"[Plin. Nat. 23.73.] - MEDLARS: TWO REMEDIES. SORBS: TWO REMEDIES.
Medlars, the setania excepted, which has pretty nearly the same properties as the apple, act astringently upon the stomach and arrest looseness of the bowels. The same is the case, too, with dried sorbs; but when eaten fresh, they are beneficial to the stomach, and are good for fluxes of the bowels.”
(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.)