Garman.] 
170 
[Jan. 16, 
The portions submitted for identification comprise ribs, verte- 
brae, scales, the dorsal spine, the caudal fin, and the pharyngeal 
bones with their teeth. They confirm Mr. White’s statements in 
regard to the size of the specimen. According to data gathered 
from various sources a length of twenty-five and a half inches, with 
a weight of sixteen and a half pounds might be attained in about 
six years, varying with the amount of food and warmth of water. 
Mr. Poppe, who began carp farming in California in 1872, had spec- 
imens that reached a weight of fifteen pounds in five years. In the 
first year they acquired a length of twelve inches. Other specimens 
have grown to about six pounds in three years. Hessel states that 
in two summers the weight of some had become as much as three 
pounds. He mentions two specimens that at fifteen years of age 
weighed forty-two and fifty-five pounds respectively. He also com- 
ments on others up to ninety pounds. It is well known that the carp 
lives to more than a hundred years. 
The statement of Mr. Mead furnishes a probable explanation of 
the presence of the fish in Kilburn’s pond, yet it is quite possible 
that it may have been helped up around the dam, with live bait or 
otherwise, from waters connecting, through the Nashua, with the 
Merrimac river and its tributaries. The government distributed 
carp to the Fish Commissioners of Massachusetts and of New 
Hampshire and to others in these states in 1880, following the lots 
then distributed by others in the following years. These were dis- 
tributed in the states mentioned in such a manner that a consider- 
able number of the localities supplied were drained by the Merrimac. 
Wherever it might have been planted at first it would be possible 
for a fish to reach any of the small brooks or ponds of the system, if 
not prevented by insurmountable obstacles, as falls or dams. 
From what we have gathered it is not at all likely this specimen 
from Kilburn’s pond was more than eight, or less than five years 
of age. 
ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE RATTLESNAKE. 
BY SAMUEL GARMAN. 
Primarily the object of the study that has led to the writing of this 
paper was to determine the structure and development of the rattle. 
A secondary purpose was that of tracing, if possible, the manner of 
