Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/51

Rh this class of systems, wished his pupils to remember the year 1480 by the word “BiG RaT,” the capitals representing the figures in the date. Comment is unnecessary!

The student will find that nearly all the “systems” or “secret methods” that are being offered for sale in “courses,” often at a very high price, are merely variations, improvements upon, or combinations of the three forms of artificial methods named above. New changes are constantly being worked on these old plans; new tunes played on the same old instruments; new chimes sounded from the same old bells. And the result is ever the same, in these cases—disappointment and disgust. There are a few natural systems on the market, nearly all of which contain information and instruction that makes them worth the price at which they are sold. As for the others—well, judge for yourself after purchasing them, if you so desire.

Regarding these artificial and fanciful systems, Kay says: “All such systems for the improvement of the memory belong to what