How rare is that stone? According to the Annotated Holmes, real-life carbuncles have been found in every colour except blue.

Incidentally, isn't 'carbuncle' also a Britishism for 'blister'? Fine lively imaginations they've got over there.

Side thot: Can you imagine if poor Henry Baker had managed to get the be-gemmed goose home safe? All the troubles Holmes mentions would have cleared up just like that...assuming Baker'd've been able to fence the thing...Never mind. With Henry's run of luck, he'd be more likely to find himself locked up for a crime he never committed!

I might add that Holmes deduces that the owner of the hat is intelligent. His reasoning? "It is a question of cubic capacity," meaning that the size of the hat indicates that the head contains a large--and hence intelligent--brain.

I don't believe that the 2 factors--brain size and intelligence--are related.

They aren't related, but I'm pretty sure Victorians believed they were. So while Holmes is incorrect, it's not a nit.

I was at a witchcraft site the other day where they said that 'carbuncle' was another term for 'ruby'. But this interpretation makes no sense, because blue rubies are called sapphires, which are mostly blue. The hunt for the carbuncle continues!

BTW, 'carbuncle' is a word for blisters, boils etc. . . especially big ones.

They can't be that much of idiots. They know how to spell and construct sentences properly.

One post moved to the Garbage Dump.

Butch the Roving Mod

"How rare is that stone? According to the Annotated Holmes, real-life carbuncles have been found in every colour except blue."

Especially odd since the definition of carbuncle specifies that it is red.