THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF MEMORY.
Assimilation.
Assimilation, the first principle of the Science of Memory, is derived from the Latin,—Adsimilis; which means to make similar, or, to convert one thing to the nature of another. If it is with words that you wish to deal, you must firstly Assimilate, that is, try to make the word which you do not know, resemble one that you do know. That can at all times be more or less accomplished by an analogy of sound.
I therefore briefly define the first principle thus:—
"To Assimilate, is to make that which is not familiar, more familiar; by a similar sound." In order to render this portion of the subject perfectly clear, let us take a few examples of committing to Memory Foreign words, with their English meanings. By so doing, we shall get something which will perhaps not be familiar to the reader, and the importance of making it "more familiar" is more likely to be seen, than as if, the meaning of the word was already thoroughly well-known. Presume that you are now desirous of learning the following Latin word, "Arbor," with its English meaning; the
