1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: I'm Fair Dowdy and I'm de Blaine and Chalker Boardy, 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: and today we're going to explore a mystery about one 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: of the most iconic mystery solvers out there, Sherlock Holmes. 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: Holmes being Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle's consulting detective, the 7 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: hawk face super sleuth who has always been able to 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: somehow use his powers of deduction to solve mysteries and 9 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 1: always get the bad guys. He always knows what's going on, 10 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: even if he looks like he's in a haze of 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: opium or whatnot. I think it was cocaine, but who 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: who's counting of cotton. Doyle he wasn't really the first 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: to invent the modern detective story, but he did introduce 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: this kind of science of detailed observation and classification into it, which, 15 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: as we'll see later, has actually some influence. It's had 16 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: some influence on the field of forensics. Yeah. But even 17 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: if you haven't read any of his writing, you probably 18 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: know the character of Sherlock Holmes. I mean, he's in 19 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: everything you've probably been played Sherlock Holmes as a kid 20 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,199 Speaker 1: like playing detective. But I mean there's mentions in other 21 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: literary works like novels. There's that recent movie starring Robert 22 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: Downey Jr. There's even a new BBC television series which 23 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: I think it kind of modernizes the whole thing. Yeah, 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: there's some controversy around these modern takes on homes. Some 25 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: of the true sherlockyans, the fervent Sherlock Holmes fans, don't 26 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: really like the fact that in the new series he's 27 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 1: using cell phones and text messaging and so forth. But 28 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: you know, these are the times and and this is 29 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: the homes that we have now. But even even though 30 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: Colmes is of such a big part of our consciousness 31 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: and such a big part of pop culture, a lot 32 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: of people probably couldn't tell you if he's real. And 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: that's a that's a big question that's out there. And 34 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: if you go on the Internet and you google is 35 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes real, you'll find maybe some different opinions about that. 36 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: Some people think maybe he's based on a real person, 37 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: an actual detective who worked for Scotland Yard. Some people 38 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: think that he's based on Conan Doyle himself, or he's 39 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: completely made up, or he could be just completely fiction, 40 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: and in fact he is fiction, but he was based 41 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,239 Speaker 1: on an actual person. And that's what we're going to 42 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about today. But before we get 43 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: into that, let's take a minute to take a closer 44 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: look at Doyle and what led him to his homes inspiration. Yeah. 45 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: So Conan Doyle was born May eighteen fifty nine in Edinburgh, Scotland. 46 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: He was the second of a huge family ten kids, 47 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: and his father had a lot of trouble in business 48 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: and life. He was a failed architect. He was an alcoholic. 49 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: But fortunately Conan Doyle's mother nurtured his love of history 50 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: and storytelling, helped him along, you know, helped develop his 51 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 1: imagination and inspired him to read po and Burne and 52 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Jonathan Swift. So he was a creative child, yet he 53 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: got an artistic side through his mom. He continued his 54 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: education in England. He had some schooling there and then 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: he went to Austria for about a year or so, 56 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: I think, before returning to Scotland to prepare for entry 57 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: into the University of Edinburgh Medical School, which is another 58 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: surprise I think for a lot of people that he 59 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: had a medical background. Yes, he had some medical aspirations 60 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: um and actually ended up getting his Bachelor of Medicine 61 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: and Master of Surgery qualifications in eighteen eighty one and 62 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: an m d in eighteen eighty five. He even went 63 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: on to have a sort of a semi successful medical career. 64 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: He I think he practiced for at least ten years 65 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: or so, so he didn't have to be spending all 66 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: his time writing detective fiction. Well, I think that was 67 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: what he wanted to be doing. He was writing even 68 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: while he was practicing as a doctor. That's he started 69 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: the Sherlock Holmes series at that time, started writing stories, 70 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,040 Speaker 1: so it was definitely there from the beginning. But it 71 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: was someone that he had met his second year of 72 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: medical school who really inspired this literary character that Conan 73 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: Doyle became so famous for, and that was Dr Joseph Bell. Yeah. 74 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: So Kennon Doyle clerked for this doctor Bell in the 75 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: Royal Infirmary and he he was just sort of his assistant, 76 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: you know, he interviewed new patients before they went in 77 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: to see the doctor. But this is interesting part. Bell 78 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: didn't really need that assistance because it seemed like he 79 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: always kind of knew what was going on with his 80 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: new patients, sometimes before he even saw them. Yeah, it 81 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: was kind of freaky. For lack of a better word, 82 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: it would call it freaky. Connan Doyle would take notes, 83 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: diligently interviewed these patients they'd come in, and his mentor, 84 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: doctor Bell, would somehow know what was going on. These 85 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: people were total strangers, new patients, he'd never met them before, 86 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: but he would be able to say things like how 87 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: they make their living, where they from, even maybe where 88 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: they'd been that day. And Condo was really impressed by 89 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: the skill and that's why, as anyone would be, I 90 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: would be. But it's interesting, they're not actually friends and 91 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: you might think, um, this impressionable young Conan Doyle would 92 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: try to build a relationship with this guy, especially since 93 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: he becomes such a major influence on his character later. 94 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: But yeah, they're they're not good buddies. In Bell's journals, 95 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 1: which he kept from the eighteen sixties until his death, uh, 96 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: there's no mention of Doyle, so you know they must have. 97 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: He must have not had a huge impression on the doctor. 98 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: He would think, I mean, if I don't write in 99 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: a journal, but if I were to write in a journal, 100 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: I'd probably write about my best friends and the people 101 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: who are a big influence in my life. And he 102 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: did not appear there. That journal was actually on display 103 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: at an exhibit that the Royal College of Surgeons in 104 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: Edinburgh has about Conan, Doyle and Bell and the real 105 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: trilat Holmes. Still it's a permanent display there and he 106 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: has that some letters and so what they What we 107 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: can entertain from that is that they weren't that close. 108 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: But still conn and Doyle must have been inspired by 109 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: this skill, this like guessing power that the doctor had. 110 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: So that makes us wonder how did the doctor do this? 111 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: How is he able to determine all of these minute 112 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: details about someone's life before he really talked to them. 113 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: Hold that thought. We're going to get into that a 114 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: little more. First, a little bit of background on Bell. 115 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: He was born in eighty seven and he was born 116 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: into really a medical focused family. His dad, his uncles 117 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: were all well known surgeons. They were all involved in 118 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: the medical field, so he kind of followed in their footsteps. 119 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 1: He was educated at the Academy and the University in 120 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: Edinburgh and practiced as a doctor in Scotland. He was 121 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: described as being a thin, wiry guy, had a high nose, 122 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: acute face, penetrating gray eyes, and a high discordant voice 123 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: which sounds like somebody else I can think. Yep, it's true. 124 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: A lot of these features, like the nose especially, are 125 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: thought to be very homes like, and people say that 126 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: Bell even wore a cloaked coat in a deer stalker hat, 127 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: which which are homes trademarks. He even has the costume on, 128 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: he even has the outfit. Yeah, and he's he's kind 129 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: of an interesting guy, not just the super focused doctor, 130 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: but he's an amateur poet and a bird watcher and 131 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: an average shooter when he's not busy with you know, 132 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: medicine and that sort of thing. So he has these 133 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: interesting hobbies. I guess you'd say, definitely, But his main 134 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: focus still is medicine, and in his profession he did 135 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: a lot of things of note. He started Scotland's first 136 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: training course for nurses, which is kind of a big deal, 137 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: and agreed to teach some of the first female medical 138 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: students too, even though that was pretty controversial at the time. 139 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: There was a lot of prejudice against these women who 140 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: wanted a study medicine. He was also Queen Victoria's a 141 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: personal physician whenever she was in Scotland, which I find 142 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: very interesting and I swear Queen Victoria like makes an 143 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: appearance in almost every podcast she works away. Yeah, she 144 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: apparently checked out his words and liked what she saw 145 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: and decided to make him her personal doctor. So one 146 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: of the things he was best known for, besides all 147 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: of these accolades and positions of prominence, was for teaching 148 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: a particular method for diagnosing patients. And we've alluded to 149 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: that a little bit before, with his experience and being 150 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: able to identify certain things about patients before even interviewing them, 151 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: And basically what this all comes down to is that 152 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: he thought it was important to make a study of people, 153 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: both in order to notice the small details that distinguished 154 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: the sick from the healthy, and also just to impress 155 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: patients with your knowledge of of them so that they'll 156 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: put their faith in you. Yeah, I mean it. It 157 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: worked for his assistant. You can imagine that it would 158 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: work for his patients pretty well too, definitely, And so 159 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: he told his students that a diagnosis rested on three 160 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: things observed of carefully, did you shrewdly and confirm with evidence, 161 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: and he put this into practice for them too. Yeah, 162 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: we have an example for you that is just kind 163 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: of outrageous. There's a woman walks in with a little child, 164 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: and the doctor immediately says, oh, how is your walk 165 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: from this small town in Fife? And did you have 166 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: to walk up the ever life row? And what do 167 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: you do with the other one? And are you still 168 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: working at the linoleum factory. Okay, that's a lot of 169 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: really specific personal question, very specific stuff. And this was 170 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: all without ever having met her before. This was their 171 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: first encounter. And and oh, I shouldn't mention here that 172 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: this is all sort of our English translation from the 173 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 1: Scottish vernacular at the time, which I didn't think we 174 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: should attempt to pronounce. But maybe next time, maybe next time, 175 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: we'll give that a try. After a few beers. But 176 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: he had never met her before, It's how did he 177 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: do this. He quickly noticed small things about her, her 178 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: Fife accent. That's how we recognized she was from Fife. 179 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: The red clay on her shoes, which could have only 180 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: come from the botanical gardens area, which was near the road. 181 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: That he asked her if she had walked up that's 182 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: like something that would happen on a detective show. Totally. 183 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: The coach she had slung over her arm was too 184 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:24,599 Speaker 1: big for the child who was with her, so it 185 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: must have been for another kid, which means that she 186 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,959 Speaker 1: must have left home with two kids. And she had 187 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: dermatitis on her right hand, which was peculiar to workers 188 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: who worked in the specific linoleum factory in that town 189 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: where he had ascertained that she was from. So all 190 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: of these really super specific minute details. He suddenly put 191 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: that together upon meeting her, who knows, maybe in the 192 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 1: matter of seconds, and decided that it was correct. And 193 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: sure enough, she answered each question in this conversation. She 194 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: was like, yep, I left the kid with my sister. Um, yeah, 195 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: it was a good walk. I mean, she answered all 196 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: of these questions in the affirmative and proved that he 197 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: had ascertained correctly. Who would have thought he was a 198 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: wizard or something. I don't know. I think that would 199 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: disturb me a little bit if somebody was that spot 200 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: on about everything. Yeah. I don't know if I would 201 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: have been exactly encouraged either, But it worked for a 202 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,839 Speaker 1: lot of people. And it turns out that people say 203 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: that he was right most of the time, but if 204 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't, there were occasions where the patient would say, oh, 205 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: that's not correct, and a lot of times he would 206 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: then go further and expose that they were lying. Yeah, 207 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: which is kind of I mean, taking it a step further, 208 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: but um, not exactly living up to the point of 209 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: putting your patients at ease at that point, I guess 210 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: probably not, but at least getting the job done, which 211 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: is getting to the heart of the problem. His goal 212 00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: was diagnosing, so he got to the truth one way 213 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: or another most of the time. Yeah, And I mean 214 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: he recognized that this was a valuable skill for his profession, 215 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: and so he wanted to train his students to have 216 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: the same abilities and taught them to look for those 217 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: really specific details that gave someone away, you know, like 218 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: everything from the way a person walked, for instance, a 219 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: sailor would walk differently from a soldier. Um, look at 220 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: their hands, which hands are not only give you big 221 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: clues about someone's age, but maybe even a person's profession. 222 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: And he even went so far as to say that 223 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: you could tell the difference between different types of callouses 224 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: on the hands tell what somebody did based on that. Yeah, 225 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: Like he he asserted that a mason would have different 226 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: types of callouses than say a carpenter or something, and 227 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: that he could by observing you could guess which profession 228 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: a person was in. And then also some more obvious 229 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: things too, like ornaments and tattoos and clothing and posture 230 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: and just a person's overall demeanor, things that might give 231 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: away where they're from, where they're going, what's going on, 232 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: where they've traveled, all those kind of things. And he 233 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: also had them closely studied subjects that could help them 234 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: make certain distinctions when they were coming up with diagnoses, 235 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: such as diverse odors of poisons, even perfumes. They had 236 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: to sort of sample all these things and learn, I 237 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: guess the technical aspect of it too, not just looking 238 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 1: at okay, what does this person have on them? What 239 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: markings can I see? But also can I recognize certain sense, 240 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: certain taste, certain sites. Yeah, And the way he did 241 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: that with maybe sometimes a little questionable yep. According to 242 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 1: UH column A two nine column and The Forensic Examiner, 243 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: written by Dr Catherine Ramslin, she describes this funny kind 244 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: of training exercise or trick that Bell used with his 245 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: students when teaching them. His method basically had this gross 246 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 1: container of amber colored fluid, which he told them up 247 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: front was disgusting bitter tasting, but he told them that 248 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: it was a potent drug, and since they needed to 249 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: learn how various substances taste and smell, they should follow 250 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: his example and taste it right now. So he stuck 251 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: a finger in it, licks a finger, and then they 252 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: all have to do the same, and sure enough passed 253 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: it around. He's correct bitter tasting, and they all agree 254 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: with everyone's grossed out. And then at the end, though, 255 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: Bell tells him that they've missed the most important part. 256 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: The finger that he dipped into the liquid wasn't the 257 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: same one that he tasted, so he didn't actually taste 258 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: this disgusting stuff at all. Yeah, so they hadn't really 259 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: observed him at all. They had missed the most important thing, 260 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: even though they'd been looking straight at them. So this 261 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: was a key lesson in his method that he was 262 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: trying to teach a magician. He could have. So Bell 263 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: didn't just use this method for teaching and to help 264 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: his patients. He also used it to help solve crimes 265 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: in a homes esque sort of way. So there's another 266 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: little connection that we can see there. He actually admitted 267 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: to a reporter in the eighteen nineties that he had 268 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: been involved for about twenty years, two decades or so, 269 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: that he had been working on criminal cases for the crown, 270 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: but he wouldn't divulge any details about this. But RAN's Land, 271 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: that author we mentioned earlier, asserted that he was involved 272 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: in a few really big cases, and one of them 273 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: was the case of Elizabeth Chantrelle. She was this young 274 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: woman who was murdered by her no good husband, Eugene Chantrelle, 275 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: for her insurance money, and he tried to make it 276 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: seem like it was an accidental death, that she had 277 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: been killed by coal gas poisoning. But Bell worked with 278 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: a toxicologist from the university named Sir Henry little John 279 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: and helped prove that trell had actually been poisoned. She 280 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: hadn't been poisoned by the gas. She had been poisoned 281 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: by something else entirely, and her husband had staged the 282 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: room and staged the murder to make it look like 283 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: she had died from the gas leak. Yeah. I mean, 284 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: this guy didn't do any favors. He had pretty much 285 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: made it clear that he wanted to kill his wife 286 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: because he had insured her life around this time, and 287 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: then sure enough later when she fell ill. He tried 288 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: to blame it on this gas leak, but they found 289 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: out that it was narcotic poisoning. And I think he 290 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: was also involved in the Jack the Ripper case. You 291 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: may have heard of it. You may have heard of 292 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: this exciting case. Several sources more than just Ramslin, they 293 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: connect Bell to this case, but there's no real record 294 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: that reveals who he suspected, which one of the suspects 295 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: he thought was the real killer involved here. Yeah, and 296 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: he worked with Little John the toxicologist again on this one, 297 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: studied the case and did handwriting analysis of the Ripper letters. 298 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: And this part is really sad. But the two men 299 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: prepared reports on it and set them to Scotland Yard. 300 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: But apparently the reports don't exist anymore. Yeah, it would 301 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: be nice to know what his guess was, I think so. 302 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 1: I mean, he seems like a pretty reliable source. He'd 303 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: be as good as anything we have for the Ripper murders, definitely. 304 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 1: But he believed that this method, when used in solving crimes, 305 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: was superior to the tunnel vision of ordinary cops. Um. 306 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: What that means basically is that ordinary policeman, this is 307 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: Bell's opinion, when they come up with the theory, they 308 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: come up with the theory first, and then they try 309 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: to find the facts to support that. He believed in 310 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: getting the facts first and then making observations and deductions 311 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: to come up with an ultimate hypothesis until it all 312 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: makes sense, until it all makes sense. And he did 313 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,679 Speaker 1: think that you could come up with a hypothesis and 314 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: use that as a guide, but he believed that you 315 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: should be flexible and accept new facts that come along 316 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: and use that to kind of revise it along the way. Yeah, 317 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: don't become a slave to your hypothesis. So maybe indirectly 318 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:15,159 Speaker 1: through holmes character, Bell's approach to solving crimes has been 319 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: a big influence in kind of combining forensic science and 320 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,160 Speaker 1: crime investigation, which we see a lot of today. It's 321 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: kind of the norm, but he was a bit of 322 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: an influence on that. One main example of this is 323 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: Edmund Lockard. Sherlock Holmes was one of his big heroes, 324 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: and Lockard established the world's first private crime lab in 325 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, which was just a year before Bell died. 326 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: So clearly very influenced indirectly by Bell's work. Yep. Still 327 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: today there's the Joseph Bell Center for Forensics, Statistics and 328 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: Legal Reasoning in Edinburgh, which was established in two thousand one, 329 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: and there they still honor and use Bell's methods and 330 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: approach to teaching forensics, statistics, law, artificial intelligence and ontological studies. Yeah. 331 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: So useful stuff today. But after you hear a little 332 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: bit about this guy, Joseph Bell, it seems like the 333 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: connection to Sherlock Holmes is very obvious. I mean, it's 334 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: easy to see how he would have led to his 335 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:22,719 Speaker 1: character's creation. But it's we're not just like finding convenient 336 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: comparisons and making it all match up. There's more than that, 337 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,359 Speaker 1: there's actual evidence behind it. I think Bell would be proud. 338 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: Bell would definitely approve there's some hard evidence to back 339 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,719 Speaker 1: it up. In a letter to Bell on May fourth, 340 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: which is still owned by Bell's ascendants, Conan Doyle said 341 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: this quote, it is most certainly to you that I 342 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: owe Sherlock Holmes. And though in the stories I have 343 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: the advantage of being able to place the detective and 344 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: all sorts of dramatic positions, I do not think that 345 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: his analytical work is in the least an exaggeration of 346 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: similar effects which I have seen you produce in the 347 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,479 Speaker 1: out patient ward. Yeah, so that pretty much steals it. 348 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: That's it. And Belle was really humble about this. You 349 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 1: would think maybe if you have kind of Doyle right 350 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: to you and say you are Sherlock Holmes, you might 351 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: brag about that a little bit. I would think it 352 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 1: was pretty cool. I would think it was definitely cool. 353 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: But he basically said later that Conan Doyle had made 354 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: a bigger deal out of out of what there was, 355 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: and that Sherlock Holmes was really Conan Doyle, you know, 356 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,120 Speaker 1: it was his genius was a result of Conan Doyle's 357 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: own talents in his own training. And he even said, quote, 358 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: you yourself are Sherlock Holmes, and you well know it. 359 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: So here he is just kind of denying this major 360 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: influence and maybe he just didn't want the attention. He 361 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: was happy enough with his with his own accolades, accomplishments. Yeah, 362 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: and what he said isn't entirely untrue either. Conan Doyle 363 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: does seem to have added a little bit of himself 364 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,919 Speaker 1: off to holmes character. As a lot of writers do 365 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: in their works. His eccentric personality, Holmes's eccentric personality, that is, 366 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: for example, many people often attribute that to the author. 367 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: Bill was actually kind of a nice, charming guy, right. 368 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: He was known to be really carrying, funny, compassionate, whereas 369 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,199 Speaker 1: conn and Doyle I think was more prone to having 370 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: maybe what was closer or not manic depression as Holmes did. 371 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: Holmes character did, but maybe something closer to that type 372 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,120 Speaker 1: of personality. You wouldn't want him to be your personal 373 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: doctor maybe if you were Queen Victoria. Definitely, but I 374 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,439 Speaker 1: think Cabell fit the Bill a little better. Um. They 375 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: We also see different influences from other people who lived 376 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: in Edinburgh at the time and that during that same 377 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: period who show up as part of Holmes character, such 378 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: as Sir Robert Christensen, who was another professor at the university, 379 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: and he is said to have influenced holmes knowledge of poisons. 380 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: So it's a mix, yeah, as as most characters are. 381 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: I'd say, yeah, but I mean still in terms of 382 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 1: that basic method and approach, Bell definitely inspired Home and 383 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: Holmes still has a lot of influence on characters today. Definitely. 384 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 1: One notable example, Dr Gregg House on the show House 385 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: the House creator David Shore has even acknowledged that Doctor 386 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: was inspired by Holmes. Well, and it's funny because I 387 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: mean when I was reading about Bell in his sort 388 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: of gotcha things that he would do with his patients, 389 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: I mean I did think of House right away. I 390 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: definitely did too. And I think that I've even heard 391 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 1: that before that Sherlott Holmes was an inspiration for House. 392 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,359 Speaker 1: But I just assumed, maybe as many people have, that 393 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,400 Speaker 1: it was just the detective part of it, the part 394 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: where House always has to solve the mystery in the 395 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: kind of grumpy demeanor exactly. But now I can see 396 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: that it's actually closer to the original idea than I suspectedly. 397 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: All Right, well, I think that about wraps that for 398 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: the real Sherlock Holmes here. But we're definitely curious about 399 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: what your favorite home story is. We were trying to 400 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: pick ours and couldn't quite decide, So if you want 401 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: to email us, you can find us at History Podcast 402 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. We're also on Twitter 403 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: at Miston History and we have a Facebook fan page. 404 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: So lots of ways to share your favorite mystery. Yes, 405 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 1: there are, and if you want to find out a 406 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: little bit more about some of the ideas that we 407 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: talked about here, such as luck Ards exchange principle and 408 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: how that worked. You can find it by coming to 409 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: our homepage and typing in luck Ards exchange principle, and 410 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: that's at www. Dot how stuff works dot com. For 411 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, is that 412 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. The how stuff Works dot 413 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,439 Speaker 1: Com i phone app is coming soon. Get access to 414 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,439 Speaker 1: our content in a new way, Articles, but is and 415 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,640 Speaker 1: more all on the go. Check out the latest podcasts 416 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,400 Speaker 1: and blog post and see what we're saying on Facebook 417 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: and Twitter. Coming soon to iTunes, m