Heart and Science

Ovid Vere, a brilliant young doctor, is advised to take a long rest to save his health. His formidable mother, Mrs Gallilee, has remarried and he has two step-sisters. The day before Ovid is due to go away he follows an attractive girl in the street to a concert which his mother also attends. The girl faints and is discovered to be Carmina Graywell, Mrs Gallilee's niece from Italy, accompanied by her old nurse, Teresa.

Carmina soon recovers and Mrs Gallilee is appointed her guardian and will receive generous expenses for her trouble. Ovid takes Carmina, Zo, Maria and their governess Miss Minerva to the zoo where they meet Dr Benjulia, a specialist in diseases who has an unpleasant reputation as a vivisectionist.