A few pearls are obtained from several other bivalve mollusks in Japan. Among the collections of the present writers are pearls from _Margaritifera martensi_, collected at Bay Agu; from _M. panasisæ_, about the Liu-kiu Islands; from _Pecten yezocusis_, in Sokhaido; from _Mytilus crasitesta_, in the Inland Sea, and from North Japan, and from a species of Dipsas found in Lake Biwa. While the pearl fisheries of Japan are not of great importance in any single locality, the distribution of the reefs is so extensive that the aggregate yield is considerable. The awabi or ear-shell (_Haliotis gigantea_), found on the coast of Japan, Korea, etc., yields many pearly forms. This species is much smaller than the California abalones. It has a fairly smooth, nacreous surface, but its value is depreciated by the great size of the marginal perforations, which render useless for commercial purposes all of the shell external to the line of perforations. While its opalescent tints make it desirable for manufacturing into certain styles of buttons and buckles, its principal use is for inlaying work or marquetry, for which it is especially adapted, owing to its fineness of texture and beauty of coloring even when reduced to thin sheets. [Illustration: FISHING FOR THE AWABI (ABALONE) SHELLS AT WADA-NO-HARA, JAPAN ] Probably the most interesting of the abalone fisheries is that on the shores of Quelpaerd Island, about sixty miles south of the Korean coast, which is prosecuted largely by the women. Dressed only in a scanty garment, these women swim out to the fishing grounds, distant several hundred yards in some cases, carrying with them a stout knife and a small sack suspended from a gourd. On reaching the reefs, they dive to the bottom—sometimes to a depth of six or eight fathoms—and by means of the knife, remove the abalones from the bottom and place them in the sack. They may remain out an hour, diving repeatedly until the sack is filled, when they swim back to the shore. Pearls are found only rarely; in one lot of one hundred shells, only five were found bearing pearls; two with three pearls each, two with two pearls each, and one with a single pearl. The flesh of this mollusk after it has been cleaned and dried, is quite popular as an article of diet. Although white when fresh, the color changes to a dark red. The pieces of dried flesh, in the form of flat reddish disks four or five inches in diameter, are fastened on slender sticks—about ten to each stick—and displayed in the grocery shops in Seul and other cities.