Watson narrates that he and Holmes were pleased with their new rooms and living arrangement. Holmes was not difficult to live with, as he had regular hours and was often out. He did have occasional bouts of lethargy and immobility, which Watson believed were not related to drugs because of the man's "temperance and cleanliness."
Watson was incredibly interested in Holmes and his mysterious doings; he had a copious amount of free time while regaining his health as well as a lack of friends in London to occupy his time. Holmes was clearly not studying medicine, Watson concluded, and he was not perusing any other degree. His knowledge seemed exact and desultory, focused on several small things and amazingly lacking in others. In particular, Watson was shocked that Holmes had never heard of the Copernican discovery of Earth's revolutions around the sun; Holmes responded that this was because "it is of the highest importance...not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.