A doctor enjoys Sherlock Holmes

Dr. Watson was a man of catholic tastes and diversified interests. Not only was he a capable and experienced physician, but he was a man of letters, an amateur detective, and an athlete of considerable ability. No one, as far as I know, has emphasized his interest in zoology. This trait is more apparent to those acquainted with the biological sciences, but even the most casual reader cannot but notice the frequent references to animal life.

The plots in a number of the tales depend entirely upon a zoologic background. In The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane, for example, the death of a person as well as that of a dog are attributed to the poisonous sting of Cyanea capillata, a huge jellyfish. A swamp adder, which Watson describes as “the deadliest snake in India,” is used to kill two people in The Adventure of the Speckled Band. In another tale, the plot hinges upon the fact that a goose has swallowed a rare jewel, which is eventually recovered from its crop (The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle). A race horse is answerable for the mysterious death of his trainer (Silver Blaze). In The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger, a lion is responsible for the dilemma of the unfortunate lodger. The central theme in The Adventure of the Creeping Man has to do with the antics of a scientist who at times shows apelike qualities. Finally, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the grisly spectral hound plays the title role.

Let us consider first some references to the lower forms of life, such as insects. The naturalist Stapleton, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, was supposed to be an authority on butterflies and moths, that is, lepidoptera. When he and Watson met one day on the moor, the naturalist invited him to see his collection, which he described as the most complete in the southwest of England. Later in the story, when searching the house for the fiendish Stapleton, Dr. Watson describes a room fitted up as a small museum with glass-topped cases filled with butterflies and moths.

The scholarly recluse Nathan Garrideb evidently was another such collector, for when Holmes and Watson visited his house they found cases of butterflies and moths on each side of the entrance (The Adventure of the Three Garridebs). One must remind the reader that butterflies are distinguished from moths by the shape of their antennae, the former having clubbed antennae, the latter not.

Two allusions are made to the antennae of insects. In The Adventure of the Illustrious Client, the waxed tips of the Baron’s mustache are likened to an insect’s antennae. The other is found in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Dr. Watson, observing Dr. Mortimer, the country practitioner, rolling a cigarette, remarks that his long and quivering fingers remind one of the agility and restlessness of the antennae of an insect. These descriptions are extremely apt, since the antennae of insects are nearly always in motion.

In The Adventure of Black Peter, Captain Peter Carey was found one morning harpooned to death in a small shed near his house. Holmes remarks that the captain had been pinned to the wall like a beetle on a card.

Let us go higher in the zoological scale. It is evident that Holmes despised snakes, for he refers to them as extremely repugnant creatures and remarks to Watson that watching them in a zoo gives him a most unpleasant sensation (The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton). A number of animals which live in the water are mentioned: namely, fish, jellyfish, sharks, seals, and crocodiles. For instance, when Holmes introduces his brother Mycroft to Watson, the latter writes that Mycroft put “... out a broad fat hand like the flipper of a seal” (The Greek Interpreter). And in The Sign of the Four, Jonathan Small had the extreme misfortune of having his leg bitten off by a crocodile.

Birds are not neglected. In The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, Watson tells how he and Holmes on one of their walks enjoyed the music of the birds. On another occasion, he likens Holmes to a lank bird (The Adventure of the Dancing Men). Watson, in The Adventure of the Priory School, speaks of the plover and the curlew; and in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the raven and bittern are used effectively to accentuate the utter loneliness of the moor. The ravens croak loudly behind the tor, and this is the only life stirring over the vast landscape. When Watson one day asks the naturalist Stapleton what had caused the bloodcurdling sound on the moor, the latter’s shifty reply is that they had heard the cry of the last of the bitterns. In A Study in Scarlet occurs the felicitous expression: “... the buzzard flaps heavily through the [desert] air....” In The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, Holmes makes the pertinent statement, when speaking of the weakness of Lord Robertson, that even among eagles one may find a carrion crow.

An occasional reference to the eggs of birds also occurs. Watson writes, “... a young lady entered the room with a bright quick face, freckled like a plover’s egg ...” (The Adventure of the Copper Beeches). The cipher Holmes employed in The “Gloria Scott” contained the words, “pheasant hen eggs.”

So much for the lower forms of life; let us move on to the mammals. Attention is called to several small mammals—in The Adventure of the Crooked Man, a mongoose; and in The Sign of the Four, a stoat and a mole as well as a weasel. The reader may recall that other names for a stoat are “ermine” or “ferret.”

Large mammals are referred to more often. Dr. Watson writes, in A Study in Scarlet, “The coyote skulks among the scrub ... and the grizzly bear lumbers along the dark ravines....” Big-horn sheep also appear: “... there stood a creature somewhat resembling a sheep in appearance, but armed with a pair of gigantic horns. The big-horn—for so it was called....” In this same story, bison are also to be found. Holmes, exasperated when looking for footprints, says, “If a herd of buffaloes happened along, there could not be a greater mess.” In still another instance, Watson writes, “... the observer would have come to the conclusion that one of those great herds of bisons which graze upon the prairie land was approaching him.” A herd of bison is referred to again in The Boscombe Valley Mystery. Holmes feelingly remarks, “Oh, how simple it would all have been had I been there before they came like a herd of buffalo and wallowed over it!” It is obvious that Holmes was impressed with the immense herds of buffalo which once roamed over the great plains of our romantic West.

In The Valley of Fear, we come across an interesting analogy. Holmes remarks to Watson that Porlock, although unimportant in his own right, nevertheless takes on importance through his close touch with the master criminal Professor Moriarty. He spoke of the relationship of the two men as that of the pilot fish to the shark, or of the jackal to the lion; that is, one was insignificant and the other formidable. In this same story, our attention is called to two other mammals—the wolf and the caribou. In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, we are introduced to two African animals, the cheetah (reputed to be the fastest animal on earth) and the baboon. And in The Adventure of the Creeping Man, reference is made to one of the higher apes, the langur, which is described as a large animal with a black face living on the slopes of the Himalayas.

When we read about large mammals, big-game hunting comes to mind, at least to the sportsman. Several allusions to this exciting and dangerous sport are found in the tales. In The Naval Treaty, we read, “... it has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman feels when he lies beside the water course and waits for the big game.” In The Adventure of Black Peter, we read again of the hunter’s thrill while lying in wait for some unknown large beast to approach the water hole.

When Sherlock Holmes ironically introduces the terrible Colonel Moran to Dr. Watson and Lestrade, he says, among other things, that the Colonel is an outstanding big-game hunter, practically without peer, and that his bag of tigers remains unrivaled (The Adventure of the Empty House). In The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, Holmes notes that it was such a foggy day in London that a thief or murderer could roam the streets and pounce on his prey like a tiger in the jungle. In another instance, Holmes tells Watson about Count Sylvius, the famous big-game hunter who had stolen the Crown diamond. The nonchalant detective facetiously remarks that if the Count could add him (Holmes) to his bag of big game, it would be an outstanding triumph (The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone).

The numerous allusions to animal life in the tales show clearly that Dr. Watson was keenly interested in zoology. This is not unexpected, since he was a physician, and, as everyone knows, a student of medicine has a broad training in the biological sciences. It is doubtful whether a man untrained in biologic science could have used the references to animals as accurately and as effectively as did Dr. Watson.

Where did he obtain his love for zoology? Solely from his preparatory studies in medicine? Probably not. Dr. Watson was an athlete and an outdoor man. Such men frequently take a pronounced interest in plant and animal life, since it is before their eyes a good part of the time.

We may conclude, then, that Dr. Watson was not only a physician, an amateur detective, an athlete, and a man of letters, but a zoologist as well. In this age of specialization, it is refreshing to reflect that Dr. Watson had such a wide range of interests.