Chapter 28 Summary

Jeff Mallock, the local knacker, is introduced in this chapter. A knacker is similar to today's rendering plant workers, but in Herriot's time, these plants were usually run by one person instead of a corporation. A knacker's job is to remove dead animals, cut them apart, and use the different parts for various needs, such as bone meal, soap, and glue. Mallock is also the town coroner for animal cases, and in some ways the locals trust his opinions more than the veterinarians'.

Mallock's ideas are strange, such as worms in a cow's tail or milk tumors, but the people still believe him. He enters this story as the last ditch hope for Cranford, a local farmer who needs to have his cow diagnosed as being killed by lightning for insurance purposes. Herriot refuses to give a diagnosis of lightning death because the...