What observations did Holmes make upon Dr. Mortimer's stick?
Answers
Based on the stick, Watson believes that Dr. Mortimer is an elderly, well-respected doctor who lives in the country. He further deduces that Mortimer has received this stick as a gift from a hunting club.
Holmes initially compliments Watson's detective skills, but then clarifies that he is only complimenting the way that Watson has stimulated his own thought process. Holmes examines the stick himself, and concludes that Mortimer received the stick as a gift from a hospital, rather than from a hunting club. He deduces that Mortimer was a student at this hospital, not a physician, and that he must therefore be young, not old. Further, he believes that Mortimer has withdrawn from a town hospital to begin his own practice in the country. He adds that Mortimer must be absent-minded, amiable, unambitious and a dog owner.
Answer:
The manuscript Dr Mortimer has with him was given him by the recently-deceased Sir Charles Baskerville. It is a manuscript dating from the eighteenth century and relates the legend of the Baskerville family, who are seemingly haunted by a gigantic hell-hound.