Lord Macaulay

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

Lord Macaulay, who will always hold an eminent place among English men
of letters, was born October 25th, 1800 and died December 28th, 1859.
Before he was 30 years of age, he became a member of the House of
Commons, and later held positions of trust and importance which
required him to visit different parts of the world. At one time he
wrote a code of laws for the benefit of the people of India and
devoted considerable time to the work

Lord Macaulay was said to be the most rapid reader on record, and had
the ability to remember perfectly what he had read ten or more years
previously, without refreshing his memory by re-reading it. He was
able to read a page of five hundred words in one second. Not only
could he remember the words that were spelled correctly, but also
those words which were spelled incorrectly. He was able to remember
the page on which they could be found, the line of the page, the
location of the words on the line, and how each word was misspelled.
For example, if the word "which" were misspelled, he could remember
that it was the fourth word on the fifth line on page 120, and that it
was spelled "whiche." This seems a remarkable statement to make, but I
have had patients who became able to read almost as rapidly as Lord
Macaulay after a course of eye education. This training consisted of
central fixation and the imagination of the halos, i.e., the white
spaces inside the letters, between the letters and between the lines
of letters.

Central fixation is the ability to see best where you are looking and
not so clearly where you are not looking. This requires shifting from
one part of an object to another part. To have perfect sight, Lord
Macaulay unconsciously practiced central fixation. If he had
consciously tried to see a letter or to keep his attention fixed on
one part of a letter, or if he had tried to see all parts of a letter
at once, his vision would have been imperfect. To see the top of a
letter perfectly, it was necessary for him to look at and see the top
of the letter best, and the rest of the letter not so well. To see
each of the other sides perfectly, it was necessary for him to look at
and see each side best, and the rest of the letter not so well. Since
the average number of letters in each word is five, he shifted four
times five, or twenty times, to see each word with maximum vision. To
recognize five hundred words, it was therefore necessary, for him to
shift five hundred times twenty, or ten thousand times in one second.

In order to see perfectly, it is necessary that one imagine perfectly.
Macaulay remembered or imagined the white spaces between the lines to
be whiter than they really were. When the white spaces were imagined
perfectly white, the black letters were imagined perfectly black,
because the white spaces could not be imagined perfectly, without the
black being imagined perfectly at the same time. For the same reason,
when the blackness of the letters was imagined perfectly, the forts of
the letters was also imagined perfectly. It has been demonstrated that
trying to see the black letters is a conscious strain, or is attended
by a conscious strain, and always lowers the vision.

It is a truth that one cannot remember a letter perfectly unless it
has been seen perfectly. When the memory for one letter is perfect,
the memory for all letters is also perfect. A letter cannot be
imagined perfectly unless it has been remembered perfectly. It cannot
be seen perfectly unless it has been imagined perfectly. We see only
what we imagine we see. The speed of reading is greatest when the
vision is perfect.

After a course of eye training, some of my patients were able
subconsciously to remember large letters of the Snellen test card,
which they had previously regarded, without being conscious of
distinguishing any of the letters. Many of these patients have become
able to remember or imagine small letters of the test card at thirty,
forty, or fifty feet. I have had some patients glance for a few
seconds at a page of diamond type at ten feet or further, without
consciously reading any of the letters. With their eyes closed and
covered with the palms of their hands, some of them became able to
remember or imagine one or more letters of the fine print. They must
have unconsciously seen the fine print to have been able to imagine
the letters, because one cannot imagine something not remembered, and
one cannot remember perfectly unless one has seen perfectly.
Therefore, in order to imagine a letter perfectly, it is necessary
that the letter be seen previously, either consciously or
unconsciously.

The method of rapid reading practiced by Macaulay is invaluable and
should be more widely employed.

In my writings I have remonstrated against the methods employed to
teach rapid reading. The usual procedure was to encourage the student
to see all of the letters of a word at once, or to see all the letters
of a paragraph of words at the same time. This was accepted as the
correct method and very intelligent scholars have recommended it. My
research work has proved that there is nothing more injurious to the
eyes than to make an effort to see a whole letter or a whole word, all
parts equally well. If one looks at the first letter of a word, the
last letter is not seen perfectly at the same time. If an effort is
made, the whole word becomes blurred and may not be distinguished. The
stronger the effort that is made, the more injurious it is to the mind
and eyes.

In the public schools of the City of New York, teachers are advised to
practice this method of rapid reading with young children. Although
the result is unsatisfactory, many teachers still persist in their
efforts to teach the impossible. It is interesting to know that
children who have perfect mental pictures of letters, or other
objects, have a normal memory or a memory that is just as perfect for
letters or objects. The scholarship of such children is much better
than that of others whose memory or mental pictures are imperfect. A
number of school children have told me that at the time of their
examinations, they could read a question on the blackboard and have no
conception of what the answer might be, but if they closed their eyes
and remembered the first letter of the question perfectly, it helped
them to remember the answer to the question.

One teacher with a class of children who were mentally deficient,
found that the practice of central fixation, palming, and the use of
the imagination was of great benefit to the minds of those children. A
school teacher in Chicago has made a practice of teaching her pupils
how to imagine things perfectly, with the result that no matter how
ignorant they may be, at the beginning of the school term, it is not
long before they become able to make the same progress as other
children in the rapid advancement classes.

The dean of the department of metaphysics of one of our prominent
universities came to me and complained that he was suffering with all
kinds of mental and eye troubles because he had lost the power of
concentration. The strain was so great that he was compelled to give
up his work. Glasses were of no benefit. He demonstrated that to
concentrate on one letter or one part of a letter it was necessary for
him to make an effort, and in a few seconds his vision became very
imperfect.

With perfect sight, no effort is made and the eyes and mind are at
rest. There is no fatigue, and one can read with great rapidity for
many hours continuously, without being conscious of having eyes.