Fleming proved penicillin "non toxic to animals, even in large doses", says Florey and Chain

Soldiers with guns. In our cities. We're not making this up.

Florey and Chain really did say that about Fleming, in their famous  penicillin grant application to the British Medical Research Council in September 1939.

It hardly squares with their claim for a place in the eternal scientific sun for finally doing the animal tests that Fleming didn't do.

 But it does explain why they didn't do any animal testing with  penicillin between Spring 1938 to Spring 1940 - and only then over Florey's loudly protesting dead body.

Why bother?

"Fleming's already done that."

But if the tests had been done in Spring '38, we might have had plenty of commercial penicillin by September 1939.... saving many,many lives...