The New Art of Memory/Chapter 6

by Gregor von Feinaigle

CHAP. VI.

 

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Systematic Tables.

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The knowledge of Systematic Tables is peculiarly important to the student in any branch of science, whether it be botany, zoology, chemistry, mineralogy, etc. and the mode of fixing these tables in the memory, must be deemed of very great use to all who are concerned in such pursuits. The application of this art to such tables will be shown in the following Mineralogical table of Haüy.

The characters of Minerals are of three kinds, Physical, Geometrical, and Chemical.

I. Physical Characters.

I. GENERAL.

1. Specific Gravity, (according to the Hydrostatic balance of Nicholson )

2. Cohesion.

1. In Solids is proved:

I. By friction with a file.

i Yielding.

ii Not yielding.

II. By rubbing the angular parts of one mineral against the angular parts of another mineral.

III. By Percussion with a hammer.

i Difficult to be broken.

i Brittle.

iii Crumbling.

IV. By a Steel.

i Giving Fire.

ii Not giving Fire.

V. By flexion or pressure.

i Simply Flexible.

ii Elastic.

iii Ductile.

iv Soft.

1. Inits own nature.

2. Having imbibed a Aluid.

VI. By the force of Traction.

2. Liquids (yielding with the slightest pressure.)

I. By moistening the hand.

II. Bynot moistening it.

II. PARTICULAR. (As found by the senses.)

1. Impression upon the Tongue

I. By Taste.

i Salt.

ii Astringent.

iii Sweetish.

iv Pungent.

v Bitter.

vi Urinous.

II. By adhesion.

2. Feeling.

I. Unctuous and Greasy.

II. Smooth, but not greasy.

III. Harsh.

3. Smell.

I. By Breathing.

II. By Rubbing.

III. By Heating.

i Alliaceous, or garlic-like.

ii Bituminous.

iii Sulphureous.

4. Sound.

I. By Percussion.

II. By Bending.

5. Light.

I. By Reflexion, (producing Colour.

i Colours of the mass.

1. In their species.

2. In their distribution.

i Uniform.

ii Variegated.

1. In stripes.

2. In spots.

3. In their action.

1. By change of colour

2. By reflex irises.

ii Colours of the Streak.

1. Similar.

2. Dissimilar.

iii Colours of the Powder.

1. Similar.

2. Dissimilar.

(Producing Lustre)

i Brilliant.

ii Dull.

iii Greasy.

iv Silky.

v Pearly.

vi Metallic.

vii Pseudo-Metallic.

II. By Refraction.

(Transparency.)

1. Limpid.

2. Transparent but coloured.

3. Translucid.

4. Opaque.

III. By Phosphorescence.

i By heating.

ii By rubbing.

6. Electricity.

I. Passive.

i By communication.

ii By rubbing.

1. Vitreous.

2. Resinouse.

iii By heating.
(Vitreous on onè side, and resinous on the other.)

II. Active.

i Vitreous.

i Resinous.

iii Neither vitreons nor resinous.

7. Magnetism.

I. Simple.

II. Polar.

II. Geometrical Characters.

I. FORM.

1. Determinable.

I. Elementary.

II. Secondary.

2. Indeterminable.

I. By rounding off the surfaces and angles.

II. Striated and rough.

III. Amorphous bodies, (i. e. bodies of an irregular form.)

3. Imitative.

I. Bodies formed by concretion.

II. Pseudomorphosis bodies, (i. e. such as have assumed the form of another body,for which they are substituted.)

II. STRUCTURE.

1. Laminated.

2. Lamellated.

3. Stratiform.

4. Foliated.

5. Fibrous.

i With parallel fibres.

ii With radiated fibres.

6. Granulated.

7. Compact.

8. Cellular.

III. FRACTURE.

1. Directions.

I. Longitudinal.

II. Transverse.

III. Indeterminate.

2. Varieties.

I. Conchoidal.

II. Smooth.

III. Rough.

IV. Scaly.

V. Articulated.

III. Chemical Characters.

I. BY FIRE.

1. With Straw.

I. Fusibility.

II. The result of Fusion.

III. The Reduction of metallic Substances.

2. With Red-hot Coals.

I. Volatility.

II. Detonation.

III. Decrepitation.

IV. Ebullition.

II. BY ACIDS, (and in particular by the Nitric Acid.)

1. Dissolution with Effervescence.

2. Dissolution without effervescence.

3. Reduction into jelly.

III. BY ALKALIES.

1. Dissolution of Copper by Ammoνia, forming a beautiful blue Colour.

2. The Vapour of sulphuretted Ammonia, blackening the Carbonate of Lead.

The characters of minerals, as we have seen, are physical, geometrical, and chemical. The physical characters are general and particular; and both these are again subdivided. The general physical characters must be first considered. In order to fix these, we should take a room which is familiar to us, and place the various divisions upon the different objects in that room, which are also well known to us, inventing some connecting circumstance by which we may be the better enabled to remember the particular division of the table.

Having a room in which there are four walls, we take the first which is on our left hand, and commence with specific gravity, the first division of the general characters, and to fix this in our minds a balance is placed on the top of the wall, near the cieling. The next division is cohesion, which is put by the end of the balance; if we ask what preserves the whole wall in its present firm state, the answer will be cohesion. There is now occasion for a sopha, which is placed against the lower part of the wall; upon which the solids must be put; cohesion in solids is proved in six different ways. In one corner of the sopha, a file is placed, which will call to mind the first mode, friction with a file; in another corner, some minerals of an angular shape; and thus we must proceed to fix the six different divisions. The sub-divisions will be easily remembered, if connected, in some way, with the principal outlines, which are thus permanently fixed.

Having filled one wall with the general physical characters of minerals, the particular characters are next to be considered. The particular physical characters of minerals are known, 1. by taste, 2. by adhesion. Another wall is now needful, in which there may be a door: on this door a tongue is placed as the emblem of taste; the door being divided into six compartments, in the first is found a cube of salt, to convey the idea of saline; on the second a string for astringent; in the third some sweetmeats for sweetish; in the fourth, a knife for sharp, which may cut the string in the second compartment; bitter in the fiſth division will come immediately under sweetish; and cannot fail to be remembered by the contrast which it presents; urinous is in the sixth and last division, and will need no symbol. In this way must the pupil proceed with the remaining divisions of the table, fixing each upon an object, and connecting some striking circumstance with the object, that will afford a permanent idea of the system which he is desirous to acquire.

The application of mnemonics to zoological tables, is peculiarly easy and agreeable, as they are entirely formed of sensible objects, and will readily associate with our hieroglyphics. The Linnean class, mammalia, for instance, may soon be fixed in our minds, by taking a single order, and placing the different genera, if not more than five or six, on different parts of a single hieroglyphic;—and forming associations with the symbol, and making a little narrative or tale. If the genera should be numerous, two or three hieroglyphics may be employed for that order. We shall not give the associations, because they are so plain and obvious; and as the invention of these will afford an agreeable exercise for the student. The following table, we conceive a sufficient specimen, but the application may be made, with equal facility, to the different classes of birds, amphibia, fishes, insects, worms, and zoophytes and with great advantage to any single class which may be preferred from the particular inclination or pursuit of the student.

CLASS I. MAMMALIA, or animals provided with teats.

Symbol.
Tower of Babel.	Order i.	Primates, or chiefs of the creation.
	Genus 1.	Simiæ, oran-otan, apes, monkeys, baboons.
	2.	Lemur, maccanco.
	3.	Vespertilio, bat.
	Order ii.	Brute.
	Genus 1.	Bradypus, sloth.
	2.	Dasypus, armadillo.
	3.	Manis pangolin.
	4.	Myrmecophaga, ant-eater.
	5.	Platypus, ornithorhynchus, or duck-bill.
Swan and Mountain.	Order iii.	FERÆ, or animals of prey.
	Genus 1.	Canis, dog, wolf, hyæna, fox, and jackal.
	2.	Felis, cat, lion, tiger leopard, lynx, panther, &c.
	3.	Viverra, weasel, ferret, polecat, civet.
	4.	Ursus, bear.
	5.	Didelphis, opossum.
	6.	Macronus, kangaroo.
	7.	Talpa, mole.
	8.	Sarex, shrew.
	9.	Erinaceus, hedgehog.
Looking-Glass and Throne.	Order iv.	Glires, or sleepers.
	Genus 1.	Hystrix, porcupine.
	2.	Castor, beaver.
	3.	Mus, mouse and rat.
	4.	Cavia, guinea-pig.
	5.	Arctomys, marmot.
	6.	Lepus, hare.
	7.	Sciurus, squirrel.
	8.	Myoxus, dormouse.
	9.	Dipus, jerboa.
	10.	Hyrax, Cape and Syrian rabbit.
Horn of Plenty and Glassblower.	Order v.	Pecora.
	Genus 1.	Elephas, elephant.
	2.	Camelus, camel, dromedary, llama, vicuna.
	3.	Giraffa, giraffe or camel leopard.
	4.	Cervus, elk, deer-kind.
	5.	Bos, ox, buffalo.
	6.	Moschus, musk.
	7.	Antilope, antelope, chamois.
	8.	Ovis, sheep.
	9.	Capra, goat.
Midas.	Order vi.	Bellue.
	Genus 1.	Equus, horse, ass, zebra.
	2.	Rhinoceros.
	3.	Hippopotamus.
	4.	Tapir.
	5.	Sus, pig-kind, pecari, babiroussa.
PINNATED MAMMALIA.
	Genus 1.	Phoca, seals.
	2.	Trichecus, morse or walrus, manati or sea-cow.
Narcissus.	Order vii.	Cete, or Cetacea, (cetaceous mammalia, or whale tribe.)
	Genus 1.	Balæua, proper whales.
	2.	Physeter, spermaceti whales.
Delphinus, dolphin, porpoise, grampus.	3.
	4.	Monodon, narwhal, sea-unicorn.

The following table by Mr. Nicholson, showing the number of ounces Avoirdupois, in a cubic foot of some metals and other bodies, will be a useful exercise; the technical words to be formed out of the figures, we shall leave to the industry, and the associations, to the ingenuity, of the student.

Bodies.	Ounces.	Hieroglyphic.
1. Pure Gold cast	19958	Tower of Babel
2. Sea Water	1026	Swan
3. Standard Gold cast	17486	Mountain
4. Zinc	7191	Looking Glass
5. Bismuth	9823	Throne
6. Pumice Stone	914	Horn of Plenty
7. Heart of Oak	1170	Glass Blower
8. Rock Crystal, from Madagascar	2653	Midas
9. Lime Stones	1386	Narcissus
10. Agate	2590	Goliath
11. Tallow	942	Hercules
12. Green Glass	2620	David
13. Cast Iron	7207	Castle
14. Cork	240	Diogenes
15. English Tin (hammered)	7299	Æsculapius
16. Crude Platina (in Grains)	15602	Ceres
17. Standard Silver (in Coin)	10391	Archimedes
18. Ruby	4283	Apollo
19. Mercury	13568	Robinson Crusoe
20. Spermaceti	943	Peacock