d (_i.e._ the sitter's left hand) in
front of the sitter's face, and to trace on the palm of the left hand
with the forefinger of the right the first letter of the name thought
of. The sitter was then asked to give taps on his left hand or make
movements in the air with his right hand corresponding to the number of
letters of which the name thought of consisted. When Yoga Rama suggested
(as he subsequently did) that the name of a flower or of a city should
be thought of, he requested that the same procedure of tracing the first
letter of the name and giving a number of taps or making movements with
the right hand corresponding to the number of letters should be
followed, but when he suggested that a play of Shakespeare should be
thought of he only asked that the first one or two letters of the title
should be traced on the palm of the left hand of the sitter with the
forefinger of the other hand. He did not then ask that taps or movements
of the right hand should be given or made. About an hour and a half of
the first part of the performance was taken up by experiments of the
above nature. These were varied only by one experiment of telling the
title of a hymn which a lady thought of, one of reading the thoughts of
a young lady, and one experiment with playing cards.

Yoga Rama then made a long speech about happiness depending on our own
selves and our being what we willed ourselves to be. He asserted that he
had overcome in himself the passion of anger. He laboured these points
so much and repeated himself so often that it became manifest he was
making the speech solely with the object of filling up the time.

The patience of the Acting Committee became exhausted, and one of the
members advanced to the front of the stage, interrupted Yoga Rama, and,
appealing to the audience, said he had no doubt but that he had their
support when he asserted that they had come to the theatre not to hear
speeches but to witness experiments. Yoga Rama brought his speech
abruptly to a close after saying he would now demonstrate the power he
had acquired of controlling the functions of his body and of rendering
it insensible to pain. To show the control over his body he asked two
members of the Committee to stand by his side and to look at their
watches and note the length of time he was able to cease from breathing.
To show his insensibility to pain he said he would stand barefooted on a
board studded with long nails, and also stand on b