Lizards have a long history of being used as medicine in Chinese medicine. There are three items in Compendium of Materia Medica: Shougong, skink and gecko. In fact, skink includes many lizards, such as skink, lizard and grass lizard. Medicinal species account for more than 65,438+00% of the total species of lizards in China, mainly including Gecko, Iguanidae, Lizardidae and Eupolyphaga. In particular, the species of lizards are becoming more and more important. For example, there are chameleons in Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Yunnan, because there is a row of vertical and horizontal flat iguana scales from the head to the tail base of the body, which looks like a horse's mane. The body length is about 10 cm, and the body color can change with environmental humidity and light intensity. The wine soaked in it is called "horse mane snake wine", which has the effects of expelling wind and dampness, nourishing and strengthening the body, and can cure backache, leg pain and bone pain. There are 6 kinds of geckos in China. * * * The same feature is that the lower toe flap is a single line, and there is no claw on the first toe, which is distributed except in the northeast and northwest. Because they often moved on the palace wall in ancient times, they were called "guarding the palace". Another saying about guarding the palace is that in ancient China, there was a medicine called "guarding the palace sand" which was used to identify the authenticity of virgins. It was said that it was made of gecko. According to the "Natural History" written by Zhang Hua in the Western Jin Dynasty, the gecko "was raised with utensils and fed with cinnabar. It was red and weighed seven pounds, and it fell all over the place, making the woman's limbs immortal." It only destroys sexual intercourse, so it is stored in the palace. "This statement is obviously absurd. The medicinal name of dried gecko is "Tianlong", which has the effects of nourishing liver and kidney, nourishing essence and blood, relieving cough and asthma, relieving spasm and expelling wind, and relieving swelling and resolving hard mass. It can be used for external use to treat scrofula, neuralgia, chronic arthritis, breast lump and skin ulcer. Crispy snake lizard is distributed in most provinces and regions south of the Yangtze River, with a body length of 14- 19 cm. Because of the degeneration of limbs, it looks like a snake, so it is also called "brittle snake". In fact, it has forelimbs and hind limbs, not snakes. Taking medicine can relieve poison, stop diarrhea, dispel pathogenic heat and treat chronic dysentery. Skin-care animals are produced in the provinces south of the Yangtze River, generally with a body length of 10- 15 cm, a slightly conical head, a copper-green or copper-brown back with black and white stripes. Meat has the functions of detoxicating, resolving hard mass and promoting diuresis, and can be used to treat malignant sores, stranguria, dysuria, skin itching, tonsillitis, breast cancer, etc. In recent years, we have also tried to treat brucellosis with lizards, esophageal cancer with geckos and gastric cancer with lizards, all of which have achieved certain curative effects and opened up a new way for the medicinal use of lizards. Gecko, the dried product of Gecko, is a Chinese herbal medicine called Gecko. The name comes from the fact that the gecko can make a deep and deep sound through the contact between its tongue and the bottom of its mouth. Generally, 5-7 consecutive calls are made at a time, ranging from monosyllabic "Gege, Gege, Gege" to disyllabic "Gege-Gege", from high to low, from fast to slow, and finally only "Gege" can be made because of hoarseness. In the dead of night, male and female geckos often call each other, singing one after another, just like a couple singing heartily, and sometimes there will be a "chorus" of the whole family, which can be heard from miles away. In the Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen in Ming Dynasty, it was called "fairy toad", while in Guangdong, it was called "sting snake" and "closing snake". There are several ways to make medicine: the folk take out the viscera of gecko, spread it on the body wall with bamboo pieces, and dry it on the fire to get medicine. People in Guangdong and Guangxi often cook fresh geckos with pork or other meat; It can also be made into various Chinese patent medicines, such as Gecko essence, Gecko Bushen pill, Gecko wine, Gecko Sanqi wine, etc. It can also be made into "clam green injection" with toad, ginkgo and other formulas. It is generally believed that the effect of gecko lies in its tail, so the tail of a live gecko is often cut into medicine and then cut off after it regenerates a new tail. As for the medicinal value of gecko, according to Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen in Ming Dynasty, it can replenish lung qi, benefit essence and blood, relieve asthma and cough, cure lung abscess and quench thirst, and help Yang Dao. At present, traditional Chinese medicine is commonly used to treat neurasthenia, tuberculosis, senile debilitating asthma, cardiac wheezing, superficial swelling, senile chronic bronchitis and so on. It has the effects of invigorating kidney, moistening lung, strengthening yang and benefiting essence, and can be used for treating asthma, cough, hemoptysis, neurasthenia and kidney deficiency. It can also be made into various Chinese patent medicines, such as Gecko essence, Gecko Bushen pill, Gecko wine, Gecko Sanqi wine, etc. For a long time, the protection of lizards has not been paid enough attention, which has caused serious damage to wild resources, especially the number of geckos has been greatly reduced. In recent years, there have been several major cases of selling giant lizards. In fact, most lizards can be artificially propagated, and many species have rich breeding experience in China. Active research, development and utilization of this field can not only reduce the pressure on wild resources, but also achieve good economic benefits and broad prospects.