Cowhage, COWAGE, or COWITCH,

Cowhage, COWAGE, or COWITCH, consists of short, slender, brittle hairs, which cover the pods of species of Mucuna, a papilionaceous climber, particularly M. pruriens of the West Indies and M. urens of the East. These hairs readily stick in the skin and cause intolerable itching, and were hence formerly used (as still in their native country) as a vermifuge. They are administered in syrup, and of course act mechanically. The unripe pods are eaten like kidney-beans.