My Little Discovery - Exploring Science Around Us

Author: Liu Tongju
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Is the four-legged snake really venomous? In summer, on the roadside and in the grass, it is common to see a four-legged snake with a snake-like body and scales. People say that the four-legged snake is venomous, and if it bites, the skin will become red and swollen, then rot. Is the four-legged snake really venomous? To find out, our interest group conducted research and experiments on it. First, we caught a four-legged snake, anesthetized it, and fixed it on an autopsy table. Then, using a disposable syringe, we extracted 0.5ml of its saliva, poured it into a beaker, and added 3ml of water to mix the saliva and water evenly. Next, we placed a small frog in the mixture. After an hour, the frog was unharmed. Was the time too short? Let's leave it overnight. The next morning, we found that the frog was still alive and swimming freely in the water, looking quite comfortable. Was the concentration too low? To ensure the accuracy and reliability of our experiment, we caught four more four-legged snakes in the field and repeated the experiment using the same method as yesterday. The result was the same—the frog still didn’t die. It seems that the four-legged snake has no toxic effect on the frog. So, does the four-legged snake have any effect on other animals? We caught a cat, applied 0.9ml of its saliva to the cat’s body, and observed for any abnormal reactions. After two days, we found that the cat was unharmed. At this point, we began to relax our concerns about the dangers of the four-legged snake and further strengthened our determination and confidence in studying its toxicity. We decided to conduct an experiment on ourselves to study whether the four-legged snake has any effect on humans. We extracted 0.5ml of saliva from the four-legged snake’s mouth and applied it to our skin. At first, we felt a slight coolness on the skin, but after a while, there was no sensation, and no adverse reactions occurred. Half an hour later, the skin still showed no reaction. This indicates that the four-legged snake has no toxic effect on human skin. Through these experiments and studies, we concluded that the four-legged snake has no toxic effect on humans. After consulting the "Little Doctor Knowledge Base," we also learned that the four-legged snake is actually a lizard or a skink. They are mainly distributed in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and other regions in China, primarily preying on pests such as mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches. They are good friends of humans, and we should protect them.
Zhuji City Haoliu Foreign Language School, Zhejiang Province
Advisor: Zhou Xiaoliang