Show fl The Art of Recollecting Is it possible to overcome what is is termed a a poor memory Professor A. A Loisette of London emphatically emphatically emphatically em em- maintains that a poor recollection recollection tion is the result of not stamping first impressions sufficiently clear Many others of our best psychologists X assert that as a deep imprint in the bark of a tree remains so if t the e first 1 impression of an idea in the mind is very deep it will also be retained and andL andS L S may without difficulty be recalled recall d at WI will 11 f We therefore conclude that the act of reviving a previous idea depends upon the power of concentration of the mind exercised in receiving that idea when first presented It is necessary therefore to be perfectly perfectly perr per per- r free from mind wandering Fort For t- t example in preparing a lesson in one of our studies where the word Japan k occurs the mind would very likely immediately immediately im im- 2 mediately wander to the opposite side i of the globe and dwell upon the subjects subjects sub suh- relating to that country and i it t would be some sometime time before one realized 1 that he had read several lines without a knowledge of their contents If after a period of wild and undisturbed undisturbed undisturbed life in the fields a hor horse e should y be placed into the harness we would not be at all surprised should the horse horseshow horseshow show a rebellious spirit So it is with the mind While walking from place 4 to place traveling in the car or otherwise otherwise otherwise other other- wise not engaged in actual study we allow the mind to wander from one subject subject sub suh- to another How then thell can we possibly expect to have the mind under our perfect control and to have uninterrupted uninterrupted uninterrupted concentration in our studies especially when those studies are are re devoid of sentiments such as would tend to interest the mind by excitement Yet the mind certainly requires rest but the rest of the mind is not necessarily necessarily necessarily a change from difficult mental labor to humorous or light reading all that is essential is to change the subject though that change is a continuation of very deep thought Napoleon said he obtained his mental rest only by a change of the subject of his deep study From the foregoing statements it is clear that we should at all times guard our thoughts and never allow the mind to wander at random but always guide it into particular channels 1 Le LeRoi Roi C. C Snow i m 1 stAM |