Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-10-05
DOYLE SHERLOCK
DIES IN SCOTLAND
DR.. Bell, Original of Authors s
Famous Character, Ex-
pires at IA.
TEACHER OF THE WRITER
Gives Latter First Insight Into Pos
sibiIiies of the "Deductiye
Method


the eminent Scottish surgeon and the
original of Conan Doyle's famous
Sherlock Holmes" died yesterday
at his home, Mauricewood, Milton
Bridge, Midlothian.
DR.. Bell, who was born in 1887
and was an instructor of Doyle when
the latter was a medical student at
Edinburgh in the early SOS, was not
! only an enthusiast in his study Of
mysterious crimes but was also the
man who gave to Doyle his first in
sight into the wonderful possibilities
of the "deductive method" of arriv-
ing at facts-the method which
Sherlock Holmes" always used in
the famous stories.
The future author, then lowering
between a choice of literature or
medicine as a profession, was much
impressed at the time, but 1t was
not until long afterward that the
impression thus formed developed
into the detective narratives put in
the mouth of DR.. Watson. These
gained such popularity and were
sought by publishers with such fire.
quency that they palled on Doyle
himself and he killed the ffctional
Sherlock off in an Alpine adventure
only to let him turn up again when
the demand continued too strong.
HOW SHERLOCK LOOKED
DR.. Bell was described by Doyle
as a man with sharp, piercing gray
eyes, eagle nose and striking fea-
lures. Perhaps he had constantly
in his mouth the pipe inseparable
from the story and stage conception
of the character, but the author did
not mention this.
Numerous anecdotes are told of
him along the Sherlock Holmes line.
One day in the presence of his class,
he said to a patient who had come
to the Edinburgh Royal infirmary for
treatment:
You are a soldier and you are
non on-commissioned officer at that. You
have served in Bermuda. How do l
know that, gentlemen? Because he
came into the room without taking
his hat off, just as he would go into
an orderly room. A slight authori-
tative air, combined with his age,
shows him a non-commissioned Of
ficer. A rash on his forehead tells
me he was in Bermuda and subject
TO a certain kind of rash known only
there"
DIAGNOSIS BY SIGHT.
Conan Doyle said of DR.. Bell: "He
would sit in the patients waiting
room with a face like a red Indian
and diagnose people as they came in,
even before they had time to open
their mouths. He would tell them
their symptoms and would even & We
them details of their past life and h =
would hardly ever make a mistake.
DR. Bell was affectionately and IA
miIiarly referred to by several gen
erations of medical students as Joe
Bell. who's Who in England" says
of him among other things:
Joseph Bell, NJ. D., F. r. G. s.,
Edinburgh; consulting surgeon to the
Royal infirmary and Royal hospital
for sick children; member of Uni
versity court, Edinburgh university;
% years editor of the Edinburgh
Medical Journal"
He was educated at Edinburgh
university and went through the reg
ular course of a hospital surgeon
from dresser to senior surgeon and
consulting surgeon at Edinburgh
RoyaI infirmary. He was the author
of a Manual of Surgical Operations
and Of Notes on Surgery for
Nurses"