December 16: "Chemist" (from Michael JG Meathook)
"I've found it! I've found it!" he shouted to my companion, running toward us with a test tube in his hand. "I have found a reagent which is precipitated by hemoglobin, and by nothing else." Had he discovered a gold mine, greater delight could not have shone upon his features.
From the very first moment I met Sherlock Holmes I knew of his skill and passion for chemistry. I confess it was not a subject I excelled in while in school; I received respectable marks in all of my courses, but chemistry consistently came in the lowest. But as I came to appreciate Sherlock Holmes as a detective and as a friend, I also came to appreciate him as a chemist. When he was in his more amiable moods, he would sometimes walk through experiments with me, sketching diagrams upon the chalkboard and asking me to predict reactions before they happened. Though my younger self could never have imagined spending a lazy Saturday afternoon engaged in chemistry, my middle-aged self rather enjoyed the diversions.