Chapter 37 Summary

Back at Skedale House, Herriot is operating on a dog to remove a rubber ball from its stomach. As he stitches the wound, Dr. Farnon walks in to observe. Dr. Farnon's presence makes Herriot very nervous as he tries to finish. Finally, Dr. Farnon yells at Herriot for using too much suture material and lectures him on the importance of thrift. Dr. Farnon finishes suturing the dog with minute strands of catgut and the least amount of cotton and dusting powder that he can.

A few weeks later, Herriot assists Dr. Farnon with an operation on a colt. The colt impaled himself on a fence post and has a great deal of damage to his chest. Once Dr. Farnon has cleaned the wound, he instructs Herriot to take over. Remembering his earlier lecture, Herriot begins to stitch the muscles back into place using...