1894.] Abalone or Haliotis Shells of the Californian Coast. 851 
mology.” Some writers think the name is of Spanish origin? 
but a well known Spanish scholar, one of the Jesuit Fathers, 
told me he thought the name was a “ provincialism." It is 
said these shells are called * Awabi"in Japan. The local 
names given to the shell in different countries refer usually to 
the shape of the shell, and, being translated, mean ear-shell, 
ear-of-the-sea, Venus' ear, etc.; also on aecount of its nacreous 
lining, Mother-of-pearl-shell, and because of the holes in the 
shell, “six eyes.” The beautiful nacre or mother-of-pearl in 
the interior of these shells, and the rich colors visible when 
the epidermis or outside layer has been removed, has given 
rise to color names. The most beautiful shell, in the interior, 
is the green abalone (Haliotis fulgens). The green and blue 
nacre is as effectively blended as the colors in a peacock, and 
is indiscribably rich in tone. The centre is especially rich in 
iridescent effect. This center is scientifically known as the 
“ muscular impression " for it is at this place that the animal 
is firmly adherent to its shell, though young shells are not 
marked by this “ area of the muscular impression." In some 
specimens it is horse-shoe-shaped. In an article on the Aba- 
lone Fishery in “ The Fisheries and Fishing Industries of the 
U. 8.” (U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries 1887), Earnest 
Ingersoll says in referring to this muscle sear: “In aged spe- 
cimens the part to which the muscle is attached is raised 
above the level of the rest of the interior and presents a 
roughened or carved surface of irregular shape, often fancifully 
imitative of some other object. The writer has seen one which 
thus contained a singularly correct profile of Napoleon I." 
Instead of the muscular impression being “raised above the 
level," my observation has led me to conclude that with age 
the muscle scar is, as a whole, depressed. 
. The red abalone (H. rufescens) does not receive its name from 
the eolor of its mother-of-pearl, as does the green shell, but 
from the red margin that outlines the aperture and the beau- 
tiful red displayed on the outside when the shell is decortica- 
ted by the use of acids or the grindstone. Another species 
(H. cracherodii, named for a Mr. Cracherod) when submitted 
3From au/on or aulone. 
