HOW TO SEE AND REMEMBER 



But the defects inherent in the average method of 

 using the normal senses are most apparent when we 

 witness the extreme development of certain senses under 

 conditions that make training necessary. Thus every- 

 one knows that the blind come to have almost pre- 

 ternaturally acute senses of hearing and of touch; 

 while the deaf-mute correspondingly develops his 

 vision until, for example, he may even be able to read 

 the speech of a companion by watching his lips. 



These are instances in which the organ of hearing or 

 of sight is developed to a degree of perfection it would 

 unquestionably not have attained had no special stress 

 been brought to bear upon its development. And this 

 fact suggests that the eye and ear of the average normal 

 person might be trained to something like a correspond- 

 ing degree of efficiency, were the proper attention given 

 to such training. 



Learn to challenge your eye and ear; to demand of 

 them that they bring you explicit records of all the ob- 

 jects and sounds that come within their ken, and you 

 will be amazed to see how full your world becomes of 

 things that hitherto you had disregarded, and how much 

 your capacity for enjoyment will be extended. 



Similarly the average memory, if trained and put 

 to the test, will develop possibilities undreamed of. 

 You may not be able, like Sherwood, to memorise a 

 thousand pieces of music; or, like Pillsbury, to play 

 twenty blindfold games of chess while simultaneously 

 playing a game of duplicate whist; or like Asa Gray 

 to recall the names of 25,000 plants; but you will as- 

 tonish yourself and your friends with the improve- 



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