"[Plin. Nat. 24.71.] - THE PALIURUS: TEN REMEDIES.
The paliurus, too, is a kind of thorn. The seed of it, known by the people of Africa as “zura,” is extremely efficacious for the sting of the scorpion, as also for urinary calculi and cough. The leaves are of an astringent nature, and the root disperses inflamed tumours, gatherings, and abscesses; taken in drink it is diuretic in its effects. A decoction of it in wine arrests diarrhœa, and neutralizes the venom of serpents: the root more particularly is administered in wine. ”
(The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.)