Itching powder is a

powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and ''granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...

or powder-like substance that induces

itching Itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to be classified as any one type of sensory experience. Itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasan ...

when applied onto human

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...

. This is usually done as a

practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

prank A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

to an unsuspecting victim.

Description and uses

The cause of the irritation can be mechanical, such as products containing ground

rose hips The rose hip or rosehip, also called rose haw and rose hep, is the accessory fruit of the various species of rose plant. It is typically red to orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form after pollinat ...

.Albert MR. Novelty shop "itching powder." ''Australasian J Dermatology''. 1998 Aug;39(3):188–89. Another common ingredient is ''

Mucuna pruriens ''Mucuna pruriens'' is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and cultivated. Its English common names include monkey tamarind, velvet bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yo ...

'',G.V. Joglekar, M.B. Bhide J.H. Balwani. An experimental method for screening antipruritic agents. ''British Journal of Dermatology''. Volume 75 Issue 3 p. 117. March 1963 a type of

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

that produces seedpods coated with thousands of detachable spicules (needle-like hairs). The spicules contain an enzyme,

mucunain The proteolytic enzyme mucunain is a protein in the tissues of certain legumes of the genus ''Mucuna'', especially velvet bean ('' Mucuna pruriens''). In these species the mucunain is found in stiff hairs, or trichomes, covering the seed A ...

, that causes severe itching, and they have been sold commercially as itching powder. ''Mucuna pruriens'' has been used to test the efficacy of anti-itch drugs. The term "itching powder" is colloquial; there is no one specific source of the powder. For the safety of the maker and of the victim, gloves, dust mask, and glasses are worn, as itching powder is a mouth- and eye-irritant, and caution is strongly encouraged whenever handling the processed powder. Rose hips contain prickly hairs that are used as the

active ingredient An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals. T ...

, whereas the body (rather than the wing) of the

samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

of the

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...

is covered with spiny hairs that cause skin irritation and are used to make itching powder. Itching powder was created from ''Mucuna pruriens'' in the early 19th century as a cure for lost feeling in the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rele ...

. When a person would lose feeling on their skin in conditions such as paralysis, the powder (mixed with lard to form an ointment) was used as a local

stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...

believed to treat the condition.

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References

Practical joke devices Powders {{comedy-stub

Description and uses

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See also

References