The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-02-07
0RlGINGAL SHERLOCK HOLMES.
The Surgeon to Whom DR.. Doyle Is
Indebted For HIS Detective.

AAASELS4 ESI his DSteEttNe.
one would never dream. by looking
through Who's Who sin England).
that the person described as follows Is
the original of the great detective,
Sherlock Holmes.
Joseph Bell. N. d., f. r. c. S. Edin-
burgb: consulting surgeon TO the Royal
iEtlrmery and Royal hospital for sick
children, member OF the University
court, Edinburgh university; born ia
Edinburgh IN the year 1857. The oldest
son Of Benjamin Bell, surgeon, and of
Cecilia Craigie, Married 60 Edith Kath-
crime, daughter of the Hon. James Frs
kline Murray. Went through the or
binary course OF q hospital surgeon at
Edinburgh Royal infirmsry from dreS-
ser TO senior surgeon and consulting
surgeon. Twenty three years QS73-a6)
editor Of the Edinburgh Medical Jour
mai.
Yet he is the original Sherlock
Holmes-the Edinburgh medical stu
dent iGeal-who could ten patients their
habits. their occupations. nationality
and often their names, and who rarely,
If ever, made q mistake. Oftentimes
be would call upon one of the students
to diagnose the cases for him. Telling
the house surgeon TO usher in a new
patient, he delighted in putting the
deductive powers of the student 10 the
test. with results generally amusing,
except TO the poor student victim him
self.
This is Conan Doyle's description OF
Joseph Bell: lie would sit in the pa
tents waiting room with a face like
a red Indian and diagnose the people
as they came in. before even they
opened their mouths. He would tell
them their symptoms. and would even
2 4
he would hardly ever make . mistake -
What Edinburgh student of Conan
Doyie's student years can fail to rec
ognize IN the stole faced professor. Joe
Bell the king of deduction"
What is the matter with this man.
sir?" he suddenly inquired Of a tremb-
ling student. Come down, sir. and
look at him. 40. You mustn't touch
him. Use your eyes, sir, Use your
ears, use your brain. your bump of
perception and use your powers Of de-
duction.''
After looking at the patient the en-
bryonic Holmes blurted out: Hip joint
disease, siFt''
Hip nothing" Bell retorted. "The
mans limp is not from his hip, but
from his foot. or rather from his feet.
| Were you 10 observe closely, you would
see that there are Sits, cut by q knife,
in those parts of the shoes where the
! pressure OF the shoe is greatest against
the foot, The man IS a sufferer from
eorns, gentlemen, and has no hip
/ trouble at all. He has not come here TO
be treated for corns. gentlemen. We ard
| not chiropodists. His trouble is of q
much more serious nature This is a
/ case Of chronic alcoholism, gentlemen
The rubicund nose, the puffed, bloated
: face, the bloCdshot eyes. the tremulOus
hands and twitching face muscles, with
the quick, pulsating temporal arteries,
all show this. These deductions, gen
tlsmen, must however. be confirmed by
absolute and concrete evidence. In this
instance my diagnosis is confirmed by
/ the fact Of nay seeing the neck Of a
whisky bottle protruding from the pa
/ TENTS right hand coat pocket.
From close observation and deduc-
ton, gentlemen, you can make a cor
rect diagnosis of any and every case.
However, never neglect TO ratify your
deductions, to substantiate your dag
nosis with the stethoscope, and by 9th
er recognized and everyday methods
Of diagnosis"
/ One day, in the lecture theatre, ne
gave the students a long talk on the
necessity for the members of the med
| zeal profession cultivating their senses
sight, smell, taste and hearing. Be
/ fore him on a table stood a large tum-
bier filed with a dark, amber coIored
liquid
This, gentlemen announced the
! professor, contains q very potent drug.
/ To the taste 1t is intensely bitter. It
IL most offensive 10 the sense OF smell.
Yet, as Tar as the sense of sight is con-
. cerHed-that is, in colOr-it is 10 differ
ent from dozens of other liquids.
NOW I want to see how many OF you
gentlemen have educated your power OF
I perception Or course, we might easily
! Gnalyze this chemically, and find out
what it is. But I want you TO test il
1 by smell and taste; and, as [ don't ask
/ anything Of my students which ] would
not be willing to do myself. 1 VIII taste
I IL before passing il around"
/ Here ne dipped his finger ia the
| liquid and placed it in his mouth. The
tumbler was passed around. With WY
and sour faces the students followed
Z the professors lead. one after another
+ tasted TIE vile decocti6n; varied and
! amusing were the grimaces made. The
! tumbier, having gone the round, was
/ returned to sie profession.
Gentlemen" said he with a laugh
/ Il am deeply grieved to find that not
/ one Of you has developed this power
! Of perception which l so often speak
/ about: for if you nad watched me
closely, you would have found that
while I placed ny forefinger in the
medicine il was the middle finger which
| found its way into my mouth
These methods of Bell impressed
I Doyle greatly at the time. The inn
/ preston made was a lasting one.-Col-