Hello All Fellow Sherlockians,

The mention of phrenology is very interesting, and as I recall there
are several mentions of head or skull dimensions and relation to
intelligence. But I feel that clearly... Holmes as a brilliant
observer would no doubt have made the correlation that, there are
many small people with tiny heads who are extremely
intelligent ....and conversly there are many big people with large
heads who happen to be quite stupid........such is the real life
test and experience Holmes would have seen time and time again. The
placement of the various lumps, ridges and other surface deviations
may or may not be significant. So I have a difficult time believing
Holmes would have paid any serious credence to this science at the
time. As an apocryphal tale....the inclusion of phrenology in a
Holmes monograph would be quite interesting to read. However...in
that time period there was in vogue...the correlation of appearence
in determining possible or probable guilt. "shifty eyes" "evil
grin" etc etc....... some of this is taken seriously at the time
and I think there was a latin phrase that kind of sums it all up,
monstrum en fronte......monstrum en animo

As for ACD, I have read some observations on his scientific views,
and it seems his belief in dematerialization, fairies and even
palmistry ...only echo quite truely..........how far we have come in
the last hundred years....he was cutting edge at his
zenith.......and who is to say that some things we do now, will not
bear the scrutiny of future generations ....irrespective of initial
intentions no matter how good or innocent or even....scientific...


I also want to say this direction of discussion and contributions
from others is refreshing and it heartens me to see additional views
and deductions from our esteemed members.

As for the motorcycle he may have (probably) ridden .......after
some research and opinions from others, I believe it is most likely
he rode a Royal Enfield (with a Minerva engine) to begin and later
may have switched to either BSA or Matchless. (I tried to find what
motorcycle was most used by the Brits in WW1,no luck) Though I would
secretly have liked to find a way he would have been given a Harley
Davidson or Indian model by a client as payment for some small
service.

So does anyone else feel the Royal Enfield Motorcycle would have
been the most likely vehicle to occupy the parking spot in front of
221 Baker St......watched over by a few odd Baker Street
Irregulars????


I remain,

an SHSI member in good standing (until told otherwise) number unknown
(did anyone ever keep track of what our SHSI number is when we
joined?)

James27Word