Frederick Slare
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Frederick Slare or Slear (1647?–1727) was an English physician and chemist, a follower of
Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...
and
Thomas Sydenham Thomas Sydenham (; 10 September 1624 – 29 December 1689) was an England, English physician. He was the author of ''Observationes Medicae'' (1676) which became a standard textbook of medicine for two centuries so that he became known as 'The ...
.


Early life

Born in
Old, Northamptonshire Old (previously Wold and before that Wolde) is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 308 people, and the population increased to 490 at the 2011 Census. Old ...
, Slare was the son of Frederick Schloer, the German rector there, and Anna, daughter of Ralph Malory of
Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire * Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire * Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedf ...
;
Theodore Haak Theodore Haak (1605 in – 1690 in London) was a German Calvinist scholar, resident in England in later life. Haak's communications abilities and interests in the new science provided the backdrop for convening the " 1645 Group", a precursor of ...
was a cousin of his father. After studying at the
University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...
from 1666, he lodged with Haak for a time, and began work as a laboratory assistant to Robert Boyle. He was corresponding with
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
, by 1673.


FRS and physician

Introduced by
Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath who was active as a physicist ("natural philosopher"), astronomer, geologist, meteorologist, and architect. He is credited as one of the first scientists to investigate living ...
to the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
on 3 July 1679 to show experiments on
spermatozoa A spermatozoon (; also spelled spermatozoön; : spermatozoa; ) is a motile sperm cell (biology), cell produced by male animals relying on internal fertilization. A spermatozoon is a moving form of the ploidy, haploid cell (biology), cell that is ...
, then recently discovered by
Leeuwenhoek Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " t ...
, Slare was recommended for election by Haak. He was admitted Fellow on 16 December 1680, and became a member of the council on 30 November 1682. From early 1683 he and
Edward Tyson Edward Tyson (20 January 1651 – 1 August 1708) was an English scientist and physician. He is commonly regarded as the founder of modern comparative anatomy, which compares the anatomy between species. Biography Tyson was born the son of Edward ...
acted as Curators of Experiments for the society, and Slare was very active in this role for about 18 months. Slare graduated M.D. at the
University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...
in 1679; and was admitted M.D. at Oxford on 9 September 1680. He was a candidate of the
Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...
on 25 June 1681, and Fellow on 25 June 1685. He acted as censor in 1692, 1693, and 1708; elector on 21 September 1708; and was member of the council from 1716 until his death. Slare had a large practice in London. In 1709 he organised support for German emigrants from the Palatinate, bringing together John Tribbeko, John Chamberlayne and others. He retired to the country before 1715.


Later life

Slare had religious interests, was a founder member of the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a United Kingdom, UK-based Christians, Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christians, Christian faith in the Un ...
(SPCK) and
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organisation (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Pa ...
, and was a friend of John Floyer. In 1714 and 1715 he made benefactions to two church livings. He was one of the Commissioners for Relieving poor Proselytes; the Society for Relieving Poor Proselytes, from 1717 to the end of the 1720s, directed funds mostly to immigrant converts from Catholicism, and was an initiative of Henry Newman of the SPCK. Anthony William Boehm, a friend, died in his
Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
home in 1722. Boehm and Slare supplied
John Le Neve John Le Neve (1679–1741) was an English antiquary, known for his '' Fasti Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ'' ("Feasts of the Anglican Church"), a work of English church biography which has been published in many subsequent editions. Origins He was born on ...
with materials for his memoir of the Protestant traveller
Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf (20 December 1655 – 25 January 1712) was a German Pietist, secretary to Prince George of Denmark, and ecumenical traveller. He is known also as a linguist. Life Ludolf was the nephew of Hiob Ludolf the linguist. He acted ...
; through Slare Ludolf had met Edmund Calamy. Slare supported his project to have the New Testament translated into
modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...
, with
Henry Hoare Henry Hoare II (1705–1785), known as Henry the Magnificent, was an English banker and garden owner-designer. Family Henry's grandfather, Richard Hoare, was a goldsmith-banker and Lord Mayor of London. His father, Henry Hoare I, bought th ...
, and Sir John Philipps, 4th Baronet. Hoare, Slare and Francis Lee were leaders in the
charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...
movement in England, and also in close touch with
August Hermann Francke August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar. His evangelistic fervour and pietism got him expelled as lecturer from the universities of Dresden and ...
and the Pietists. Slare died on 12 September 1727, in his eightieth year. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining Greenwich churchyard, where an inscription on his gravestone read "Societatis de promovendo Evangelium in partibus transmarinis socius". His sister Jane (died 4 April 1734, aged 80) was buried next to him.


Works

Slare for some years regularly attended at the meetings of the Royal Society, to which he showed experiments on
phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...
, one of which he repeated after dinner at the house of
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
. Phosphorus had been one of the chemical directions he had followed in working for Boyle: with
Ambrose Godfrey Ambrose Godfrey-Hanckwitz FRS (1660 – 15 January 1741), also known as Gottfried Hankwitz, also written Hanckewitz, or Ambrose Godfrey as he preferred to be known, was a German-born British phosphorus manufacturer and apothecary. He was one of ...
he had prepared
white phosphorus White phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, or simply tetraphosphorus (P4) is an allotrope of phosphorus. It is a translucent waxy solid that quickly yellows in light (due to its photochemical conversion into red phosphorus), and impure white phospho ...
, one of the
allotropes Allotropy or allotropism () is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element: th ...
. The German contact Johann Daniel Kraft was responsible for the introduction of phosphorus in Boyle's work. It was Godfrey who went on to build a reputation on phosphorus. Slare continued to represent the experimentalist tradition in the Royal Society, with Patrick Blair and James Douglas, when the Newtonian and mathematical tendency became more dominant. He formed part of the opposition to
Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath who was active as a physicist ("natural philosopher"), astronomer, geologist, meteorologist, and architect. He is credited as one of the first scientists to investigate living ...
in 1682–3, and later, over lack of experimentation. With others ( Thomas Henshaw, Hooke,
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...
) Slare worked over the findings of
Willem ten Rhijne Willem ten Rhijne (1647, Deventer – 1 June 1700, Batavia) was a Dutch doctor and botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plan ...
in Asian medicine, after they had been presented to the Royal Society by Haak in 1682. A volume on
acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...
and other topics was then printed in London. Slare himself tried
moxibustion Moxibustion () is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort ('' moxa'') on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and ...
using ''
Artemisia vulgaris ''Artemisia vulgaris'', commonly known as mugwort, common mugwort, or wormwood, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is one of several species in the genus '' Artemisia'' commonly known as mugwort, although ''Art ...
''. He did translation work for the ''
De Historia Piscium ''De Historia Piscium'' (Latin for 'Of the History of Fish') is a scientific book written by Francis Willughby and John Ray and published by the Royal Society in 1686. The book was the first illustrated work on ichthyology to be published in Engl ...
'' of 1686, of manuscripts of the naturalist
Leonhard Baldner Leonhard Baldner or Leonard Baltner (1612 – 1 February 1694) was a Strasbourg fisherman and naturalist who produced a hand-written illustrated book on the fishes, birds, and mammals titled ''Vogel-, Fisch- und Thierbuch''. Only six manuscript co ...
, for
John Ray John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (November 29, 1627 – January 17, 1705) was a Christian England, English Natural history, naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his ...
and
Francis Willughby Francis Willughby (sometimes spelt Willoughby, ) Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (22 November 1635 – 3 July 1672) was an English ornithology, ornithologist, ichthyology, ichthyologist and mathematician, and an early student of linguistics an ...
. In the case of a work the Royal Society was sent in 1684, by
Johann Kunckel Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
, Slare played the role of extracting some experimental content, to Boyle's eventual satisfaction. Slare demonstrated the presence of common salt in blood, and supported to some extent the views of
John Mayow John Mayow FRS (1641–1679) was a chemist, physician, and physiologist who is remembered today for conducting early research into respiration and the nature of air. Mayow worked in a field that is sometimes called pneumatic chemistry. Li ...
and Richard Lower on the change of colour of blood in air. He repeated experiments of Robert Boyle with ammoniacal copper salt solutions, in which air was absorbed, with an accompanying change of colour. Like Hooke, Slare was interested in chemical theories that were not Helmontian. He was an early supporter of ''contagium animatum'' – an early modern theory of
pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...
s – in the veterinary context, where it was developed later by Carlo Francesco Cogrossi. At the request of Sir John Hoskyns, Slare examined in 1713 a number of calculi, which he showed, against a view then common, to be unlike tartar chemically. This was in fact an old line of enquiry, going back to the 1670s and 1680s when Slare and
Nehemiah Grew Nehemiah Grew (26 September 164125 March 1712) was an English plant anatomist and physiologist, known as the "Father of Plant Anatomy". Biography Grew was the only son of Obadiah Grew (1607–1688), Nonconformist divine and vicar of St Mi ...
tried reagents on ''
materia medica ''Materia medica'' ( lit.: 'medical material/substance') is a Latin term from the history of pharmacy for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medications). The term derives f ...
'', and Slare had published a paper on calculi in 1683. ''Experiments … upon Oriental and other Bezoar-Stones'' (1715) dismissed the miraculous virtues then attributed to animal calculi. He quoted cases of their inefficiency, and showed that they were unacted on by certain chemical reagents. This pamphlet was replied to at once by "W. … L. …" in ''A Nice Cut for the Demolisher'' (by Walter Lynn). Slare suggested
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
as a remedy for acid dyspepsia instead of "Gascoin's powder", a remedy using bezoar stones. With this pamphlet was ''Vindication of Sugars against the Charge of Dr. Willis'', against
Thomas Willis Thomas Willis Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (27 January 1621 – 11 November 1675) was an English physician who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology, and psychiatry, and was a founding member of the Royal Society. L ...
. It contained a rejection of the experimental work of Willis, and his view of
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
, prompted by Thomas Sydenham. Slare praised sugar for its numerous uses, and the sugar trade, and used the sweet taste of
breast milk Breast milk (sometimes spelled as breastmilk) or mother's milk is milk produced by the mammary glands in the breasts of women. Breast milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborn infants, comprising fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and a var ...
to argue that sugar is suitable for children. He was also an advocate of the breakfast of bread and hot drinks (tea, coffee or chocolate). A proponent of
balneotherapy Balneotherapy ( "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic effects. While ...
, Slare praised the waters of
Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...
. In 1713 he showed that the mineral waters of
Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...
are not acidic, and in 1717 he reprinted his paper, with additions, as ''An Account … of the Pyrmont Waters'', dedicated to
Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment that followed. His book (''Mathe ...
and John Bateman (died 1728), president of the College of Physicians, before whom he had made experiments (28 February 1717), comparing the Pyrmont waters with the then more fashionable ones of
Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...
. The book was translated into German in 1718 by Georg Ludwig Piderit, and annotated by Johann Philipp Seipp, with criticism of Slare's views. Seipp, however, on publishing a second edition of his own work, ''Neue Beschreibungen der pyrmontischen Stahl-Brunnen'' (1719) praised Slare. The Pyrmont waters were to the taste of the king, George I, and had begun to be imported to Great Britain. Slare's work is now regarded as confirming the chemistry of
chalybeate Chalybeate () waters, also known as Iron oxide, ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron. Name The word ''chalybeate'' is derived from the Latin word for steel, , which follows from the Ancient Greek, Greek word ...
spas as alkaline waters. In an appendix to Perrott Williams's ''Remarks upon Dr. Wagstaffe's Letter against inoculating the Small-pox'' (1725), Slare defended
inoculation Inoculation is the act of implanting a pathogen or other microbe or virus into a person or other organism. It is a method of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases. The term "inoculation" is also used more generally ...
, which had been introduced in England in 1721. He mentioned having attended a son of
Sir John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restorat ...
, after inoculation, in May 1723.


References

* Marie Boas Hall, ''Frederick Slare, F.R.S. (1648-1727)'', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), pp. 23–41. Published by: The Royal Society.


Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Slare, Frederick 1640s births 1727 deaths 17th-century English medical doctors English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society People from Northamptonshire 18th-century English medical doctors