The Nautilus. 



Vol. IV. JUNE, 1890. No. 2. 



THE HALIOTIS. 



BY JOSIAH KEEP, 



President Isaac Lea Chapter, Agassiz Association. 



The Haliotis is the largest aud finest Mollu.sk that is found on the 

 coast of California. While its shell is a valuable article of commerce, 

 its flesh is good for food, though perhaps few people except Chinese 

 and Indians ever indulge in that luxury. I can speak from expe- 

 rience however, and am ready to affirm that " abalone soup, " well 

 made, is fit for the table of the most fastidious. 



The Indians have nearly all disappeared from the coast now, but 

 only a hundred years ago they were numerous enough, and for how 

 many centuries before that time they had abounded in California is a 

 question for the archaeologists. Certain it is that along the shores 

 where these mollusks now live there are untold numbers of Haliotis 

 shells in all stages of decomposition. They were not washed up by 

 the waves either, for they lie on the banks above the reach of the 

 ocean. Besides this, stone mortars and other relics of savage men 

 are occasionally found with the old shells. Evidently the Indians 

 were accustomed to gather the mollusks from their haunts on the 

 rocks and use their flesh for food. After the savage repast was over 

 they threw away the beautiful shells. 



This work went on for centuries, and to-day the railroad cuttings 

 along the coast expose to view banks of mingled earth and pearl, 

 several feet in thickness. It makes a conchologist's heart ache to 

 find bushels of what were once magnificent specimens now all in 

 ruins, and to think how little they were prized by those wdio had 

 such excellent opportunities for collecting. But we will not blame 

 them, poor sons of the forest ; at least they knew how to satisfy their 



