see how rapidly both of you
increase in your powers of observation, which powers, of course, result
from Attention.

_Exercise II._ This exercise is but a variation of the first one. It
consists in entering a room, and taking a hasty glance around, and then
walking out, and afterward writing down the number of things that you
have observed, with a description of each. You will be surprised to
observe how many things you have missed at first sight, and how you will
improve in observation by a little practice. This exercise, also, may be
improved by the assistance of a friend, as related in our last exercise.
It is astonishing how many details one may observe and remember, after a
little practice. It is related of Houdin, the French conjurer, that he
improved and developed his faculty of Attention and Memory by playing
this game with a young relative. They would pass by a shop window,
taking a hasty, attentive glance at its contents. Then they would go
around the corner and compare notes. At first they could remember only a
few prominent articles--that is, their Attention could grasp only a few.
But as they developed by practice, they found that they could observe and
remember a vast number of things and objects in the window. And, at last,
it is related that Houdin could pass rapidly before any large shop
window, bestowing upon it but one hasty glance, and then tell the names
of, and closely describe, nearly every object in plain sight in the
window. The feat was accomplished by the fact that the cultivated
Attention enabled Houdin to fasten upon his mind a vivid mental image of
the window and its contents, and then he was able to describe the
articles one by one from the picture in his mind.

Houdin taught his son to develop Attention by a simple exercise which may
be interesting and of value to you. He would lay down a domino before the
boy--a five-four, for example. He would require the boy to tell him the
combined number at once, without allowing him to stop to count the spots,
one by one. "Nine" the boy would answer after a moment's hesitation.
Then another domino, a three-four, would be added. "That makes sixteen,"
cried the boy. Two dominoes at a time was the second day's task. The
next day, three was the standard. The next day, four, and so on, until
the boy was able to handle twelve dominoes--that is to say, give
instantaneously the total number of spots on twelve dominoes, after a
single glance. This was Atte