Badyaga

Badyaga, or bodyaga (Latin Spongilla)— is a medicinal product, a drug of animal origin that has a local irritant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. It is obtained by drying colonies of freshwater sponges from the badyagov family (Spongillidae): lake badyaga (Spongilla lacustris), river badyaga (Ephydatia fluviatilis). It is prescribed for hematomas.

Badyaga is a traditional folk remedy for bruises, bruises, rheumatism, and "stabbing in the side". Powdered dried sponges were used to rub the skin, or as an ointment mixed with fat or water to apply to the skin. The medicine from badyaga was also used as an internal remedy for the treatment of scrofula.

From folk medicine, the use of badyaga passed into medical practice in Russia, and then in Europe. Badiaga powder was exported from Russia for export until the First World War, and as a result, the word badiaga from the Russian language entered the names of several species of freshwater sponges (Badiaga lacustris, Badiaga fluviatilis) and was used as synonymous for the genus Ephydatia, primarily in the German tradition. In the medical literature of the XIX century, the use of badyaga after corporal punishment was noted. In the XX century, badiaga for some time left the arsenal of modern medicine, although it was used as part of homeopathic remedies; so, in the 1930s in Europe, the use of tincture "die Badiaga-Tinktur" was noted, allegedly helping from a number of diseases.

Badyaga powder, despite the harm caused by prolonged use, has traditionally been used as a cosmetic as a cheap substitute for blush. Blush is caused by small hemorrhages due to microtraumas caused by rubbing spicules into the skin — microscopic silica needles that make up the inner "skeleton" of the sponge). The use of this tool in the acting environment gave rise to the phraseology "to breed a bodyguard" in the meaning of "to engage in trifles, nonsense", "to start empty conversations".