To remember a proper name, Mnemonists resort to In., by S. But this _alone_ gives no starting point, no "Best Known" which you are certain to think of, and which will enable you to recall the name, _provided_ you cement by a memorised Correlation the "Best Known" to the name itself; in fact, a similarity of sound _alone_ and _by itself_ is likely to mislead you into reviving itself instead of the name. A celebrated Member of Parliament (who in the days of his youth, before he had greatly tested Mnemonics, gave a high opinion of its value) was to deliver an address at the Birkbeck Institution, some years ago. Having difficulty in remembering proper names, he thought he would _fix_ the name of its founder in his memory by the Mnemonical device of finding a word that sounded like it; he said to himself, "It reminds me of 'Pinchbeck.'" He commenced as follows: "Before coming to the subject on which I am to speak this evening, I desire to pay a deserved tribute of praise to the founder of this great Institution, the celebrated Mr. PINCHBECK." A shout of laughter revealed to him that Mnemonics may get us into trouble, and fail to help us out: he could not remember the real name, Birkbeck, until it was told him. If he had mastered this System, his NEW memory-power would have enabled him to remember the true name _without any device_; or, if he was but a beginner at my System he could have remembered the name Birkbeck--which he was afraid he would forget--by correlating it to the word--"Founder," which he did remember, thus:--FOUNDER ... lost way ... hark-back ... Birkbeck; or, FOUNDER ... foundered horse ... chestnut horse ... chestnut ... bur ... BIRKBECK. If he had memorised either of these Correlations, or one of his own, by repeating the intermediates forwards and backwards two or three times, and then recalled the two extremes, "Founder," "Birkbeck," several times, the moment he thought of Founder, he would instantly have recalled Birkbeck, one extreme recalling the other without the intermediates being recalled. When one has received only a third of the benefit of this System as a Memory-TRAINER, the mere _making_ of a Correlation ensures remembering two extremes together without thinking of intermediates. 1. To what must we correlate a person's name? 2. What will be the result if we memorise the correlation? 3. To what do Mnemonists resort to remember proper names? 4. Does this _alone_ give a starting point? 5. What is a similarity of sound alone likely to do? [Dr. Johnson, when introduced to a stranger repeated his name several times aloud and sometimes _spelled_ it. This produced a vivid first impression of the man's _name_; but it did not _connect_ the name to the man who bore it. People who have adopted the Johnsonian Method sometimes remember the name but apply it to the wrong person, because they did not establish any relation between the name and the man to whom it belonged.] EXERCISES IN CORRELATING.