 

 that of his owner. I once took a raw colt 

 out of the field and proceeded to break her 

 for my own use. My father-in-law said I 

 might have her if I would teach her to work. 

 I was quite a boy then, and two ' ' green ones ' ' 

 met about that time. The colt and I were 

 getting along finely, and she followed me 

 around quite docile until I attempted to lead 

 her into a stable with a low door. She was 

 holding her head pretty high, and, being 

 unacquainted with doors, she gave her head 

 a tremendous bump on the stout timber over- 

 head. I had to make a great many explana- 

 tions and do a lot of coaxing before she 

 would consent to try to go in that door after 

 that. She somehow got the idea that the 

 top of the door "ducked down" and hit her 

 a clip. Well, years afterward, when I had 

 entirely forgotten the circumstances of her 

 colthood, and attempted to lead her inta 

 that same door, and although she was com- 

 paratively old and steady then, she eyed 

 that timber above the door with great sus- 

 picion and fear. Not only the large ani- 

 mals but bees remember experiences. Man 

 may imitate nature in a great many things ; 

 but I imagine it will be many years before 

 he understands the machinery of memory. 



I am going still further, friends. Living 

 animals have brains ; they have an individu- 

 ality. They plan and reason to some extent ; 

 but there is a queer feature about plints 

 also that seems akin to memory. Last sum- 

 mer I gave the children a little talk about 

 plants, at the children's-day Sunday-school 

 in Northern Michigan. I showed them how 

 to make plants from green cuttings ; and to 

 illustrate I held in my hand a green twig 

 from a Red Astrachan apple-tree. I put 

 some sand in a little flower-pot. Then I 

 poured on some water and stuck the apple 

 twig in the sand. Then I set a glass tum- 

 bler over the plant, pot and all. I told the 

 children if the sand was kept wet just right, 

 and the temperature just right, that twig 

 would put out roots, and in due time make 

 an apple-tree. Then to illustrate how it is- 

 that plants remember I spoke something as 

 follows : 



"Children, suppose I talk to this apple 

 twig in the pot just as I talk to you, and 

 tell it a lot of things I want done, and ask 

 it not to forget any one of them. I will say 

 to this little twig or miniature apple-tree, 

 'Now, my young friend, I want you to grow 

 up into a nice big apple-tree and bear 

 apples.' We will suppose the tree nods its 

 head, meaning it is ready to do its part. 

 'Now, little tree, I want you to remember 

 to bear big handsome red apples.' We will 

 suppose the tree says, 'All right.' Then I 

 will say again, ' I want you to bear an extra- 

 early apple.' The tree nods its head. 'And, 

 finally, I want you to bear apples that are 

 rather tart, because we want the first apples 

 to make apple pies of.' You boys all like 

 apple pies, don't you ? Well. I might tell 

 this little apple-tree a lot of other things. 



