George Bull, an old-fashioned New England village doctor, has seen the youth of the town from babies through measles to marriage and more babies. He has developed a wise, unpretentious philosophy which he frequently illuminates, and has remained a bachelor. In a neighboring town, Doctor Verney, with the aid of the socially elite Herbanning and his wife, attempts to establish, in competition to Dr. Bull's old-fashioned methods, an impressive, bristling-with-gadgets medical practice. Banning's married daughter, May Typping, opposes his attempts to out Dr. Bull, and is aided by the widow of Bull's longtime best friend, Jane Cardmaker. Dr. Bull doesn't know why he has never proposed to Jane, and his town enemies spread malicious gossip. After pledging to prevent such a thing, Banning's construction camp contaminates the water supply, and Dr. Bull works around the clock to combat the ensuing typhoid epidemic; his efforts are successful and also discredit both Banning and his protégé. Dr. Bull finally wins world recognition with a new paralysis cure for May's husband, and after he and Jane marry, he returns to his good-natured, old-fashioned practice.