Chalybeate Syrup.
Take white Wine 1 pint and half; filings of Iron 1 ounce and half; powdered white Tartar 6 drams; Cinnamon, Nutmeg each 1 dram and half; Mace, Cloves, each half a dram; make a warm infusion 4 days in a large open Glass (else it will burst asunder); or (which is better, if time will permit) let them stand cold 14 days; decant the clear Wine through a strainer; and having added to 1 pint of it fine Sugar 1 pound, make a Syrup.
Iron (according to Lemery) far excels Steel, for Medicinal Uses, because its not so compact; dissolves easily in the Body, and more freely gives out its virtue.
Thomas Fuller
Pharmacopeia Extemporanea 1710