272 MEMOEY. 



two men as men and of my varied association with them. 

 Then came the overwhelming confusion of ideas at my 

 embarrassment when I did not readily recall the name 

 of either friend. 



The special feature of this experience is that, with 

 both Mr. Smith and myself, the inability to recall the 

 desired names was occasioned by an abundance of ideas 

 and not by an absence of ideas. 



The power to reproduce necessitates the power to ex- 

 clude. The most valuable acquisition gained by educa- 

 tion is the power to concentrate attention. 



Listen to this experience of a friend, explaining one 

 very general reason why we fail to reproduce. In the 

 library I read the following sentence : " The secretary 

 of war will suggest in his forthcoming report the abro- 

 gation of our treaty with Great Britain, which restricts 

 our naval force on the Great Lakes to one vessel of an 

 obsolete pattern." 



The article was not a very long one but the above 

 quotation, I remember, surprised me, and for some 

 reason I said, "I'll mention this in the letter I'm about 

 to send Mr. Winne." I finished the article with a feel- 

 ing of pleasure that I had read it, put the paper on the 

 rack, and started home. When I reached the door I 

 halted. ' 'Just exactly what is it that I' m to mention to Mr. 

 W inne ?" I asked m y self . ' ' What ?" I tried to collect m y- 

 self. All I had was the idea of war, and a picture of the 

 Great Lakes. How these two ideas — war and the Great 

 Lakes — were associated, I did not know. I was chagrined, 

 for I suspected I had been doing just what I daily warn 

 my classes against doing, viz : reading words without 

 imaging. All effort to recall anything — save the name 

 of the paper, place on the page, and like items — failed ! 

 Then I took myself to task. (I'll not give details.) I 

 returned and re-read the article. As soon as the sheet 

 was before me and I began to read, my whole action of 



22S 



