The Medical Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes And Dr John Watson

  Anti-smoking pamphlet:- “Richardson’s polemical pamphlet.” [57] This Week Intriguingly my blog pages on addiction have proved surprisingly popular. The page on cocaine use has been read by over twice as many people as any other page. We’ll move on to the topic of smoking this week.   Smoking Smoking + Sherlock   There are huge numbers of other references to smoking in the stories, with the vast majority referring to characters enjoying smoking.   Holmes is an expert on the subject – the following is from “ The Sign Of Four”. “Oh, didn’t you know?” he cried, laughing. “Yes, I have been guilty of several monographs. They are all upon technical subjects. Here, for example, is one ‘Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos.’ In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar, cigarette, and pipe-tobacco, with coloured plates illustrating the difference in the ash. It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials,...

  No alcohol: “A patient dismayed at his doctor’s advice not to drink any alcohol while recovering from a cold.” [30] This Week We are going to move from cocaine to alcohol. Alcoholism was a significant problem in the Victorian age, and we will see how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was directly affected by the impact of alcoholism in his family.   Alcoholism Alcoholism + Sherlock This is another chapter where I have had to be selective with my choice of excerpts. The term “alcoholism” is not used in the stories, but there are lots of references to drunkenness. I have decided to include passages that I feel refer to characters with alcoholism – that is chronic alcohol problems affecting their life and character. Arthur Conan Doyle’s father, Charles Altamount Doyle, suffered from alcoholism and depression. He was an illustrator, but became unable to work due to his health. In 1881, when Arthur would have been at medical school, Charles was placed in Blairerno House, Kinca...

  This Week We are going to move from psychiatry into the related field of addiction. We’ll start with cocaine use, as that is the drug most associated with Sherlock Holmes.   Sherlock Holmes And The Adventure Of Masongill Hall A story to accompany publication of The Medical Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes And Dr John Watson. Sherlock Holmes has retired to his farm on the Sussex Downs, whilst Dr John Watson has become a GP in the Yorkshire Dales. Watson is struggling to deal with the first weeks of the COVID outbreak, yet Holmes discovers that an old enemy is about to carry out a terrible crime right under Watson’s nose. It is down to the heroic Watson to save the day. Available from the Amazon Kindle Store .   The Illustrator Our Cocaine Use chapter features another fine illustration from 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 st...