§ 4. Variety of Memories. — In ordinary language we speak of a person having a good memory for numbers but a bad one for names; a good memory for places but a bad one for faces, and so on. Theoretically, we must carry this division very much further. As memory consists in the power of ideal revival, there must be a relatively separate memory for every experience ideally revived. There must not only be a separate memory for names, but a separate memory for each particular name.

But ordinary language is undoubtedly right in recognising distinct memories for general departments of experience. Mozart had an extraordinary memory for music; but he may have been very bad at recalling numbers. The most wonderful memory for words may be accompanied by a poor memory for dates and events. These differences are very largely due to congenital constitution; but special kinds of memory may also be cultivated.