“It was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging
jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones.”
_The Adventure of the Copper Beeches_
To those interested in animals, it is gratifying to know that two of
the most popular heroes of detective fiction--Sherlock Holmes and
Dr. Watson--both loved dogs. They did not like them in a sickly,
sentimental sense, but rather with a genuine, masculine affection.
They regarded them as dogs, not as human beings, and emphasized and
respected their canine personalities. I am sure every self-respecting
dog would want to be so regarded.
Frequent mention of dogs is found in the tales. In point of fact, the
grisly, spectral hound portrayed in _The Hound of the Baskervilles_
has become a byword not only among readers of detective fiction but
also with people in general. Various kinds of dogs are portrayed: large
dogs, small dogs, good ones and bad ones. In one instance, a lovable,
curly-haired spaniel is depicted; in another, a plodding bloodhound;
and in still another, a fiendish dog.
One Sunday evening, in early September, in the year 1903, Sherlock
Holmes summarily sent for Dr. Watson. The friendly doctor, not wishing
to disappoint his friend, set out for Baker Street, and entered the
old apartment, which for a number of years had also been his home.
Holmes waved him to a chair, and after a considerable period of silence
remarked that he was seriously considering writing a monograph on
the use of dogs in the work of a detective (_The Adventure of the
Creeping Man_).
Dr. Watson did not think much of the idea, and pointed out that this
field had been pretty thoroughly explored. Holmes would not agree.
He explained that he wished to approach the subject from a somewhat
different angle than had previously been done. He argued that a dog
reflected a family’s life. If the household were a happy one, the dog
would be friendly and frisky; conversely, if the family were gloomy,
the dog would appear sad. He insisted further that dangerous and
unpleasant dogs are owned by dangerous and unpleasant people.
Holmes bolstered his argument by giving as an illustration the case on
which he was presently working. He believed that the changed behavior
of a wolfhound toward his master might turn out to be an important clue
in solving the mystery. This eventually proved to be true, as will
be described later. Although we may congratulate Holmes on his keen
analysis, and on his pungent manner of presenting the argument, there
surely must be many exceptions which come to the minds of us all. We
have witnessed nice people who harbor vicious dogs, and the opposite as
well. We will not quibble, but agree for the main part that Holmes was
probably right.
Hounds are frequently mentioned. In _The Sign of the Four_, Watson,
describing Holmes in action, writes: “So swift, silent, and furtive
were his movements, like those of a trained bloodhound picking out a
scent.” Again, in _A Study in Scarlet_, we see: “As I watched him I
was irresistibly reminded of a pure-blooded, well-trained foxhound,
as it dashes backward and forward through the covert, whining in its
eagerness, until it comes across the lost scent.” In _The Red-Haired
League_, Jones of Scotland Yard, speaking to his colleague Wilson,
comments: “Our friend Holmes here is a wonderful man for starting a
chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him in the running down.”
Other habits of hounds may be found in _The Adventure of the Devil’s
Foot_ and _The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans_. Numerically,
hounds are mentioned more frequently in the tales than any other
kind of dog, and in several instances hounds actually track down the
criminal.
It will be recalled that in _The Sign of the Four_ the dependable old
hound Tobey follows a creosote scent. In _The Adventure of the Missing
Three-Quarter_, faithful old Pompey follows a carriage which had had
aniseed squirted upon the wheel by Holmes. On this occasion, Holmes
remarks to Watson that a draghound would follow aniseed indefinitely.
Holmes takes almost a human interest in Pompey. The detective formally
introduces the dog to Dr. Watson and speaks highly of the draghound’s
tracking ability. However, he did not trust all dogs, for we find him
saying to Watson that some dogs bite the hand that feeds them (_The
Adventure of the Three Gables_).
Two especially fiendish dogs are portrayed in the tales: Carlo the
mastiff, in _The Adventure of the Copper Beeches_; and the spectral
hound, in _The Hound of the Baskervilles_. In the former, the
despicable Rucastle, the master of Carlo, said: “We feed him once a
day, and not too much then, so that he is always as keen as mustard....
God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs upon!” Miss Violet
Hunter, the heroine of the story, saw this beast one night: “It was a
giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black
muzzle, and huge projecting bones.” Watson vividly describes the attack
Carlo finally made on his master:
There was the huge famished brute, its black muzzle buried in
Rucastle’s throat, while he writhed and screamed upon the ground.
Running up, I blew its brains out, and it fell over with its keen
white teeth still meeting in the creases of his neck.
In _The Hound of the Baskervilles_, we find a hound which would
frighten the Evil One himself. Evidently, this huge beast was a
mongrel: “It was not a pure bloodhound and it was not a pure mastiff;
but it appeared to be a combination of the two--gaunt, savage, and as
large as a small lioness.” Watson paints this animated picture:
A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as
mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes
glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap
were outlined in flickering flame.
While this hound was worrying the throat of Sir Henry Baskerville,
Holmes emptied five barrels of his revolver into the creature’s flank.
“With a last howl of agony and a vicious snap in the air, it rolled
upon its back, four feet pawing furiously, and then fell limp upon its
side.”
Other breeds are not ignored. Holmes, who had considerable
professional jealousy, would not admit that Jones of Scotland Yard
had the imagination a detective should have, or that he had a keen
intellect, but does pay him this fine compliment: “He is as brave as
a bulldog....” (_The Red-Haired League_.) A reference is made to rat
terriers in _The Adventure of the Crooked Man_. Spaniels also are
mentioned on at least two occasions. Dr. Mortimer, in the story of _The
Hound of the Baskervilles_, owns a curly-haired spaniel of which he
is extremely fond. Unfortunately, this lovable dog comes to grief on
the moor. In _The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place_, a spaniel plays
an important part in solving the mystery. The so-called “Shoscombe
spaniels” were famous throughout England, and, according to Holmes,
were frequently mentioned at dog shows. He successfully uses one of
these, a pet spaniel, to establish the fact that the person in the
carriage is not the dog’s mistress. Holmes was satisfied that the
spaniel was right, and insisted that dogs do not make mistakes in such
cases.
Another instance can be cited where the behavior of a dog helped
Sherlock Holmes solve a perplexing problem. In talking to Watson, he
laid great stress on the fact that Professor Presbury’s heretofore
friendly wolfhound Roy had turned on his master and tried to attack
him. This extraordinary episode played an important part in the final
solution of the mystery (_The Adventure of the Creeping Man_).
The facts in the case were these: Professor Presbury, a distinguished
physiologist, had fallen madly in love with a very young girl, and,
in an effort to regain his lost youth, had periodically been taking
hypodermic injections of serum obtained from langurs. According to
the story, the monkey serum produced apelike qualities in Professor
Presbury. Following the injections, the professor would deliberately
and maliciously tease his wolfhound until one night the hound slipped
his collar and viciously attacked his master. He buried his muzzle in
his master’s throat; and if timely aid had not come, Presbury would
have been killed. As Holmes remarked to Watson, the hound thought he
was attacking the monkey and not the professor.
Since Holmes was a detective, and not a professional biologist, he
seldom found it necessary to use dogs for experimental purposes. Once,
however, he did not hesitate to try out the effects of a poison drug,
curare, on an old dog which was _in extremis_. It will be recalled
that this poison caused instant death (_A Study in Scarlet_). While
not a biological scientist--as we understand the word today--Holmes
nevertheless was scientifically minded, and it is certain that had the
need arisen to obtain evidence which would have helped mankind he would
not have hesitated to experiment on a normal, healthy dog. He was a
practical man, in the fullest sense of the word, and had, as Watson
said, “... an admirably balanced mind” (_A Scandal in Bohemia_).
It is true that both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson grieved when Dr.
Mortimer’s pet curly-haired spaniel met its fate on the moor, and they
both loved Tobey, the faithful old bloodhound who had aided them in
_The Sign of the Four_. However, they did not hesitate to shoot
five bullets into the flank of the hound of the Baskervilles when he
was at the throat of Sir Henry, or to blow out the brains of Carlo the
mastiff when he sank his teeth into the fat neck of the villainous
Rucastle. Holmes and Watson were not sentimentalists, but virile,
vigorous men of action--the type of men dogs like.
Finally, Dr. Watson pays a tribute to dogs in general in _The
Adventure of the Lion’s Mane_. In this story, after McPherson died
from his encounter with the Lion’s Mane (_Cyanea capillata_),
his pet Airedale eventually met a similar fate. According to Sherlock
Holmes himself, the terrier did not eat for a week following his
master’s death, and finally followed the trail of his dead master. He
was found dead on the edge of the same pool where his master had lost
his life. It is true that the terrier did not have the opportunity
of saving his master’s life--but no doubt he would have, had it been
possible. The story portrays vividly the bond of companionship between
a man and his dog, for in this instance the dog apparently gave his
life searching for his master. Dr. Watson pays tribute to such devotion
in the words of Sherlock Holmes: “That the dog should die was after
the beautiful, faithful nature of dogs.” This is a tribute that can
be endorsed by all, but especially by biologists, who are so deeply
indebted to the dog for the aid it has given in the search for means to
alleviate the pain and suffering of mankind. I am certain that every
biologist who professes to be a Christian gentleman would say “Amen”
to Dr. Watson’s beautiful tribute to an animal which would die so that
mankind might live.