Elements of the philosophy of the human mind. By Dugald Stewart. Rev. and abridged, with critical and explanatory notes, for the use of colleges and schools. By Francis Bowen ...

254 MEMORY.
nomenclature of Chemistry, spare no word which is improper.
They who understand the subject already, will suffer no inconvenience; and they to whom the subject is new, will comprehend
it with the greater facility." But it belongs to such authors
alone as have extended the boundaries of science by their own
discoveries, to introduce innovations in language with any hope
of success.
CHAPTER VI.
OF DMEMORY.
I. General observations on Memory.- Among the various
powers of the understanding, there is none which has been so
attentively examined by philosophers, or concerning which so
many important facts and observations have been collected, as
the faculty of Memory. This is partly to be ascribed to its
nature, which renders it easily distinguishable from all the other
principles of our constitution, even by those who have not been
accustomed to metaphysical investigations; and partly to its
immediate subserviency, not only to the pursuits of science, but
to the ordinary business of life; in consequence of which, many
of its most curious laws had been observed, long before any
analysis was attempted of the other powers of the mind, and
have, for many ages, formed a part of the common maxims
which are to be found in every treatise of education. Some
important remarks on the subject may, in particular, be collected
from the writings of the ancient rhetoricians.
Different significations of Memory. -The word Memory is
not employed uniformly in the same precise sense; but it always
expresses some modification of that faculty, which enables us to
treasure up and preserve for future use the knowledge we
acquire, — a faculty which is obviously the great foundation of all