Abalone, the
Spanish name used in
California for various species of the
shellfish
? of the Haliotidae
? family, with a
richly coloured shell yielding mother-of-pearl
?. This sort
of Haliotis
? is also commonly called ``ear-shell,'' and in
Guernsey ``ormer'' (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer).
The abalone shell is found especially at [Santa Barbara]
? and other places on the Californian coast from the south up to Ford Bragg and beyond, and when polished makes a beautiful ornament
?. The mollusc
? itself is often eaten, and dried for consumption in
China and
Japan.
Source: An unnamed encyclopedia via a project that puts out-of-copyright texts onto the Internet.
This is from a
very old source, and reflects the thinking of about 1900 in the UK.
--
BryceHarrington