I think on one level Doyle coined a useful descriptive shorthand for the fallacy that smarter people have bigger brains. The literal egg-head appearance, as it were. But it's definitely true that Stout and T.S. Eliot were making use of specific references to Moriarty, and that's an interesting catch!
(no subject)
Date: 2015-09-06 06:51 pm (UTC)