The Medical Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes And Dr John Watson

  This Week We are going to take a look at Victorian psychiatry over the next couple of weeks. These were the hardest chapters of the book to write. Firstly it was challenging to choose which excerpts from the Sherlock Holmes stories to include. Secondly it was hard to find Victorian medical textbooks on this area of medicine, and the terminology at the time was very different to modern psychiatry terminology. Hopefully I have managed to produce interesting chapters despite these challenges.     The Illustrator Our page header this week is from the chapter on Insanity, and is a scene from “The Adventure Of The Beryl Coronet”.  “ The distressed Alexander Holder beats his head against the wall of 221B Baker Street” by Alex Holt Alex Holt is an artist specialising in original ink illustrations. He has a special interest in Comic Art, single image illustrations and covers. Alex is a student of the Edinburgh Atelier of Fine Art. He works in private commissions ...

  This Week Following on from last week’s sample chapter on Rheumatic Fever, this week we’ll take a look at the similarly named Rheumatism. These are largely unrelated conditions, and also little to do with the modern diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Even in Victorian times, rheumatism was a rather vague diagnosis, though still an interesting one to look at.   Rheumatism   Rheumatism + Sherlock I was able to find 3 references to rheumatism in the Sherlock Holmes stories. It first appears in “ Silver Blaze ”, a Sherlock story that reads like a Dick Francis novel. Back in chapter 4 we encountered the use of a cataract knife in the story. We then learn how the knife was used. “ You cannot have forgotten the singular knife which was found in the dead man’s hand, a knife which no sane man would choose for a weapon. It was, as Dr Watson told us, a form of knife which is used for the most delicate operations known in surgery. And it was to be used for a delicate ...

  This Week This week we are going to take a look at rheumatic fever. I have never seen a case, though I have a few elderly patients who have heart valve problems as a result of catching rheumatic fever as a child.   Rheumatic Fever Rheumatic Fever + Sherlock Rheumatic fever makes an appearance in the canon in “ The Adventure Of The Lion’s Mane ”. We had our main look at this story when we looked at Jellyfish Stings. “Fitzroy McPherson was the science master, a fine upstanding young fellow whose life had been crippled by heart trouble following rheumatic fever. He was a natural athlete, however, and excelled in every game which did not throw too great a strain upon him. Summer and winter he went for his swim, and, as I am a swimmer myself, I have often joined him.” You will remember that the wonderfully named Fitzroy Macpherson is the first victim of the fatal jellyfish sting. Conan Doyle is maybe using the damage caused by rheumatic fever as a reason for McPhers...

  This Week This week our sample chapter is on typhoid fever. A good number of the book's chapters are on infectious disease. As you would imagine, most of these were grim diseases in the Victorian age – medical disease was just starting to understand how infections were spread, but we are many decades before the advent of antibiotics.   Typhoid Fever   Typhoid Fever + Sherlock We return yet again to “ A Study In Scarlet ” for our main references to typhoid fever in the canon.   Whilst investigating the murder of Enoch J Drebber, Holmes grills the police constable who found the body, John Rance. “ Presently – maybe about two or a little after – I thought I would take a look round and see that all was right down the Brixton Road. It was precious dirty and lonely. Not a soul did I meet all the way down, though a cab or two went past me. I was a-strollin’ down, thinkin’ between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be, when suddenly the glint of a light c...