The first metaphor I see is where Holmes says to
Watson
It may
be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of
light.
Holmes does not, of
course, mean that Watson carries light around with him or that light can go through
him. He is using light as a metaphor for wisdom or insight and is saying that Watson
has no insight but helps others to get it.
Towards the end
of Chapter 1, Mortimer says that he is
A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of
shells on the shores of the great unknown
ocean.
Of course, he does not
mean that he literally goes and picks up shells near an unknown ocean. Here he is using
shells as a metaphor for knowledge and is saying that he gets little bits of knowledge
but does not really touch the main body of the knowledge (the
ocean).
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