158 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



It has been found necessary to keep king-snakes apart from the others, as their canni- 

 balistic tendencies are well developed. 



In the months of September and October copulation was noticed between some fine 

 examples of the indigo snake (Spilotes erebennus) in the vivarium, and it is aoped 

 young specimens may be secured as a result. 



In the basin of the fountain in the rotunda are kept living fishes of 

 the following species : 



1. Gyprinus carpio (Linn^). a scale carp ; h leather carp. 



2. Garassius auratus (L.) Bleeker. Goldfish ; a common form ; h triple- 



tail form. 



3. Hybrid between Nos. 1 and 2. 4. Idus melanotus (Hseckel). 



In a tank in the same room are shown two specimens of albino axo- 

 lotls {Siredon pisciformis), which were bred by M. Carbonnier in Paris, 

 France, from other albinos which were the progeny of a pair of black 

 axolotls. 



Nearly all the living species of North American Testudinata are kept 

 in confinement in one of the smaller inclosures on the carp ponds on 

 Monument lot, where they remain for purposes of acclimation. 



Fishes of the following species are cultivated in the carp ponds : 



1. Gyprinus carpio (Linne). a scale carp ; h mirror carp ; c leather carp. 



2. Idus melanotus (Hseckel). Leuciscus idus (Gthr.). Nerfling; Orfe; 



Golden Teuch; Ide. 3. Tinea vulgaris {Cux.). Tench. 



These ponds are under the control of the Director of the Museum, and 

 the details of their management are described in his report as Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries. Many American species of fish have also during a 

 part of the year been kept in aquarium tanks in the Armory Building, 

 where during the spring months extensive operations in connection 

 with the hatching of fish have been carried on, which have been wit- 

 nessed by large numbers of visitors. 



OBITUARY NOTICE OF DR. G. W. HAWES. 



George Wesson Hawes was born December 31, 1848, in Mario^n, 

 Ind., and died of quick consumption June 22, 1882, in Manitou Springs, 

 Colo., whither he had gone in the hope of benefit to his health. 

 Both his parents were natives of Massachusetts; and both died while ho 

 was very young. His father was the Eev. Alfred Hawes, a missionary 

 of the American Home Missionary Society, stationed at Marion, Ind. 

 His early days passed under the care of a lady in Worcester, Mass., a 

 friend of his parents whom he regarded as his foster-mother. 



His taste for scientific studies was early manifest, and, having been 

 for some years a student in the High School, Worcester, at the age of 

 seventeen he entered the ShefBeld Scientific School at New Haven, to 

 which with some intermissions he was attached for fifteen years in the 

 capacities of student, laboratory assistant, and instructor. From 1867 



