M E M 
which the feries Is placed, will be found completely fuf- 
ficient for the purpofes of chronology: but an additional 
facility is given. The numbers having already been 
localized, by being placed on the fquares of the room, the 
profefi'or proceeds to realize them, as he exprefies himfelf, 
by reprefenting them in fymbols that referable in fome 
degree the figures for which they are placed. Thus the 
figure a is diftinguilhed by a Jwan-, 5 by a throne ; 6 by a 
cornucopia ; 20 by a peacock ; and fo on. The pupil, there¬ 
fore, here receives a let of fymbols reprefenting the figures 
from 1 to 100, which are remembered without much ex¬ 
ertion, from their correct imitation, and from their cor- 
refponding iituation on the walls. The ufe to which 
thefe are here applied we fliall fee by referring to the 
initance of Henry II. before defcribed, which will now 
Hand thus: 5 Henry II.—a taylor fitting upon a throne, 
with two hens, one under each arm. The affociation is 
certainly ftrengthened, and the picture, made more fink¬ 
ing from its increaled abfurdity, now gives the whole 
wil'wer at one view: the word taylor fuggefting the date, 
the throne Ihowing the place and the number in the fe¬ 
ries, and the two hens exprelfing, as before, the name of 
the king. We do not, however, think that the intro¬ 
duction of thefe fymbols in the ftudy of chronology is 
necefiary, the plan before defcribed being in our opinion 
amply lufficient, and preferable on account of its greater 
fimpiicity; and we would the more readily part with 
them in this branch of the ftudy, in which the benefit 
arifing from their ufe is comparatively trifling, becaufe 
they are fo necelfary and of luch infinite lervice in the 
fubjeCls to which they are afterwards applied. 
The firft three leCtures, which contain the matter be¬ 
fore defcribed, have enabled the ftudent to fix any num¬ 
ber of figures, any variety of dates, and any feries of 
chronological tables ; and he may likewife make a very 
ufeful application of them in the ordinary bufinefs of life. 
The four next leCtures are appropriated to the ftudy of 
geography and ftatiftics, the application to which will be 
found both ingenious and fimple. He places the world 
in a couple of rooms, each of which contains one hemi¬ 
sphere. The four quarters of each hemifpliere are allotted 
to the four walls, diminifliing gradually in the northern 
hemifphere, to a point (the north pole) in the centre of 
the ceiling, the floor being the equator. In the fouthern 
hemifphere, the ceiling is the equator, and the pole is 
made of courfe in the centre of the floor. Each wall, 
with its centre of the ceiling or floor, is divided exa&ly 
like a common map, every divifion or fquare containing 
ioo°, i.e. io° of longitude and io° of latitude. Thele 
divifions are denominated ladders, and ladder-fteps; the 
breadth of the ladders containing the degrees of longi¬ 
tude, and the height of the fteps giving thofe of latitude. 
The number of the ladder, or meafure of the longitude, 
is the decimal figure, and that of the ftep, or latitude, is 
the unit ; in the fame manner as, in the former part of 
the fyftem, the number of the wall was the decimal figure, 
and that of the fquare the unit. Thus number 11 (ift 
ladder, and ift ftep) contains the firft io° of both longi¬ 
tude and latitude, the meridian of Ferro being adopted 
for greater convenience; and the mode of fixing the 
principal places within thole degrees is as follows. This 
fquare, befides a large portion of lea, contains a fmall 
part of the coaft of Africa, on which are Sierra Leone and 
Sanguin. The figure-numbers before defcribed are here 
brought into ufe, in which No. 11 (the title of the fquare) 
is reprefented by the Pillars of Hercules. One of thefe 
pillars may be fuppofed to be placed in the fea, and the 
other on the land; and, for an affociation with the names 
of the-places, Leone will call to mind a lion, which may 
be the lion killed by Hercules*, to which we can add its 
hlood, which the name of the other place, Sanguin, imme¬ 
diately fuggefts. Thus, when the places are named, the 
connection recalls the degrees of longitude and latitude 
within which they are fituated; and, when the degrees 
are given, the places are by the aid of the aflbciation as 
Von. XV. No. 1025. 
o R Y. 81 
eafily remembered. The walls of the room thus becom¬ 
ing a chart of the globe, a little praCtice will foon enable 
the ftudent to fix all the principal places in this manner. 
The great number of fquares to be fupplied flrauid not 
deter him from proceeding; becaufe, when he recolleCts 
how many degrees are covered by fea, or by places which 
are too infignificant to notice, he will find his talk com¬ 
paratively eafy, efpecially if he be careful to avoid per¬ 
plexity, by filling only one fquare at a time. 
In the leCtures on hijlory, another divifion of the room 
enables it to contain a century; and to each year is ap¬ 
propriated a feparate fquare, on which its various events 
are reprefented by an imagined picture. 
The method of fixing fyflematic tables in the memory' 
is the fubjeCt of another ieClure. This is accomplifhed 
by realizing, or forming into fome feniible objeCt, each 
name defired to be fixed, and localizing the objcCts fo 
found in regular order. The ftudy of poetry and profe, 
of which the fucceeding leCture treats, is effected by 
placing the fubjeCt of each ftanza, or paragraph, on the 
fymbols or figure-numbers; and connecting them toge¬ 
ther by fome aflbciation. 
In another leCture, the profefi'or (hows how multiplica¬ 
tion of many figures may be performed in the midft of 
company; for which no other aflillance is required than 
the ufe of the fymbols and the letters. The principal 
advantage of doing this feems to be, that the pupil may 
have an opportunity of exhibiting .a lpecimen of the 
powers given by the fyftem. It is however an amufing 
exercife, and not without its ufe, fince it may be praCtifed 
at any time, and gives the learner a facility in forming 
combinations, and fixing them for more important fer- 
vices. The ftudy of arithmetic, introduced in the laft 
leCture, is not aided by the fyftem of artificial memory 
invented by the profeflbr, but is rather a new method of 
teaching figures and the elemental rules of arithmetic; 
by which, if adopted in the inftruCtion of youth, Ionic 
labour would undoubtedly be faved. We have feen fome- 
thing fimilar to M. Feinaigle’s rule for multiplication 
praCtifed in the Lancafterian fchools. 
Having thus concluded our flrart abftraCt of the prin¬ 
ciples of the fyftem, we muft acknowledge, that, notwith- 
ftanding the good opinion of it which we entertain, we 
are not fanguine in our expectations that it will outlive 
the prefent age, or even keep its ground fo long as the 
Menraria Technica of Dr. Grey. We even fear that th© 
grave, which fhall contain the allies of the ingenious pro- 
fefl'or of the art, will alfo bury in oblivion the method 
which he taught; and that his name will but furvive to 
give authenticity to the wonders related of his fyftem, 
and to fwell the lift of thofe whofe inftruCtions have been 
forgotten from the impoflibility of rendering them intel¬ 
ligible on paper. We do not apprehend the accomplifh- 
ment of this prophecy in confequence of perceiving any 
deficiency in the plan itfelf, but as arifing from the very 
nature of the principles on which it is formed; and be¬ 
caufe we confider that fuch may be the inevitable fate of 
any fyftem that is in a great meafure founded on fancy, 
and of which the aflbciation of ideas and the application 
of them to fenfible objeCts are the leading principles. 
Nobody would attempt to mailer a mere theory for the 
afliftance of the memory, unfupported by any practical 
illuftrations ; and in nearly the fame predicament this 
New Art of Memory is placed, fince the examples pro¬ 
duced in its lupport, though perfectly intelligible when 
explained in the leCtures, are of fuch a nature that it is 
impoflible to give a written defeription of them. Even 
in hearing them, they are neceflarily fo ludicrous as to 
require more than common dependence on and refpeCt 
for the inftruCtor, to command ferioufnefs of attention. 
For this reafon, we have foreborne to extraCl more than 
one of the examples from the prefent volume; and thofe 
practical applications which we have ourfelves fupplied 
will be the bell illuftration of our feritiments. They ap¬ 
pear ridiculous and abfurd in their prefent places, and 
Y abfolutely* 
