EXPLANATIONS.

(3) The pupil must possess such a familiarity with the laws of in., ex., and con., not merely in their theoretic and abstract aspects, but in that practical character and working power of them which I teach, that he can instantly apply them to the every-day affairs and ordinary occurrences and events of life.

‌If you know that the number of square[ Footnote [G] miles in the area of the State of New York runs into thousands, and you wish to remember that the exact number of thousands is 47, you could accomplish this object if you found a word which spells 47, and is at the same time connected by In., Ex., or Con. to New York. You try the varieties of Inclusion; and in synonymous Inclusion you find 47 in the word “York” itself, the “y” having no figure value, and “r” standing for 4, and “k” for 7; thus you cannot see the name of New York or think of it without having conclusive evidence of the number of thousands of square miles the State contains.

The title of a subject, the name or description of an event or date, can always be safely abridged or bracketed in part in the formula, as 47 [New] York. But no one could imagine that “York” in this connection [47 thousand square miles] means any of the towns or country seats of the United States which are called “York.” If the context makes an otherwise indefinite thing definite, it is sufficient.

Analytic date and number words do not have to be memorised.—Seeing is believing, and, in this case, remembering too. If you thoroughly master my system you can find, in most cases, analytic date and number words without any difficulty, and by means of them you can remember thousands of dates and sets of figures, when without the system you could have remembered only five or ten of them.

Suppose in your haste you failed to notice that “York” spells 47, and you then proceed to try Inclusion by Genus and Species; regarding York as the general word, you would find New York as a species or kind of York; the same with Yorkshire, Yorktown, York Minster, etc. In this way you would, if your mastery of the Figure Alphabet were perfect, scarcely fail to notice that York spells 47; but if you fail, you then try Inclusion by Whole and Part, and run over the political divisions of the State until you come to Rockland County, and there you find in its first two consonants the letters “r” and “ck” (the equivalent‌ of “k” in sound). These consonants spell 47. You would find the same consonants in the County of Herkimer.

Suppose, however, that from unfamiliarity with the Figure Alphabet, or from want of considerable practice, you do not succeed in noticing that Rockland or Herkimer contains the number 47, you try Inclusion by Abstract and Concrete, and regarding the State of New York as the Concrete, and the Abstract or characterizing epithet “rocky” as applicable to New York, you would then find in that word “rocky” the number 47.

If you did fail, you would try Exclusion, and you would find nothing which is the antithesis of the area of New York. You might find, however, a weak form of Exclusion if you consider that the area is the surface, and what is below the surface as the opposite of it. In the latter case you would find in the words “Erie Canal,” which is a great artificial channel running through a part of the State, the letters “r” and “c” hard, which spell 47. A more exact Exclusion might be found in the word “ring,” which spells 47. For if we consider the shape of the boundary of New York we would see that in no vague sense a ring, as a circle, is the opposite of it.

But suppose that from a chronic absent-mindedness or an overworked brain, or downright bad physical health or insufficient knowledge of the system, you failed to see 47 in any of the foregoing cases, you would try Concurrence. Considering that the State of New York is largely agricultural, you would find that the implement of farming known as a “Rake” would spell 47; this would be a case of Concurrence. In a political sense, the word “rings” gives 47, as New York has been celebrated for them.