Haliotis.- 



-MOLLUSC A. FiSSUKELLID-E. 



345 



foi'meil. The outer surface is in general very rough, 

 wrinkled, or tubercular and dull. The species are 

 numerous, upwards of seventy-five having been de- 

 scribed, and are widely distributed, some being found 

 in the Channel Islands, the Mediterranean, and tlie 

 Canaries, while many others are found in India, Cliina, 

 tlie Cape of Good Hope, Australia, and New Zealand, 

 tlie Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, and as far 

 north as Kamtschatka. They are remarkable for tlie 

 beauty and diversified colours of the shells ; and from 

 tlie splendidly iridescent nacre they possess, are much 

 used for inlaying papier-mach^ and other ornamental 

 works in which mother-of-pearl is employed. Large 

 quantities are brought to Birmingham for that purpose. 

 ISome of the species supply a by no means indifferent 

 article of food. The common Ear-shell of the Channel 

 Islands — the '' Ormer," as it is there called (//. tuhir- 

 cidiita) — is largely used at the seasons when it leaves 

 deep water and comes to the rocks, laid bare at low 

 tides. Great quantities are then taken; and when well 

 beaten to make them tender, and after that properly 

 dressed, they aflbrd an excellent dish, tasting like veal 

 cutlets. As an old lad}', however, a resident in Guern- 

 sey, informed the writer — a good cook of Ormers is 

 becoming scarce on the island ! The shell of the //. 

 tuberciduta, says Dr. Johnston, " if we except the 

 splendid iridescence of its interior, is sufficiently plain 

 and vulgar ; but behold it borne along by tlie living 

 tenant, its variegated garniture all displayed and ver- 

 micular in the smooth and crystal water, and it moves 

 wonder and admiration!" — (See fig. annexed). At 

 Monterey in California two large species of Ear-shell 



Fig. 224. 



Haliotis tubeixulata and animaL 



are very abundant, and are much sought after by the 

 Indians as food; they are found, we are told by Capt. 

 lieechey, on the granite rocks forming the south-east 

 ]iart of the bay. The natives make use of the shells 

 also for ornaments, and decorate their baskets with 

 pieces of them. In Japan a species is in great request 

 as an article of food. It is called the Awabi and 

 Koempfer informs us " that they lie deep under water, 

 sticking fast to rocks or to the bottom of the sea, from 

 whence they are taken up by fishermen's wives, they 

 being tlie best divers in the country. They go down 

 armed with darts or long knives, to defend themselves 

 against kayes and porpesses ; and when they see an 

 awabi they pull it off suddenly before the animal is 

 aware, because otherwise it would fasten itself to the 

 rocks or the bottom of the sea so strongly, that no force 

 would be strong enough to tear it off. This shell is 

 filled with a large piece of flesh of a yellowish or whitish 

 Voi,. U. 



colour, and a very tough substance, though without 

 fibres. They say it was the common food of tlieir 

 necessitous ancestors, in memory whereof, when they 

 entertain company, they always provide a dish of it. 

 It is also become a custom with them, as well among 

 the vulgar as people of quality, that when they send 

 one another presents of money, cloth, stulTs, fruits, or 

 anything else, a string, or at least a small bit of the 

 dried flesh of this shell, is sent along with them as a 

 good omen, and in order to put them in mind of the 

 indigence of their forefathers. The flesh is cut into thin 

 slices or strings, which are extended on a board and. 

 dried." Tlie shell is also put to some use by these 

 ingenious people. Thunberg tells us that in a journey 

 made through part of Japan, between Jeddo and Miako, 

 he " saw men or children furnished with a kind o' 

 spoon, made with a shell known under the name of 

 " Oreille de Mer," attached to a stick, with which they 

 collected the excrements of horses and other animals. 

 These excrements," he adds, "moistened with a suDi- 

 cient quantity of water, are then spread with great care 

 upon the vegetables which are cultivated in the fields 

 along the road." This species has lately been brought 

 to this country in great abundance. 



HALIOTIS lEIS. — A species found in New Zealand, 

 of a very brilliant green iridescent hue when polished, 

 affords the natives of that island a by no means con- 

 temptible source of food. The shell is of considerable 

 size, and the animal, when cooked, is said to taste like 

 mutton ; Iience it is commonly known by the name of 

 Mutton-fish. 



Family— FISSURELLIDiE {Kcy-holc Limpets). 



Tlie Key-hole Limpets have the margin of their 

 mantle slit or fissured in front, the free 

 edges forming a siphon which occupies 

 the anterior notch or perforated apex 

 of the shell. The shell is conical, limpet- 

 shaped, with a recurved apex. It is either 

 grooved or fissured at its anterior margin, 

 or perforated at the apex. The aper- 

 ture iswide,andnot pearly within; there is no operculum. 

 The species are very numerous, and are generally littoral 

 in their habits, and pliytopliagous or vegetable feeders. 

 Genus Pakmophokus {= Scutus). — This genua 

 has the shell grooved internally at its anterior margin. 



Fig. 225. 



Fissurella crassa. 



Genus Emarginui.a. — This genus has the shell 

 fissured in its anterior margin. 

 Genus Fissukella. — This genus has the apex per- 



2X 



