Oswald Avery

"In view of the fact that lobar pneumonia is prevalent in military camps in the United States, and that at present it is impossible to obtain white mice in sufficient numbers for carrying out the biologic tests necessary in the determination of types of pneumococcus, a rapid cultural method dispensing with the use of these animals is now proposed."

"The reports of various observers indicate that great difference of opinion exists concerning the etiologic significance of B. influenza in the present epidemic of influenza. Some investigators have been able to isolate this organism from a large percentage of the cases that they have observed; others have succeeded in recovering it in very few instances. It is possible that technical difficulties in the isolation and growth of this microorganism may be in part responsible for the discordant results obtained in different laboratories."

"At Colgate University he tied for first prize in an oratory contest with classmate Harry Emerson Fosdick ... Avery also played cornet well enough to have performed in concert with the National Conservatory of Music—a concert conducted by Antonin Dvořák—and he often drew ink caricatures and painted landscapes."

"None of Avery's former colleagues have been able to explain his extraordinary success in training young scientists. Even though his research group was never very large, a remarkable number of those who passed through his laboratory emerged as leaders in medical microbiology."