An audience of nearly four hundred people assembled in Sever 11 last evening to hear Dr. Pick lecture on the cultivation of memory. The lecture was given by invitation of the Harvard Philosophical club.

The lecturer said that we are often puzzled when we try to account for the readiness with which we remember certain events which happened long ago, while we entirely forget recent occurrences. A little study shows us that the ease with which any incident is recalled depends on the strength of the impression made on our minds at the time. We remember what happened years ago, merely because it made a vivid impression on our minds.

If we have two ideas in our minds, the stronger one will expel the weaker; but if they be of the same strength, they will blend, and when we recall one we can recall the other. The ease with which we can, after remembering one idea, recall the other, depends on the strength of the blending, and the strength of the blending depends on the strength of the ideas. Strong impressions make strong ideas, and all we can do to facilitate remembrance is, therefore, to strengthen the impressions. This can be done in two ways, first, by concentrating the attention to as few ideas at a time as possible, and, secondly, by comparing one idea with another.