_not_ constantly, but _only occasionally_. Although not
necessary in case of memories made strong by the System, yet I do most
earnestly recommend the most gifted and highly endowed to deal with
_one_ book in the above thorough-going manner. As for instance, Herbert
Spencer's little work on Education [four short essays]. Dr. Charles
Mercier, who next to Herbert Spencer is the most original and clear
sighted Psychologist in England, presents, in a work entitled "Sanity
and Insanity," a scarcely equalled example of lucid exposition and
logical development. Whichever one is selected it should be fairly and
honestly handled by my method. The gain to Intellectual Comprehension
from having carefully abstracted one book, and the gain to the memory
from having made and memorised the Abstract, will produce results that
will last through life, and make all subsequent acquisitions more easy
and delightful, and make all further abstracts probably unnecessary.

HOW TO LEARN A LONG SERIES OF UNCONNECTED FACTS IN THE SCIENCES OR
EVENTS IN HISTORY, CHAPTERS IN BOOKS, OR THE CONTENTS OF BOOKS.

1. It is useless for the pupil to attempt to learn the exercise here
given unless he has carefully studied the Building, Ice, Presidential,
and English Sovereign Series. The _meaning_ of In., Ex., and Con. can be
understood in application to the facts of life, the events of History
and the principles and details of the Arts and Sciences, only by a
complete mastery of all that precedes this exercise.

2. Let the pupil learn only _ten_ facts, propositions or statements at
each of the first few sittings, and then, as he adds ten more, let him
recite from memory all that he has previously learned of this exercise.
The _cementing relations_ of In., Ex., and Con., which bind the events
together, must in each case be first found by the student himself, and
afterwards, and not before, let him glance at my analysis which follows
this series.

3. The lawyer, in selecting 100 or 1,000 events of the Victorian Era,
would doubtless make a list interesting to lawyers, the physician would
make one of interest mostly or mainly to doctors, and similarly with
educators, statesmen, editors, &c., &c. But I have selected events with
a view to find the most difficult cases to deal with and with no other
view, and if the pupil masters these, all other work hereafter will be
easy to him.

4. This method can be promptly used, provided the pupil does not attempt
to