_Iron Filings and Wire._
Iron seems to be a metal that proves active in its _metallic_ state; its
filings may be given in the form of powder, conjoined to some aromatic,
or what is perhaps more eligible, in the form of an electuary. The
Mahometan practitioners are in the habit of prescribing them, in
conjunction with ginger, and cummin seeds, in cases requiring tonics.
DOSE, grs. v to ʒss. IMPURITIES. Iron filings should be carefully
purified by the application of the magnet, since those obtained from the
work-shops are generally mixed with copper and other metals. For
pharmaceutical purposes, iron wire should be preferred, as being the
most pure, since the softest iron only can be drawn, and Mr. Phillips
has shewn us, in his experiments upon the “_Ferrum Tartarizatum_” that
soft iron is more easily acted upon by Tartar.