Itching powder

[1][2] Another common ingredient is Mucuna pruriens,[3] a type of legume that produces seedpods coated with thousands of detachable spicules (needle-like hairs).

For the safety of the maker and of the victim, gloves, dust masks, 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,[5] whereas the body (rather than the wing) of the samara of the bigleaf maple is covered with spiny hairs that cause skin irritation and are used to make itching powder.

[6][7][8] Itching powder was created from Mucuna pruriens in the early-19th century as a cure for lost feeling in the epidermis.

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 believed to treat the condition.