Death, where is thy sting?
I have in my hand a very rare book, one which anyone acquainted with the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will recognize. This book is probably not for sale in the entire world, and it has taken me three attempts to get a copy by interlibrary loan. I’ll give you a hint: Sherlock Holmes refers to it as “a little chocolate and silver volume.”
Yes, it is OUT OF DOORS, by the Reverend J.G. Wood. The book owes its literary interest to the fact that Holmes used a copy of it to solve a death in “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane.” Doyle read this 342 page tome, including the chapter called “Medusa and Her Locks,” which narrates a near-death encounter between Wood and a Cynae capillata jellyfish from which the story borrows heavily. Holmes’s attempt to medicate a victim with salad oil and brandy is especially reminiscent of the narrative. It goes to prove that an author can pull plot ideas from anywhere, including the pages of a natural history book.
I’ve always felt kinship with this story because I suffered a jellyfish attack in Canada as a youth. I can vouch for the extreme and heart palpitations they cause, though I cannot vouch for salad oil and brandy as a medication, because thankfully, my parents chose more modern remedies. Since then I’ve never gone to the ocean without looking for those ominous spheroid shapes.
May you never encounter a stinging jellyfish outside the pages of Doyle’s story!
Cheerio,
Will
Add comment December 6th, 2009