1--FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ASSIMILATIVE MEMORY. 1
2--BRAIN TONIC; or, The stimulating Power of the Method. 6
3--Educating the Intellect to stay with the senses of Sight and Hearing; or, Cure of Mind Wandering. 15
4--Learning any Series of Proper Names--American Presidents. 25
5--The Unique Case of the English Sovereigns--How to learn their Succession quickly. 31
6--NUMERIC THINKING; or, Learning the longest sets of figures almost instantly. 38
7--DECOMPOSITION OR RECOMPOSITION, AND INTELLECTUAL INQUISITION; or, How to learn Prose and Poetry by heart, with numerous examples, including Poe's Bells. 47
8--ANALYTIC SUBSTITUTIONS; or, A Quick Training in Dates, etc., Dates of the Accession of American Presidents and of the English Kings, Specific Gravities, Rivers, Mountains, Latitudes and Longitudes, etc. 66
9--THOUGHTIVE UNIFICATIONS; or, How to never forget Proper Names, Series of Facts, Faces, Errands, Conversations, Speeches or Lectures, Languages, Foreign Vocabularies, Music, Mathematics, etc., Speaking without notes, Anatomy, and all other Memory wants. 109
10--ACME OF ACQUISITION; or, Learning unconnected facts, rules and principles in the Arts, Sciences, Histories, etc., etc., chapters in books, or books themselves, in one reading or study. 149
11--Learning one hundred facts in the Victorian Era, with dates of year, month, and day of each in one thoughtive perusal. 159
What is the basic principle of my system? It is, _Learn_ by _Thinking_. What is _Attention_? It is the will directing the activity of the _intellect_ into some particular channel _and keeping it there_. It is the opposite of mind-wandering. What is thinking? It consists in _finding relations_ between the objects of thought with an _immediate awareness_ of those relations.
What is the Sensuous memory? It is association through the eye or ear of a _succession_ of sights or sounds without any reflection or consideration of the units of the succession, or what they stand for, or represent. It is learning by _rote_--mere repetition--mere brainless or thoughtless repetition--a mode of learning that is not lasting--and always causes or promotes mind-wandering.
What is Assimilative memory? It is the _habit_ of so _receiving_ and _absorbing_ impressions or ideas that they or their representatives shall be _ready for revival or recall whenever wanted_. It is learning through relations--by thinking--from grasping the ideas or thoughts--the meaning and the comprehension of the subject matter. This mode of learning promotes attention and prevents mind-wandering.