such a mind is
hindered by the very wealth of material furnished by the memory from
discerning the relations between separate facts upon which judgment and
reasoning depend. It is likewise a common source of surprise among
teachers that many of the pupils who could outstrip their classmates in
learning and memory do not turn out to be able men. But this, says
Whately, "is as reasonable as to wonder that a cistern if filled should
not be a perpetual fountain." It is possible for one to be so lost in a
tangle of trees that he cannot see the woods.

A GOOD MEMORY REQUIRES GOOD THINKING.--It is not, then, mere
re-presentation of facts that constitutes a good memory. The pupil who
can reproduce a history lesson by the page has not necessarily as good a
memory as the one who remembers fewer facts, but sees the relations
between those remembered, and hence is _able to choose what he will
remember_. Memory must be _discriminative_. It must fasten on that which
is important and keep that for us. Therefore we can agree that "_the art
of remembering is the art of thinking_." Discrimination must select the
important out of our mental stream, and these images must be associated
with as many others as possible which are already well fixed in memory,
and hence are sure of recall when needed. In this way the old will
always serve as a cue to call up the new.

MEMORY MUST BE SPECIALIZED.--And not only must memory, if it is to be a
good memory, omit the generally worthless, or trivial, or irrelevant,
and supply the generally useful, significant, and relevant, but it must
in some degree be a _specialized memory_. It must minister to the
particular needs and requirements of its owner. Small consolation to you
if you are a Latin teacher, and are able to call up the binomial theorem
or the date of the fall of Constantinople when you are in dire need of a
conjugation or a declension which eludes you. It is much better for the
merchant and politician to have a good memory for names and faces than
to be able to repeat the succession of English monarchs from Alfred the
Great to Edward VII and not be able to tell John Smith from Tom Brown.
It is much more desirable for the lawyer to be able to remember the
necessary details of his case than to be able to recall all the various
athletic records of the year; and so on.

In order to be a good memory for _us_, our memory must be faithful in
dealing with the material which constitutes the needs of o