The Irish standard., 1895-04-27

r.
Eyes, indeed" said !, cordially. 81
was never SO struck by anything in my
life. even embodied it in q small
brochure with the somewhat fantastic
title Of "A Study in Scarlet"
He shook his head sadly. II glanced
over it," said he. Honestly, cannot
congra tulate You upon it. Detection
is, or ought to be, an exact science, and
should be treated in the same cold and
Unconditional manner. You have at
tempted to tinge it with ronhanticism,
which produces much the same effect
as it you worked a love story or an
elopement into the fifth proposition Of
Euclid" -.
''But the romance was there" I re-
monstrated. II could not tamper with
the facts .5sf
"Some facts should be suppressed, or
at least just sense of proportion
should be observed in treating them.
The only. point in the case which de-
served mention was the curious. ana
lytical reasoning from effects to causes
by which succeeded in unraveling il. =
was annoyed at this criticism of ia
work which Sad been specially de.
signed to pisssc him. confess, too,
that was irrltated >,by the egothhn
which seemed to demand that every
line of my pamphlet should be devoted
to his own special doings. More than.
once during the years that had lived
with him in Baker street I had OBJ
served that small vanity underlay my
companions quiet and didactic manner.
made no remark, however, but sat
nursing my wounded leg. had had a
Jezail bullet through 1t sometime be-
fore, and though it did not prevent me
from walking, it ached wearilya at
every change of the weather. 49,. ~.
s'My practice has extended recently
to the continent" said Holmes, after
awhile, filing up his old brierroot
pipe. IT was consulted last week by
Francois lie Willard, who, as you prob
ably know, has come rather to, the
front lately in the French detective
service. He has all the Celtic power of
quick intuition, but he is defcsmt In
the wide range of exact knowledge
which is essential to the higher devel-s
6pments Of his art. The case WAS con-
cerned with will, and possessed some
features of interest. / was able. to re-
fer him to two parallel cases, the one
at Riga in 1857, and the other at St.
Louis in 1871, which have suggested to
him the true solution. Here is Che LETT
ter which I had this morning, aciznowl-s
edging my assistance" He tossed. over,
as he spoke, a crump1ed sheet Of for
eign notepaper. glanced my eyes
down it, catching profusion Of notes,
of admiration, with stray :a.magni-
fques," ''coup de maitres" and .'tpurs'
de force" all testifying to the ardent
admiration Of the Frenchman, - =
''He speaks as pupil to his qastAIr," = !
said +. !
'.Oh, he rates my assistance, too .high.,,
1y," said Sherlock Holmes, lightly
.'He has considerable gifts himself. He
possesses two out of the three quali-.
ties necessary for the ideal detective.
He has the power of observation and
that Of deduction. He is only wanting
in knowledge; and that may come in
time. He is now translating my small
works into French" !
Your WOrkS?"
"Oh, didn't you know" he cried,
laughing. "Yes, have been guilty Of
several monographs They are all
upon technical subjects. Hbre, for ex-
ample, is one Upon the Distinction Be-
tween the Ashes of the Various .Tobac-!!
Goes In it I enumerate a hundred
and forty forms Of cigar, cigarette and
pipe tobacco, with colored plates illus
trating the difference in the ash. It
is a point which is continually turning
up in criminal trials, and which is.
ometimes of supreme inpe rtance as a;
clew, If you can say deau itely, for cx-
ample, that SOME murder has been
done by a man who was smoking an
Indian lunkah, it obviously narrows
your field Of search. To the trained
eye there is as much difference be-
tween the black ash of Trichinopoly
and the white fluff of bird: :s-eye as there
Is between cabbage and q potato" :.
''You have an extraort inary genius
for minutie.'' remarked.
Il appreciate their Importance. Here
is my monograph upon the tracing Of
footsteps, with some remarks upon the
uses of plaster Of Paris as preserver
of impressed. Here, toe, is curious
little work upon the influence of q.
trade upon the form of the hand, with
the lithotypes Of the hands Of skaters,
sailors, cork-cutters, corapositors, weav-
ers and diamond polish hers That Is a
matter Of great practical interest TO the
scientific ctive.-es pecia1lv in cases
of unclaimed bodies, or in discovering
the antecedents Of criminals. But I
weary You with my hobby"
's'Not at ALL" I answered, earnestly.
d ut is of the greatest interest to me, es-i
pecially since I have had the oppor-
tnnity Of observing ponr practical ap-
plication OF it. But you spoke just
now Of observation and deduction.
Surely the one to sorne extent implies
the other, =
..Why. hardly, !" he. swered, leaning
back 1nxuriously il his armchair and
sending up thick blue wreaths from
his pipe. Tor exa mple, obser
shows me that Jor, have been to che
SyYigmore street pukJb office this mefn-.
iille but lednct ction lets me know Int
when hers
q
! I