Some ancient writers speak of an artificial memory, and lay down rules for attaining it. Simonides the poet is said first to have made this discovery, or at least to have occasioned its being made. The story told of him is this. Being once at a feast, he recited a poem which he had composed in honour of the person who gave the entertainment; but having made a large digression in praise of Castor and Pollux, his patron, when he had repeated the whole poem, only gave him half the sum he had promised, telling him that he must get the rest from those deities who had an equal share in the ho- nour of his performance. Immediately afterwards, Simonides was informed that two young men were without, and must needs speak with him. He had scarcely quitted the house, when the room where the company was assembled fell down, killed all the persons in it, and so mutilated the bodies that, when the rubbish was removed, they could not be distinguished one from another; but Simonides, calling to mind the place which every one had occupied, was by that means enabled to distinguish them.

Hence it came to be observed, that fixing a number of places in the mind, in a certain order, served as a help to the memory; for we find by experience, that upon returning to places once familiar to us, we not only remember them, but likewise many things which we both said and did in them. This effort of Simonides was afterwards improved into an art, and its nature is simply this: You are required to form in your mind the idea of some large place or building, which you may divide into a great number of distinct parts, ranged and disposed in a certain order. These you are frequently to revolve in your thoughts, until, beginning at any part, you are able to run them over one after another without hesitation. Then you are to impress upon your mind as many images of living creatures, or any other objects which are most likely to affect you, and to be soonest revived in your memory. These, like characters written in short-hand, or like hieroglyphics, will stand to denote an equal number of words, which cannot so easily be remembered. When therefore you have a number of things to commit to memory in a certain order, all that you have to do is, to place those images regularly in the several parts of your building; and thus, by going over several parts of the building, the images placed in them will be revived in the mind, by which means the things or words themselves will arise in the order in which you desire to remember them. The advantage of these images seems to be this, that, as they are more likely to affect the imagination than the words for which they stand, they will for that reason be more easily remembered. Thus, for instance, if the image of a lion be made to signify strength, and this word strength be one of those which I am to remember, and be placed in the porch, then, in going over the several parts of the building, when I come to the porch I shall sooner be reminded of that image than of the word strength. Of this artificial memory both Cicero and Quintilian have spoken; but we know not of any modern orator who has ever made use of it. It seems indeed to have been a laborious way of improving the memory, if it serves that end at all, and fitter for assisting us to remember any number of unconnected words than a continual discourse, unless in as far as the remembrance of one word may enable us to recollect others. It is, however, in allusion to it that we still call the parts of a discourse places or topics, and say, in the first place, in the second place, and so on.

In Germany this art was revived by M. Aretin; and a pupil of his, M. Kaestner, was permitted to teach the new doctrine at Leipzig, but on the express condition of not allowing his hearers to write down his lectures. The following account is given of this art in a letter from Paris written in the beginning of 1807: "During my residence," says the writer, "in this metropolis, I heard a great deal of a new method of mnemonic, or of a method to assist and fix our memory, invented by Gregor de Feinagle. Notwithstanding the simplicity with which he announced his lectures in the papers, I could not determine myself to become a pupil of his, as I thought to find a quack or mountebank, and to be laughed at by my friends for having thrown away my cash in such a foolish manner. Perhaps I should hesitate to this moment about the utility of this newly-invented method to assist our natural memory, had I not had the pleasure of dining at his excellency's, the Count de Metternich, the Austrian ambassador, who followed, with all his secretaries, the whole course of lectures; they all spoke very advantageously of it, likewise several other persons of the first rank I met there. In consequence of this I was inserted into the list of pupils, and I follow at this moment the lectures. All I can tell you about this method is, it is a very simple one, and easy to be learned, adapted to all ages and sexes. All difficulties in such sciences as require an extraordinary good memory, for instance, the names and epochs in history, are at once overcome and obviated. There is not one branch of science to which this method cannot be applied. It is easy to be perceived that such an invention cannot pass without some critique, and even sarcasms, in the public prints; some of them were very injurious, and plausible enough to mislead the public, who, knowing nothing of the method, are always more ready to condemn than to assist. M. Feinagle, to answer all these critics at once, adopted a method not less public for Paris than the public papers, but less public for the rest of Europe. He gave a public exhibition to about 2000 spectators, in which he did not appear at all, only about twelve or fifteen of his pupils; each of them made such an application of the method as his situation in life required. The principal parts were the following: History, about names and years; geography, with respect to longitude, latitude, number of inhabitants, square miles, &c.; grammar in various languages, about different editions of the same work; pandects, their division, and title of each book, title, &c.; different systems of botany, poetry, arithmetical, &c. At last one desired the company to give him one thousand words, without any connection whatsoever, and without numerical order; for instance, the word astronomer, for No. 62; wood, for No. 188; lovely, for No. 370; dynasty, for No. 23; David, for No. 90, &c. till all the numbers were filled; and he repeated the whole, notwithstanding he heard these words without order, and but once, in the numerical order; or he told you what word was given against any one number, or what number any one word bore. It is still more striking, but certainly also more difficult, to retain as many numbers, however great they may be. For words and numbers I could venture myself, with the greatest safety, as far as one hundred of each; and I am sure, after having fixed them once, which is done in less than ten minutes, I could repeat them to you at any period, without ever thinking any more of them."

Feinagle afterwards delivered lectures on the same subject to crowded audiences in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other towns; but we do not find that any of his pupils received improvement from his instructions, and very few of them could give any account of his method.