“A formidable array of bottles and test tubes, with the pungent
cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day
in the chemical work which was so dear to him.”
_The Red-Haired League_
Mention is made from time to time in the tales of certain chemical
problems which occupy the attention of the great detective. Moreover,
the chemical desk and chemical paraphernalia in the rooms at 221B
Baker Street are referred to frequently. Indeed, the reader would be
disappointed if they were not mentioned, for he has come to accept them
as he has the Persian slipper and the gasogene. Since we are living
in an age of chemistry, it is pertinent and timely to review Sherlock
Holmes’ interest in this important field. It is, moreover, of certain
intellectual and historical interest to examine--even though rather
superficially--the status of any phase of chemistry during the last
quarter of the past century, or, for that matter, of any period. At the
time of which we write, biological chemistry was still in its infancy,
but organic chemistry was already an important subject.
In _A Study in Scarlet_, it will be remembered that when
Stamford took Dr. Watson to the laboratory of the medical school to
meet Sherlock Holmes, they found him working on a chemical problem.
So enthusiastic was Holmes that, even before Stamford had had an
opportunity to present Watson, Holmes sprang to his feet and cried:
“I’ve found it! I’ve found it!... I have found a reagent which is
precipitated by hemoglobin, and by nothing else.” He then acknowledged
the introduction, and made the famous remark, “You have been in
Afghanistan, I perceive.”
Holmes proceeded next to give a demonstration of his new test:
“Now, I add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water. You
perceive that the resulting mixture has the appearance of water. The
proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million. I have no
doubt, however, that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic
reaction.”
As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, and then
added some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant, the contents
assumed a dull mahogany color, and a brownish dust was precipitated to
the bottom of the glass jar.
Holmes was so well pleased that he added, “Now we have the Sherlock
Holmes’ test....”
At this point a sour note can be injected. Assuming that Holmes did
discover a sensitive test for hemoglobin, it was nevertheless not
a specific one for human blood. The blood of many animals contains
hemoglobin. In a case of murder, for example, if blood were found on a
cudgel, a knife, or on the clothing of a suspect, it would still have
to be proved that it was human blood. This, incidentally, can now be
scientifically shown, but it is a long, delicate procedure.
After Holmes had demonstrated his brilliant experiment, the trio sat
down, and Holmes and Watson discussed the possibility of sharing rooms.
Holmes volunteered, “I generally have chemicals about, and occasionally
do experiments.” Parenthetically, it may be stated that Watson on later
occasions complained about the odors produced by these experiments. As
we know, however, an agreement was reached, and perhaps the two most
famous characters in fiction decided to cast their lot together and
locate on 221B Baker Street.
The staid Dr. Watson, after living with Holmes several weeks, took
it upon himself to make an appraisal of his unusual roommate. His
conclusions were that Holmes’ knowledge in certain areas, such as
literature, philosophy, and astronomy, was “nil,” but in the field of
chemistry, “profound.”
Holmes as a college student had evinced a marked interest in chemistry.
When telling Dr. Watson the story of _The “Gloria Scott,”_ his
first case, he said: “All this occurred during the first month of the
long vacation. I went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks
working out a few experiments in organic chemistry.”
Holmes maintained his interest in chemistry throughout the years.
In _The Red-Haired League_, Watson describes how he called on
Holmes one day: “A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with
the pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had
spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him.” When
Watson asked him whether he had reached a solution, Holmes answered in
the affirmative, and stated it was the bisulphate of baryta. Watson,
evidently disgusted said, “No, no, the mystery.” Holmes’ reply was:
“Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon.” Today
one seldom hears the word “baryta” in this country; we speak of it as
“barium.” The bisulphate of baryta, therefore, which Holmes mentioned,
becomes barium sulphate.
The hobby of the great detective, it appears, afforded him relaxation,
for we find:
“Well, I gave my mind a thorough treat by plunging into a chemical
analysis. One of our greatest statesman has said that a change of work
is the best rest. So it is. When I had succeeded in dissolving the
hydrocarbon which I was at work at, I came back to our problem of the
Sholtos, and thought the whole matter out again.”
_The Sign of the Four_
In his later years, Holmes must have missed his chemical experiments;
for once, when he was away from home, we find Watson writing that
his friend’s temper was on edge because he especially yearned for
his chemistry bench and his scrapbook (_The Adventure of the Three
Students_).
Holmes was wont at times to announce the results of his chemical
researches in a dramatic manner. According to Watson, his hero was
not averse to seeking the limelight. We already have seen how Holmes
acted when he discovered an agent precipitated only by hemoglobin. He
insisted upon telling of his important discovery before giving Stamford
an opportunity of presenting Watson. We find another typical example in
_The Naval Treaty_:
Holmes was seated at his side-table clad in his dressing-gown, and
working hard over a chemical investigation. A large curved retort was
boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the
distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre measure. My friend
hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing that his investigation
must be of importance, seated myself in an armchair and waited. He
dipped into this bottle ... and finally brought a test-tube containing
a solution over to the table. In his right hand he held a slip of
litmus paper.
“You come at a crisis, Watson,” said he. “If this paper remains blue,
all is well. If it turns red, it means a man’s life.” He dipped it
into the test-tube and it flushed at once into a dull, dirty crimson.
“Hum, I thought as much!”
It is hardly necessary to point out that such dramatic chemical
discoveries so glibly announced by Holmes are rare, and it is not given
to any one individual to find many of them in a lifetime.
Reference already has been made to the fact that the reader rather
expects Dr. Watson to make mention of the chemical bench when he
describes the rooms at 221B Baker Street. One imagines Dr. Watson of a
winter evening sitting in his rocking chair before the fire, absorbed
in a treatise on surgery while Sherlock Holmes is busily engaged with
some chemical problem. In _The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone_, we
find Watson writing that it was pleasant to find himself again at 221B
Baker Street, and that he felt at home when he saw the old chemical
bench, the chemicals, and the other paraphernalia in the living room.
Watson again mentions this in _The Adventure of the Empty House_,
where he speaks of the old landmarks, and especially of the chemical
corner.
On one occasion, Watson described a small chemical laboratory in a
dwelling place.
It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory. A
double line of glass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall
opposite the door and the table was littered over with Bunsen burners,
test-tubes and retorts. In the corner stood carboys of acid in wicker
baskets. One of these appeared to leak, or to have been broken, for a
stream of dark-coloured liquid had trickled out from it, and the air
was heavy with a peculiarly pungent, tarlike odor.
_The Sign of the Four_
This passage shows clearly that Dr. Watson was quite familiar with the
arrangement in chemical laboratories.
Previously, it was mentioned that at their first meeting Holmes had
warned Watson that he preferred to do chemical experiments in his
rooms. The good doctor probably did not think much about it at that
time, but later he had occasion to get firsthand information. In _The
Musgrave Ritual_, Watson, telling how untidy Holmes was, states,
“Our chambers were always full of chemicals....” We find further, in
_The Sign of the Four_:
He [Holmes] would hardly reply to my questions and busied himself all
the evening in an abstruse chemical analysis, which involved much
heating of retorts and distilling of vapors, ending at last in a smell
which fairly drove me out of the apartment. Up to the small hours of
the morning I could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me
that he was still engaged in his malodorous experiments.
And again, in _The Adventure of the Dancing Men_, we find Watson
writing that Holmes was fouling the air with some malodorous chemical
experiment. And finally, in _The Adventure of the Dying Detective_,
Watson relates that the long-suffering Mrs. Hudson, too, often had to
put up with noxious odors emanating from Holmes’ chemical experiments.
One wonders whether on occasion Watson regretted the day he agreed to
share an apartment with his famous friend. It may be that Watson, who
also had had considerable chemistry in his medical student days, did
not mind too much the ill smells which from time to time polluted their
living quarters; at any rate, there is no indication that Watson ever
thought of seeking other quarters on this account.
Not only did Holmes’ chemical experiments fill the apartment with
unpleasant odors, but he also kept ungodly hours. In _The Adventure
of the Copper Beeches_, we find:
The telegram ... came late one night, just as I was thinking of
turning in, and Holmes was settling down to one of those all-night
chemical researches which he frequently indulged in, when I would
leave him stooping over a retort and a test-tube at night and find him
in the same position when I came down to breakfast in the morning.
This instance, as well as others just mentioned, clearly show that
Holmes was apt to devote long hours to his experiments. Evidently, he
thought nothing of sitting up until the small hours of the morning, or,
for that matter, all night, pursuing his researches. If young college
instructors in departments of chemistry showed such zeal, they surely
would soon gain recognition in their fields. Working all day and most
of the night, however, probably is too much to expect of the average
human frame.
The casual reader naturally takes it for granted that Holmes’ love
for chemistry was due to his interest in crime detection; that is,
he intended to use the knowledge he gained from his experiments for
practical purposes. We recognize this today as applied research. I
would like to emphasize that Holmes was interested in pure or basic
research, too--in other words, research which has no immediate
practical value. Instances may be found in the tales to support this
view. I will mention only two: “That will do very nicely. Then perhaps
I had better postpone my analysis of the acetones, as we may need
to be at our best in the morning” (_The Adventure of the Copper
Beeches_). And, in _The Final Problem_, Holmes remarks rather
plaintively to Watson: “Between ourselves, the recent cases in which I
have been of assistance to the royal family of Scandinavia, and to the
French Republic have left me in such a position that I could continue
to live in the quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to
concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches.”
His interest in basic research is rather remarkable, for in that day
there were comparatively few persons engaged in any type of chemical
research. Today, of course, there are thousands of chemists working in
institutions of higher learning and also in many industries. Indeed,
some of the chemists in large industrial plants are not only allowed
but encouraged to do basic research.
We can conceive of Holmes as a famous professor of chemistry in a great
university. In _The Adventure of the Dancing Men_, Watson writes
that Holmes had propped his test tubes in a rack, and that he then
began to lecture like a professor addressing his class. As a teacher,
he might at times have been somewhat curt with his students and
probably impatient with the stupid ones, but at all times he would have
been fair. He had the energy, stamina, and enthusiasm not only to be a
stimulating teacher but a productive scholar as well. He would not have
been an armchair professor, but rather a leader in his chosen field. We
are thankful that he did not choose an academic career, for then the
delightful Sherlock Holmes stories never would have been written, and
the world would be a less interesting place in which to live.
In closing, we can paint a pleasant picture of Sherlock Holmes in his
retirement in his comfortable home on the Sussex Downs. We can imagine
him in the long English twilight working at his chemical bench before
a large window overlooking the beautiful countryside. His fingers
are stained with acids, alkalies, silver nitrate, and other potent
chemicals. His pipe is going full blast, and his brow is probably
perplexed as he scans a recent learned treatise on the chemistry of the
aldehydes or the alkaloids.
While his researches may be profound and manifold, it is more than
likely that he devotes his best efforts toward the detection of some
obscure poisons, with the hope that some scheming sinister criminal
may be brought to justice. Time does not hang heavily on his hands
in his retirement, for there is no end to chemical researches;
infinite problems present themselves to the prepared mind. With his
keen intellect, his wide knowledge, and his rich imagination, he has
doubtless outlined investigative work which will keep him happy and
busy for years to come.