Allan Walker Blair (1900–1948) was a professor at the University of Alabama's medical school who is best known for allowing himself to be bitten by a black widow spider in order to investigate the toxicity of its venom in humans.
After teaching pathology at the University of Alabama [1929-34], he studied surgery at the Winnipeg General Hospital in Manitoba, Canada [1934-35].
Blair chronicled the bite's effects on his body for two hours, until he could write no more and his assistants took over recording observations for the remaining two days.
[5] Approximately two hours after the bite, Allan was driven to a nearby hospital where the physicians who attended to him praised him for his courage but also for his persistence and skill in carrying on his investigation so long to such a successful conclusion.
"[6][5] Blair initially hoped to determine whether being bitten provided victims with any protection from the effects of a second bite.