dégagé pipe smoking scenes .
In The Final Problem , when Holmes appears at Watson ' s house with bleeding knuckles and having survived three murder attempts the following takes place :
“ I think that you know me well enough , Watson , to understand that I am by no means a nervous man . At the same time , it is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you . Might I trouble you for a match ?” He drew in the smoke of his cigarette as if the soothing influence was grateful to him .'
If the pipe is Holmes ' counsel , the cigarette is his therapist . A nervous man he isn ' t , but nervous energy is certainly not something he is short of . When Holmes is explaining the solution to The Adventure of the Empty House he does so ' between puffs of his cigarette .' Here there are no smoke rings chasing towards the ceiling to be watched with ' langour ' or ' blue-wreathed ' smoke lending an air of meditative stillness . Rather , ' puffs ' punctuate the explanation , interrupting it as speaking and cigarette-smoking compete for Holmes ' attention . The subtext is subtle but , in light of previous associations between cigarettes and agitation , it is natural to make a similar link here .
Certainly Holmes seems to think cigarettes a calming tonic , perfect for stilling the nerves . When he offers a jittery Mr McFarlane a cigarette in The Adventure of the Norwood Builder he does so as a reasonable alternative to a ' sedative ' that Dr Watson , were he there , ' would prescribe .' Later in the same story a fitful evening of Holmes ' is related by Watson discovering the next morning that ' The carpet round his chair was littered with cigarette-ends and with the early editions of the morning papers .' A moment later Holmes ' tosses ' an open telegram to Watson in yet another impatient act , and in The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist Holmes ' tosses ' the end of a cigarette ' into the grate ' before saying ( one would imagine frustratedly ) '" I have been very obtuse ."' And what is Holmes smoking when he is ' shooting little darting glances all over the room ' in The Adventure of the Golden Pince Nez ? Of course it is a cigarette .
It would be an incomplete analysis if I did not turn my attention to cigars which Holmes does smoke , but cigars are chiefly reserved for those moments of intimate conviviality between Holmes and Watson . In The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans Holmes invites Watson to try a cigar as they sit to take coffee and curacao together , and in The Adventure of the Cardboard Box Watson and Holmes smoke them as they ' chat ' in their rooms in Baker Street . But usually cigars are reserved for other characters and often flawed ones at that .
" There is so much smoking in the books you are at risk of cancer just reading them ."
Consider the following description from The Adventure of the Devil ' s Foot : ' The huge body , the craggy and deeply seamed face with the fierce eyes and hawk-like nose , the grizzled hair which nearly brushed our cottage ceiling , the beard — golden at the fringes and white near the lips , save for the nicotine stain from his perpetual cigar — all these were as well known in London as in Africa , and could only be associated with the tremendous personality of Dr . Leon Sterndale , the great lion-hunter and explorer .' Large and thuggish , the explorer is somewhat of a Marquess of Queensbury figure . Incidentally , the next mention of his cigar in this story as when he takes his cigar from his lips and ' gazed sternly ' at Holmes . It is unlikely that the choice of the name ' Sterndale ' is a coincidence . smokers ' manifesto 07