  Successful replacement of B by C in the series MgB2-xCx for values of x upto
0.3 are reported. Resistivity and ac susceptibility measurements have been
carried out in the samples. Solubility of carbon, inferred from the observed
change in the lattice parameter with carbon content indicates that carbon
substitutes upto x=0.30 into the MgB2 lattice. The superconducting transition
temperature, TC measured both by zero resistivity and the onset of the
diamagnetic signal shows a systematic decrease with increase in carbon content
upto x=0.30, beyond which the volume fraction decreases drastically. The
temperature dependence of resistivity in the normal state fits to the
Bloch-Gruneisen formula for all the carbon compositions studied. The Debye
temperatures, extracted from the fit is seen to decrease with carbon content
from 900K to 525K, whereas the electron-phonon interaction parameter, obtained
from the McMillan equation using the measured TC and the Debye temperature, is
seen to increase monotonically from 0.8 in MgB2 to 0.9 in the x=0.50 sample.
The ratio of the resistivities between 300K and 40K versus TC is seen to follow
the Testardi correlation for the C substituted samples. The decrease in TC is
argued to mainly arise due to large decrease in the Debye temperature with C
concentration and a decrease in the hole density of states at N(EF).
