Abalone

1: 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, in Guernsey ormer (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer), and paua in New Zealand.

Abalone is also prevalent in Australian coastal waters and is highly valued. There is an extensive black market in the collection and export of Australian Abalone meat.

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.

2: A game, see Abalone game

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Source (for 1): 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