As PHYSICIANS grow older their contributions to scientific programs tend to become less scientific and more philosophical. Perhaps the paper you are about to hear fits into this category; yet it is my hope that it will stimulate a reappraisal of a familiar method of controlling a common complaint —namely, scratching to relieve itching, which is as old as history. Three carved figures of the pre-Columbian era in Mexico show skin lesions and the positions of the bodies with the hands on the skin lesions indicate itching and scratching.1Socrates, as reported in theDialogues of Plato, refers on a number of occasions to the problem of itching and scratching with accompanying mixed sensations of pleasure and pain.2 The pompous pose of Napoleon Bonaparte, with the fingers of his right hand inserted within his waistcoat and his left hand behind his back, is believed by some to have