My Virtual Reading Room

(Cross-posted to Dr Watson's Consulting Room--

jwatsonmd )
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I have come across a very interesting book and I thought I would share--while there are hundreds of books of critical analysis of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, their characters and all other aspects, this book is written from an unique perspective: the author was a practicing physician.

I have come across this book via the "Always 1895" blog; the entire book is available for reading online (or for download) from the HathiTrust Ditital Library here: hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015046792662

The book's author is Edward J. Van Liere, the title is "A Doctor Enjoys Sherlock Holmes" and the copyright date is 1959.

The book is a series of critical essays, many of them on medical topics (of course), such as " 'Brain fever' and Sherlock Holmes", "Doctor Watson, Cardiologist" and "The Therapeutic Doctor Watson." However, there are also some essays on more general topics, such as: "Dogs and Sherlock Holmes" and "Doctor Watson and the Weather." Moreover, some of the essays focus mostly on Sherlock Holmes, for example, "Sherlock Holmes, The Chemist" and "Genetics and Sherlock Holmes".

I have found many of the essays in this book fascinating; there is one in particular I'd like to share below; it concerns the ubiquitous brandy flask, which is so often mentioned in the stories, and is entitled "Doctor Watson's Universal Specific". Enjoy!
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DOCTOR WATSON'S UNIVERSAL SPECIFIC

". . . with the aid of ammonia and brandy, I had the satisfaction of seeing him open his eyes."

The Greek Interpreter

The therapeutic agent most frequently used by Dr. Watson was brandy. Mention is made of this stimulant in a number of the tales. Let us examine the conditions in which Dr. Watson's favorite remedy was used. In The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, Sherlock Holmes had accused the pathetic Ryder of stealing the valuable carbuncle. The poor wretch turned pale, and Holmes remarked to Watson, "Give him a drink of brandy." In describing this incident, Watson writes, "For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks. . . ."

We find, in The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge, that when the eminently respectable Mr. Scott Eccles was relating his strange experience to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Inspector Gregson of Scotland Yard came in unannounced and informed Eccles that Mr. Garcia, his host of the preceding night, had been found murdered. Dr. Watson writes that their client turned deathly pale. Holmes quickly suggested to Watson that he give Eccles a brandy and soda. This evidently helped the poor fellow; he gulped it down, and his face soon resumed its normal color.

Dr. Watson, in the story of The Greek Interpreter, took credit for saving the life of Mr. Melas, who was found locked in a room filled with a poisonous gas. Holmes and Watson rushed into the room and dragged out the victim. Dr. Watson writes that, ". . with the aid of ammonia and brandy, I had the satisfaction of seeing him open his eyes." In The Naval Treaty, Holmes found the highly important document which his client Mr. Percy Phelps thought had been lost through his own negligence. The great detective invited him to have breakfast with him and Watson; and when Phelps took the lid off the dish which was served him, and saw the precious papers lying there, he became hysterical with joy: "Then he fell back into an armchair so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that we bad to pour brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting."

We learn, in The Adventure of the Priory School, that when Thomas Huxtable, MA., Ph.D., made his dramatic entrance and collapsed upon Holmes' bearskin hearthrug, both the detective and the medical man extended helping hands. Holmes hurriedly placed a cushion under his head, and Watson got ready to give him a drink of brandy. However, the pompous fellow fell to the floor in a faint. When he re-gained consciousness, he asked for some milk and a biscuit. This revived him, and he then told his story. We do not know whether he was an abstainer or not. Brandy evidently enjoyed a reputation as an effective stimulant even among laymen. In perusing the tales, we find in one instance that it was given by a tutor to his servant who had suffered a mental shock; and in another, a constable in-tended to give, it to a beautiful young woman who, he thought, had fainted.

Dr. Watson relates, in The Adventure of the Three Students, how Mr. Soames, tutor and lecturer at one of the great British universities, administered brandy to his servant, Bannister. The highly nervous tutor thought his man had disturbed the examination papers on his desk; and when Bannister saw that the papers had been disturbed, he appeared as if he were about to faint. Soames immediately gave him a drink of brandy; but, in spite of the stimulant, Bannister appeared to be in a state of collapse, and threw himself into a nearby chair. We shall never know whether or not it was an actual collapse, the brandy failing to help, for later it came out that the servant was desirous of concealing something on the seat of the chair. We may safely assume, however, that in any event Bannister welcomed the proffered drink.

We learn from the pen of Dr. Watson, also, how Lady Hilda duped Constable McPherson and obtained the precious blue envelope which contained high state secrets (The Ad-venture of the Second Stain). The crestfallen constable told Holmes that, when Lady Hilda had seen the stain on the carpet, she apparently fell down in a faint. The constable rushed outside to a nearby corner to procure some brandy, but when he returned, the noble lady had disappeared. We wonder whether the constable treated himself to the drink which he had procured for her.

In two other instances—one related by Sherlock Holmes and the other by Dr. Watson—brandy was administered with a lavish hand indeed, and the inference may be drawn that the subjects probably drank about all they could decently manage. In The Adventure of the Lion's Mane, Ian Murdock, who had come into contact with the jellyfish Cyanea capillata, staggered into the room, on the verge of a collapse, crying for brandy. Holmes, in writing this tale, tells how he administered a half-tumbler of the stuff. The treatment appeared to be of some help, but the patient was still in great pain. Holmes gave him several more large drinks. Finally, Murdock's head fell upon the cushion in a state of unconsciousness. It was well that he did not attempt to get up and walk. I doubt whether he could have stood up.

In the second example, Victor Hatherly, a hydraulic engineer, had suffered a terrifying experience (The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb). In his effort to escape being crushed to death by the powerful hydraulic press, he had torn off his thumb. When he presented himself in Dr. Watson's surgery and began to tell of his ghastly experience, he became hysterical. Dr. Watson, who had given him a drink of water previously, rose to the occasion: "I dashed some brandy into the water, and the colour began to come back to his blood-less cheeks." He then proceeded to bandage the area where the thumb had been. This must have been a most painful operation indeed, and it is hoped that Dr. Watson did not spare the brandy. There is reason to believe that he did not. Since the engineer wished to report the incident, Watson took him to consult with Sherlock Holmes. The latter listened to the engineer's story, ". . . placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of brandy and water within his reach." Dr. Watson did not indicate whether the patient was able to go home under his own power.

Let us turn now to the longer tales of Sherlock Holmes. In The Sign of the Four, when Jonathan Small was telling his story to Holmes and his colleagues, the astute detective re-marked to him: ". . . you had best take a pull out of my flask, for you are very wet." And a little later: "He stopped and held out his manacled hands for the whiskey and water which Holmes had brewed for him." In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the reader will recall that the Baronet, Sir Henry, was attacked by the spectral hound and miraculously escaped death. Dr. Watson writes: "Lestrade thrust his brandy flask between the Baronet's teeth, and two frightened eyes were looking up at us." And, when Holmes asked him whether he was strong enough to stand, the Baronet replied: "Give me another mouthful of that brandy and I shall be ready for anything." Brandy was given also to the beautiful Mrs. Stapleton, the villain's wife, when she was found in her house in a pitifully exhausted state.

Dr. Watson himself had need of brandy as a stimulant at least once in his lifetime. He, like everyone else, believed that Sherlock Holmes had died with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. We cannot blame the doctor for fainting when, three years later, he saw Holmes in the flesh standing on the opposite side of the study table. Watson claims that this was the only time in his life he had ever fainted. When he regained consciousness, he found that Holmes had undone his collar and had administered brandy to him (The Adventure of the Empty House). Brandy and whiskey are, of course, used medicinally today, but probably not as frequently as several decades ago. Some scientists argue that alcohol does not cause a physiologic stimulation but rather a depression. Pharmacologically, this is true, for it is now accepted that the talkativeness and hilarity so often produced by alcohol do not indicate a true stimulation of the nervous system but a removal of the inhibition which the higher centers normally exert.

On the other hand, it is still held by many physicians, and some pharmacologists as well, that brandy and whiskey are useful therapeutic agents in emergencies. Dr. Torald Sollman, dean of American pharmacologists, feels that alcohol is a quick-acting stimulant, and has a definite place in treating conditions such as syncope, exhaustion and certain forms of shock. He attributes its effect to reflex stimulation, which accounts for its brief action.' He suggests that a dose of 25 cc. (somewhat less than an ounce) of whiskey or brandy be given, and that it be repeated every ten or fifteen minutes.

Dr. Watson, throughout his stirring adventures with Sherlock Holmes, was called upon to meet many emergencies. He was presumably justified in resorting to frequent administrations of brandy. He had ample opportunity for observing the effects of his medication, and apparently was well satisfied with his results, for he continued to employ brandy as a stimulant throughout the years. One practical justification for doing so was that it seemingly always was available. There is every reason to believe that Dr. Watson carried a flask of brandy, as did Sherlock Holmes. Even Lestrade, the dependable Scotland Yard detective, was not found wanting when the occasion demanded, as we have seen in the story of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Apparently, it was the practice of the day.

In conclusion, we may rest assured that Dr. Watson was firmly convinced that his favorite remedy, brandy, as he employed it, helped alleviate the suffering of his unfortunate fellow men. We may accept, also, that he administered it only in an emergency, and when he was morally certain that there was a real indication for its use—in short, he observed faithfully the ethics of his noble profession.