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With the advent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, the development of the modern private detective begins.

Sherlock Holmes is not merely an individualist ; ;

he is very close to being a mental case.

A brief list of the great detective's little idiosyncrasies would provide Dr. Freud with ample food for thought.

Holmes is addicted to the use of cocaine and other refreshing stimulants ; ;

he is prone to semi-catatonic trances induced by the playing of the vioiln ; ;

he is a recluse, an incredible egotist, a confirmed misogynist.

Holmes rebels against the social conventions of his day not on moral but rather on aesthetic grounds.

His eccentricity begins as a defense against boredom.

It was in order to avoid the stuffy routine of middle class life that Holmes became a detective in the first place.

As he informs Watson, `` My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence.

These little problems help me to do so ''.

Holmes is a public servant, to be sure ; ;

but the society which he serves bores him to tears.