16 MARCH 1934, Page 19

[To the Editor of Tim SPECTATOR.]

Sts.,--With reference to the " Rope trick " it may interest Col. Elliot and your readers that the great Shankaracharya in his commentary on the Vedanta Sutras (Sutra 17, end) makes distinct reference to it. He says " . . . even as the illusory juggler who climbs up the rope and disappears differs from the real juggler who stands upon the ground." We have therefore high authority more than 1,000 years old not only for the trick but for its explanation. There was not much in his day that ShankarAcharya did not know. Those who know India very intimately would be loth to agree that mass suggestion is not capable of producing this miracle to the satisfaction of a crowd.—I am, Sir, &c.,