The Weekly Union Times

STRENGTHEN THE MEMORY.

Dr. Holbrook, in his February number of the Herald and Health, says there is one feature of the memory which has not before been considered, and that is its exaltation in some forms of disease.

An exaltation is where a multitude of recollections spring up involuntarily on every hand. It has its cause in an increase of the circulation of the blood in the brain. It frequently appears in acute diseases, especially fevers. It is common in maniacal patients, and it sometimes appears as a feature of hysteria and in the early stages of brain diseases.

This subject of exaltation of memory will be best understood by some simple illustrations. There have been many accounts of persons saved from imminent death by drowning who all agree that at the moment of asphyxia they seemed to see their entire lives unrolled before them, even to the minutest detail. Some go so far as to say that every incident of former life seems to flash across the memory, not as an outline merely, but with every detail filled in with the most remarkable minuteness—every act of life, whether right or wrong, comes back with great vividness.

Ribot cites the case of a clear-headed man who was in the act of crossing a railroad track when an express train running at full speed appeared close at hand. The man had barely time to throw himself down in the center of the road, between the two lines of rails; and as the train rushed over him, the feeling of impending danger brought to his recollection most vividly every act and incident of his former life in such an array as to suggest to him the opening of the great book at the last great day.'

There is no doubt much exaggeration in these statements; yet they show an enormous temporary increase or exaltation of the natural memory.

De Quincey, in his 'Confessions of an English Opium Eater,' gives an experience which shows how the memory may be exalted by intoxication by the use of opium.

He says: 'Sometimes I seemed to have lived from 70 to 100 years in a single night. The minutest incidents of childhood or forgotten scenes of later years were often revived. I could not be said to recollect them, for if I had been told of them on awakening, I should not have been able to acknowledge them as a part of my experience; but placed before me in dream like intuitions, and clothed in all their evanescent circumstances and accompanying feelings, I recognized them instantly.'

Such augmentations of the memory may be regarded as abnormal and undesirable, being indications of disease; but they teach one lesson to those who would strengthen their memories, and that is the value and necessity of a perfectly healthy and vigorous circulation of blood in the brain. The same lesson is taught by an opposite condition from that of an exaltation—a diminution of the normal memory by a decay or withering of the brain cells and a diminished supply of blood to the parts.

The loss of memory in the aged is a familiar example, and can only be accounted for by a determination of the brain elements and a diminution of blood supplied to them. One of the worst features of such cases is the fact that an old person is not, for a long time after decay has begun, aware of it. I am now treating a case of loss of memory in a person advanced in years, who did not know that his memory had failed most remarkably till I told him of it. He is making vigorous efforts to bring it back again, and with partial success.

The method pursued is to spend two hours daily, one in the morning and one in the evening, in exercising this faculty. The patient is instructed to give the closest attention to all that he learns, so that it shall be impressed on the mind clearly. He is asked to recall every evening all the facts and experiences of the day, and again the next morning. Every name heard is written down and impressed on his mind clearly, and an effort made to recall it at intervals. Ten names from among public men are ordered to be committed to memory every week. A verse of poetry is to be learned, also a verse from the Bible, daily. He is asked to remember the number of the page in any book where any interesting fact is recorded. These and other methods are slowly resuscitating a failing memory.

The aged should all look to this danger in their lives, and resolve to combat it from the very first. By so doing they will make their declining years more enjoyable and give much greater pleasure to their friends. Unceasing self-culture, especially in preserving the memory and intellectual faculties, should constitute a considerable part of the life of every aged person, even more than of the young. Only by it can this period of life be rendered pleasant and profitable.