A doctor enjoys Sherlock Holmes

Many delightful references to plant life may be found in the tales. These allusions enrich the stories and add greatly to their charm and interest. Love for inviting landscapes, for trees, for flowers, and for shrubs appears to be innate in human beings. This would be a drab world indeed without a variegated and a beautiful plant life. One need not be a botanist to appreciate the beauty and fragrance of a rose or a violet. They are different in design, but lovely in their own ways. It is not meet that we attempt to analyze their beauty; let us merely enjoy it. If an extravagant phrase be permitted, let us not subject the beauty of the orchid to the flame of the analytic blowpipe or attempt to measure the fragrance of the June rose with an olfactometer.

After Dr. Watson had lived with Sherlock Holmes a few weeks, he became intensely interested in this quiet but unusual man. One day he sat down and made an attempt to analyze and evaluate Holmes’ conversance in several fields. While Dr. Watson felt that Holmes’ understanding of anatomy was good, his knowledge of botany was “variable.” The worthy doctor writes: “Knowledge of Botany—Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening” (A Study in Scarlet). Thus, it appears that Holmes was more interested in medicinal plants, and especially those from which poisons could be extracted. This does not surprise us, because of his interest in crime detection; we know, too, of his researches in the chemistry of the alkaloids.

We must keep in mind that Watson wrote of Sherlock Holmes: “Appreciation of nature found no place among his many gifts” (The Adventure of the Cardboard Box). A man uninterested in nature is not apt to take especial notice or appreciate the beauty of flowers or vegetation. We are indebted, therefore, largely to Dr. Watson for the many pleasing references to plant life and landscapes.

We find allusions to a botanist and to the study of botany in The Valley of Fear and in The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge. In the first story, Watson likens Holmes to a botanist rapt in his admiration for a beautiful flower; and in the latter story, Watson points out that many instructive days can be spent in the study of botany and suggests the use of an elementary text on the subject, a spud, and a proper box to hold the specimens. The amateur botanist will surely appreciate these suggestions. Such a person will find pleasure no matter where he strays—in the forest, the plains, the mountains, or the desert. He will never be bored.

Dr. Watson obviously loved the vegetation of early spring, for he writes: “... the first faint shoots of green were breaking out upon the elm, and the sticky spearheads of the chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their fivefold leaves” (The Adventure of the Yellow Face). Also, we read, “The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots.” (The Adventure of the Speckled Band).

The observant doctor was not unmindful of the autumn foliage. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, he calls our attention to the melancholy aspect of the countryside in the fall of the year, and speaks of the yellow leaves lying on the ground, some still fluttering down from the trees. In The Problem of Thor Bridge, he notes that the plane tree in the backyard was losing its remaining leaves on a stormy October morning. (We would call a plane tree a sycamore.) Some people claim they become somewhat melancholic in the autumn and dislike to see the leaves falling, the grass turning brown, and other signs associated with the fall of the year. I am not one of these. There is much to be said for distinct changes in seasons. The changes occurring in the autumn are necessary so that the wonderful season of spring may be thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed.

Several types of landscapes are pictured. In A Study in Scarlet, the arid land in our great West is described:

The purist might object to the term “chaparral bushes,” because chaparral, being a nonspecific term, refers to any stunted type of vegetation found growing on dry soil in our West. It might have been more proper simply to have said “clumps of chaparral.” In the same story, a prosperous, peaceful countryside landscape is depicted: “All looked so peaceful and happy, the rustling trees and the broad silent stretch of grainland....” In The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, a landscape of flowering gorse is described, and attention is called to its golden color on the heather-covered fields.

Dr. Watson obviously was impressed with landscapes of gold and bronze, especially those which contained faded ferns, for we find him using the description several times, for example:

Similarly, in the same story: “... the low curves of the moor, bronze-coloured from the fading ferns, stretched away to the sky line....” Besides these landscapes, several references to some of the famous forests of England are made in The Adventure of Black Peter and The Naval Treaty.

As might be anticipated, numerous allusions are made to trees. Dr. Watson presents a pleasing picture: “Just beyond it is a nice little grove of Scotch firs, and I used to be very fond of strolling down there, for trees are always a neighborly kind of thing” (The Yellow Face). The word “neighborly” strikes a sympathetic note. All of us have experienced this feeling at one time or another. Walking in a pleasant woodland, one can quietly commune with nature. The singular thing is that on such occasions the creative mind is often stimulated. New ideas and new concepts apparently rise from the subconscious to the higher brain centers. Numerous examples could be given of this truly remarkable phenomenon.

Dr. Watson must have had a lively interest in oak trees, for he alludes to them on several occasions. He speaks of “ancient” oaks and “mighty” oaks, terms surely applicable to the famous English oak trees (The Valley of Fear and The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist).

The prize oak, presumably, is the one described in The Musgrave Ritual. Sherlock Holmes related the story to Dr. Watson one winter night: “... there stood a patriarch among oaks, one of the most magnificent trees that I have ever seen.” He went on to quote his host, Reginald Musgrave: “It was there at the Norman Conquest in all probability.... It has a girth of twenty-three feet.” Truly, it was a mighty oak and worthy of comment. If its girth was twenty-three feet, it had a diameter of approximately seven and one-third feet. The events described in the story occurred in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, so the tree must have been over nine hundred years old if it dated from the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Probably few people appreciate the longevity of oak trees. I recall, as a child, an oak that stood not far from my home. I have seen it periodically for over a half-century. It still looks about the same as when I first saw it, but presumably it has had a slow but steady growth throughout the years. Assuming that such a tree is not ravaged by wind and storm or struck by lightning, it probably will stand for several centuries. This is a fascinating thought, because it staggers the imagination to think what historical events could occur during such a span of years.

Dr. Watson describes trees in various settings, such as parks (The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist and The Adventure of the Abbey Grange), and in several instances as borders for avenues or lanes. A number of examples might be cited, but one will suffice: “The house ... with a fine lime-lined avenue leading to it” (The “Gloria Scott”).

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the Yew Alley of Baskerville Hall played an extremely important part in the story. It will be recalled that Sir Charles, before going to bed at night, was wont to take a walk down the Yew Alley. One night he saw the huge hound which the evil Stapleton had purposely let loose on the moor. Sir Charles became so frightened that he ran headlong and dropped dead from a heart attack.

In this story, too, mention is made of trees which have been subjected to adverse growing conditions. Dr. Watson speaks of trees which have been stunted and nipped on the moor, and emphasizes how the oaks and firs are bent and twisted by the furious storms throughout the years. The bizarre shapes which such trees assume are truly fascinating. Their irregular outlines appear ghostlike by night and weird by day. They are the joy of the amateur photographer and the professional artist.

Various types of trees are used to create a proper setting for the mystery stories. In The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone, a melancholy grove of half-grown pines is described; and in The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge, a row of chestnuts is depicted as giving the avenue a gloomy appearance.

The fact that pine trees are used to set the note for a gloomy landscape calls for comment. I have always felt that a clump of evergreen trees around a house creates a distinctly depressing atmosphere; this is especially true if the house is isolated in the country. To me these somber trees give a sense of loneliness and gloom, and bring to mind Anna Katherine Green’s mystery story, The House of Whispering Pines. It may be that this story, which I read in my youth, is the reason for my feeling. I am sure, in any event, that many people enjoy evergreen trees around their home, especially in winter, as a welcome relief from the drab, slate-gray landscape.

Besides those trees already enumerated, several other species are mentioned throughout the tales: namely, the larch, the beech, and the copper beech. In The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, this description occurs: “The group of trees with their dark leaves shining like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun....”

Flower beds and borders are described in several of the tales. In The Sign of the Four, we find that: “... just under the window a single foot-mark was visible in the flower bed.” Also, in The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot, a flower border lying underneath the window is noted, but it contained no trace of a footprint. Obviously, footprints are a necessary component of mystery stories; and what better place to look for them than in the soft earth of a flower bed under a window?

In all the stories, only a few flowers are specifically named: crocuses, orchids, roses, and violets. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, when Dr. Watson met the wife of the naturalist Stapleton on the moor, she asked him to pick an orchid for her, and explained that the moor was rich in them. This is supposed to have occurred in the fall of the year. It seems singular that orchids would be in bloom at that time.

The amateur gardener will be sympathetically interested to read of gardens and lawns which did not live up to expectations: “A small garden sprinkled over with a scattered eruption of sickly plants separated each of these houses” (A Study in Scarlet). In The Adventure of the Retired Colourman, a sorry-looking garden is depicted. It is pictured as going to seed and bearing every evidence of gross neglect. In The Red-Haired League, an ill-kept lawn is described: “... where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded laurel bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere.”

Several welcome allusions are made to the odors of flowers or of vegetation. The scent of flowers, gardens, greenhouses, trees, meadows, swamps, and the decay of autumn leaves often bring back memories of other times and places. In The Naval Treaty, we find “... the rich scent of the garden ...”; and in A Study in Scarlet, we read of “... the balsamic odours of the pine trees....” All of us have experienced the refreshing and delightful odors of a flower garden, and those who have been in the north, or in the mountains in almost any latitude, remember with pleasure the clean smell of the evergreen trees. In The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane, our attention is called to the scent of thyme on the downs. I am sure that to many people the faintly exotic aroma of thyme (which belongs to the mint family) is enjoyable.

Some plants have a distinctly heavy, cloying odor—for example, certain lilies. The effect produced may actually be unpleasant. Dr. Watson, in describing a greenhouse, brings this out (The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton). He speaks of the heavy fragrance of certain plants which actually causes a choking sensation. The odor of decayed plants arising from the treacherous Grimpen Mire is emphasized in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Most of us are familiar with the miasmic vapors which often arise from swampland. Presumably, everyone has his own favorite odor. Some people enjoy the exquisite fragrance of the rose, some that of the carnation, and others the faint and delicate odor of the sweet pea. The city dweller who was raised in the country may yearn for the sweet smell of newly mown hay, and, strangely enough, may even long for the pungent ammoniacal smell of the barnyard.

Throughout the tales, we find mention of bracken, bramble, bushes, ferns, gorse, heather, hedges, laurel, lichens, rhododendron, shrubs, and vines. We have already alluded to many of these. To my knowledge, in only one instance is there a reference to blood-stained vegetation indicating that a murder might have been committed. We find, in The Adventure of the Priory School, that Holmes, to the horror of Watson, held up some flowering gorse which was blood-stained. The surrounding heather, too, showed evidence of old blood stains. It will be remembered that these were found on the spot where the unfortunate German master of the Priory School had met his death.

Everyone interested in Sherlock Holmes will vividly recall the meeting between Holmes and Professor Moriarty on the brink of the falls of the Reichenbach. Dr. Watson inspected the spot shortly after the meeting:

The patches of mud and torn vegetation gave clear evidence of what had taken place on the edge of the falls. We learn later, of course—much to our surprise and satisfaction—that Holmes had, by his superior skill, triumphed over his arch enemy. The meeting marked the end of Professor Moriarty, the Napoleon of crime.

Dr. Watson’s many allusions to botany give added charm to the tales, and indicate not only his love for the flora of England but also his zest for nature.