Armstrong – Table of Contents

he decided to try a desperate attempt to slow or reverse the process by using a method of
unknown, unproven or questionable value: namely, the administration of convalescent
blood serum to Armstrong from a patient recently recovered from psittacosis. In the
1930s there was no knowledge of the hazards of blood borne pathogens or methods for
the testing of the still undiscovered hazards of hepatitis A – E, human immunodeficiency
virus or other viral agents. Blood could still be cultured to ensure sterility against the
usual bacteria. There was also no guarantee that the administration of convalescent serum
would be effective in ameliorating the disease. Despite these reservations, McCoy called
upon Dr. Roscoe R. Spencer of the Rocky Mountain Laboratory to come east and to help
search for potential blood donors among patients recently recovered from psittacosis. (Dr.
Spencer was to be honored later that year for the development of a tick-based vaccine to
prevent Rocky Mountain spotted fever.) (13) Dr. Spencer traveled extensively around the
State of Maryland. Accounts differ about the source of the convalescent blood finally
given to Armstrong (6, 7). DeKruif reported that the blood came from an elderly lady
who graciously refused payment if the blood were to be used to try to save a life. Furman
reported that Spencer procured blood from the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,
Maryland through Dr. Harold L. Amoss. The blood was given to Armstrong who
improved immediately and recovered over a period of several weeks.
When Armstrong became ill, McCoy carried on with the investigative work
himself, confirming and rechecking the experimental findings. He forbade any of the
other Laboratory scientists to come to the basement rooms or to try to help with the work.
McCoy, himself, never became ill. Then unexpected happenings occurred. Laboratory
personnel, who had no contact with the basement area or worked in proximity to the