Systematic Memory/Chapter 6

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CHAPTER VI.

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First, consult an almanac, for any year, to see on which day of every month in that year the first Sunday of each month falls.

Of the name of each month, form a word which from its sound will suggest that name, and the last consonant of which will indicate the date of the first Sunday.

The first Sunday of January, 1865, for instance, falls on the first day of the month. The word Genial will at once suggest January, while its last consonant l—1—will indicate the date of the first Sunday. The word fife, in a similar way, will suggest the word February, with its first Sunday falling on the 5th (f) day of that month; and so on with all the months, as follows:—

NAME OF MONTH.	SUGGESTIVE NAME OF MONTH.	DATE OF FIRST SUNDAY.
January	Genial	(1st)
February	Fife	(5th)
March	Mauve	(5th)
April	Apron	(2nd)
May	Mate	(7th)
June	Junior	(4th) ​
July	Julien	(2nd)
August	Ahab[1]	(6th)
September	Septem	(3rd)
October	Octagonal	(1st)
November	Nova	(5th)
December	Decem	(3rd)

Having committed these names to memory, when you want to know on what day of the week any day of the month falls, proceed as follows:—

From the given day of the month, subtract the number indicated by the last consonant of the suggestive name of that month. Take away from this 7, or when necessary, a multiple of 7 (14—21—28), the remainder will be the day of the week wanted. Sunday is reckoned no day; Monday, one day; Tuesday, two days; Wednesday, three days; Thursday, four days; Friday, five days; and Saturday, six days.

Suppose you want to ascertain upon what day of the week the 12th of June will fall. The suggestive name of June is Junior. The last consonant r = 4. Take 4 from 12 and 8 remains; 7 from 8 = 1 (Monday), the day wanted. Take another example,—27th March. The suggestive name of March is Mauve; the last consonant of which (v) indicates 5. Subtract 5 from 27, and 22 remains. From 22 take 21 (multiple of 7), and 1 will remain—i.e., Monday. Once more, the 19th of August. Suggestive name Ahab; & indicates 6; ​19 - 6 = 13. From 13 take 7, and 6 remains—that is, the 19th of August falls on a Saturday.

If the date of the day wanted be smaller than that indicated by the final consonant of the suggestive name of the month, add 7 before commencing, instead of subtracting it afterwards. April 1st falls on a Saturday. April, suggestive name Apron ( n = 2 ). You cannot subtract 2 from 1. Add 7 first; 7 + 1 = 8; from which take 2, and 6 will remain. The 6th day is Saturday. Again, November 3. Nova (5). Add 7; 7 + 3 = 10. 5 from 10 = 5—Friday.

Why this is the case, will be seen from the consideration of the fact that, when the number indicated by the last consonant of the suggestive name of the month is subtracted, the remainder is a certain number of days beginning with a Monday; from which, if you take as many seven days (complete weeks) as you can, the remainder, if any, must be so many days after Sunday.

In the case of the year 1864, for obvious reasons, 1 must be subtracted before commencing, for any date up to February 29th. After that day, subtract 2. 1863, subtract 3 before commencing, and proceed as above. 1862, subtract 4. 1861, subtract 5. For 1866, add 1 before commencing; 1867, add 2; 1868, add 3 up to 29th February: after that date add 4. And so on. Of course the above calculations depend entirely upon the fact that the year 1865 is taken as the starting point. In the case of any other year being taken, the mode of procedure must naturally be different.

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February presents no difficulty. As to the other months (with the exception of July, August, and November) the last consonant of the names into which they have been rendered in the foregoing remarks, will correctly indicate whether the number of days is odd or even. The name June, for instance, has been changed into the word Junior; r = 4, which is even. June, therefore, has 30 days. March—Mauve—v=5—odd—31 days. December—Decem—m=3—odd—31.

In the case of the three exceptions mentioned above, the last consonant of their ordinary names—July, August, and November—will indicate whether the number of days they contain is odd or even, after the same manner. July—l—1—odd—31 days. August—t—7—odd—31 days. November—r=4—even—30 days.

Take the date of the first Sunday of each month; translate these dates into letters; associate each quarter, making a word of each. The first Sundays of the first three months of 1866 fall on Jan. 7th, Feb. 4th, and March 4th. Of 744 you can make the word terror—rather expressive of the season of the year. The first Sundays of the second quarter fall on April 1st, May 6th, and June 3rd. 163 = leap home. Third quarter, July 1st, Aug. 5th, Sept. 2nd. 152 = Leven. Oct. 7th, ​Nov. 4th, Dec. 2nd. 742 = Turn, suggestive of the return of the usual cold weather.

Terror	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$	Jan.	Feb.	March
		7	4	4
Leap home	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$	April	May	June
		1	6	3
Leven	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$	July	Aug.	Sept.
		1	5	2
Turn	${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.
		7	4	2

Commit these words to memory, and you will be able to give the date of the first Sunday in each month on a moment's thought; and if you can give the first Sunday, you will, of course, be able to give any other Sunday or day of the week with equal ease. By this means, likewise, you will find no difficulty in calculating the day of the week on which any given date falls.

In order to remember poetry, you must take a clear view of the author's descriptions; not passing them over carelessly or inconsiderately, or attending chiefly to the sound, although that will assist the memory to a certain extent. You must attend chiefly to the ideas, and imagine or picture the objects as you go. You will thus be able, not only to retain a general impression of the subject-matter, but you will remember the language which is used. What you view clearly, you can ​treasure up and preserve easily. It will aid you to note the beginning or first important word in each verse, or in each couple of lines, or in each line, according to the difficulty of the poetry, and to connect these words with the memory table.

Take for example a passage from Burns:—

This passage can be distinctly remembered by picturing the objects as you proceed; and, to ensure a recollection of them in their order, you have only to associate the suggestive words with the table. Poppies you can easily associate with sea—poppies floating on the sea; and snowfall with law—snow falling on a man who has lost his hat, and making him look like a man of the law—a barrister; borealis with Noah—Noah's surprise when seeing the northern lights for the first time after leaving the ark; rainbow and May—a rainbow on May-day. Take another example:—

​The words that are printed in italics will be sufficient to suggest the whole of this passage.

To remember the different ideas consecutively, connect the emphasised words with the memory-pegs, say, after this manner:—The cottage by the sea. Law often the agent of oppression. Noah lived when there was a curse upon the world. The vine intertwining itself with the may-tree. Weeds grow where there is a ray of light. A view of a green hedge. A bee upon the honeysuckle. A group taking tea under an apple-tree.

Note the important and striking words in each sentence, and proceed as in verses.

To recollect a speech or sermon heard by you, note the chief or most striking words and ideas, as the speaker advances, and connect them with the table. Those who may not prefer the plan of connecting these words with the memory table, may note them down on paper, when the task of reproducing the speech, etc., in substance, will be found equally easy and pleasant.

Choose words that will be suggestive of the subject of each paragraph of your speech, and tack them on to your table, or connect them with a piece of poetry. A clergyman might easily connect a whole sermon, with the words of the chapter open before him.

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Join the letter or letters indicating the chapter to the name of the book, or part of it. [Pages 42 and 45.]

Gen-ial	laws	=	Genesis i. 10.
Leav-en	dough	=	Leviticus ii. 7.
Judge	not	=	Judges viii. 27.

If possible, let the name of the book and the chapter be indicated by one word.

The acquisition of these and various other branches of knowledge is facilitated by the use of homophonic analogies, that is, by employing words of a somewhat similar sound. [Pages 41, 45.] Foreign alphabets are acquired by comparing the letters with certain objects which they more or less resemble in appearance.

Simply translate the combining properties, or atomic measurement, into letters and words; then proceed as in learning verses.

Associate the suggestive words in your list with the words given below from the memory table, and proceed as in the plan given for committing verses to memory.

PEGS.	MESSAGE.	PICTURES.
Law	Go to the hairdresser	Fix in your mind the association of "law" and "hairdresser" by thinking of a lawyer's wig. ​
Noah	Order a salmon	Noah catching a salmon.
May	Get tickets for concert	"May waltz" performed at a concert.
View	Call on dentist	Dentist taking a view of my mouth.
Bee	Procure some note paper	A picture of a bee with flowers, on the wrapper of the packet
Tea	Buy postage stamps	Surprised, on opening a packet of tea, to find it a packet of postage stamps.
Shoe	Call for watch.	Using a shoe as a pocket for my watch.
Guy	Get measured for a pair of dress boots	A guy in dress boots.
Lass	Send a telegram to Doncaster	A lass working at the telegraph.
Lily	Buy a pair of gloves	Lily-white gloves.
Lawn	Choose & Christmas-tree	Lay the Christmas-tree on the lawn.
Lime	Set watch by the Horse	Use bird-lime to make Guards watch stick to proper time.

You have now only to think of the pegs, and they will suggest the different messages, etc., in their proper order.

Proceed in a similar manner as with Bible texts.

Make a word of the number of your ticket, and also of the number of the carriage in which you ride. These words you can easily remember, and ​you will find them convenient if you should lose your ticket, or leave the carriage. Suppose the number of your carriage were 57, and that of your ticket 627,690, you can translate 57 into foot, and 627,690 into bandbox. Place a bandbox, or suppose it to be placed, under the seat, near your foot, and you will readily recall the two words.

In all cases when you want to remember anything only for a short time, tack it on to the table; but if you wish to retain a thing permanently, you had better, for fear of confusing the pictures, connect it with a piece of poetry with which you may be acquainted.

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The reader has now been shown how he may commit to memory, with scarcely an effort, any number of words, figures, ideas, and dates. There has also been sketched the application of the system to many branches of study. It would be beyond the limits of our small book to enter minutely into its application to every branch of science, etc. The student will find it advantageous to exercise his own ingenuity in applying the system to any particular study he may feel disposed to master.

"The world is on the move." By the discovery of various arts, and by the adoption of improved modes of action, the powers of the human mind are being wonderfully extended. It has been the author's aim to contribute his mite to the general progress. His labours are well rewarded by the indulgence of the pleasing hope that, in the ​coming time, students, and mankind generally, may be enabled to learn more with less labour, by the general adoption of systematic memory.