Text d Sherlock Holmes Lives!

In the 1880s a young doctor sat waiting for new patients who never came. To pass the time, he wrote stories about a man who was very good at solving crimes. These stories were so popular that the doctor decided to give up medicine and become a writer instead. The doctor was Ar­thur Conan Doyle and his creation - the detective, Sherlock Holmes.

Conan Doyle's first story about Holmes, "A Study in Scarlet", appeared in 1887. It is the story in which the de­tective meets his equally famous friend and colleague Dr. Watson at St Bartholo­mew's Hospital in east Lon­don. The hospital still exists today and there is a special plaque there to celebrate the occasion.

Holmes and Watson shared rooms at 221 B Baker Street in London. Many serious discus­sions have taken place about where 221 B was. Anyway, no house exists there now. In­stead, a large finance com­pany has its office nearby and has taken responsibility for the twenty or so letters which still arrive each week addres­sed to Mr. Sherlock Holmes, 221 B Baker Street. Most come from the United States and many correspondents ask if Mr. Holmes can help them with some problem, such as finding a missing relative. Replies are sent on special paper saying that: "...unfor­tunately Mr. Sherlock Holmes has now retired to Sussex and is keeping bees. He is no longer working as a detective". If he were alive today, he would be about 129 years old!

There is the Sherlock Holmes Pub near Trafalgar Square. Here an upstairs room has been made into a likeness of 221 B Baker Street, as it is described in the stories.

The room is filled with everything which Holmes and Watson would have had – Holmes's violin on a shelf, his distinctive hat and pipe, the Persian slipper in which he kept his tobacco, unanswered letters pinned to the wall with a knife, as well as the fireplace, chairs and tables.

The pub is decorated in the style of the early 1900s and the walls are covered with pictures connected with Holmes and Conan Doyle, including photos of the many actors who have played Holmes and Watson in films, on television and radio.

The 1950s was a time when many people became interes­ted in Sherlock Holmes and The Sherlock Holmes Society of London was formed in 1951. Its membership of about 500 meet three or four times a year to talk about their hero and to re-live his adventures. A good knowledge of all the stories is important for the discussions which take place and for the trips which are arranged about once a year. In 1983 a group went to South Wales to look over the area where "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" took place. And there have been two special visits to Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland - the scene of Holmes's famous struggle with Professor Moriarty. De­tails of the society's activities are published in The Sher­lock Holmes Journal and news is exchanged with the many other societies all over the world.

Text e The Crystal Skull

A life-size crystal skull sits in a glass case at the top of the stairs in London's Museum of Mankind. Its origin, age and purpose are a complete mys­tery. The label on the museum case display says simply "Crys­tal skull, possibly of Aztec origin."

The Museum of Mankind bought the skull from Tiffa­ny's the New York jewellers for 120 pounds in 1898. Nobody knows where Tiffany's got it.

And what could be the purpose of the skull? It depends on its date and origin, really. Do you think it's an unusual paper­weight, not more than one hundred years old? Or was it a religious sculpture used by Aztecs more than six hundred years ago for seeing into the future?

Several smaller crystal skulls exist, too. Experts think they were possibly decora­tions on Aztec priests’ walk­ing sticks. The Aztecs, they say, thought crystal was a very special material; it kept snakes away and it was useful for seeing into the future.

The mystery remains un­solved. Meanwhile the clean­ers who work at London's Museum of Mankind at night don't like the way the crystal skull stares at them in the dim light. They have refused to clean unless the museum managers cover the skull's case with a cloth at the end of each day.