Ass

a useful, homely member of the horse family, most closely akin to the zebra. It has long ears, a short mane, a shaggy coat, and a long-haired tail. The domestic donkey is supposed to be a native of Africa, possibly of Abyssinia. It was domesticated first in Egypt where it is still the burden carrier of Cairo and Alexandria. The donkey is slow, patient, homely, and is the type of obstinacy and stupidity; but its ability to live on coarse fare and its surefootedness among the mountains render it a valuable domestic and pack animal. Its use is general in the Levant. The wild ass of Central Asia, apparently a different species, is a fleet, shy animal more like a deer in its habits. In the United States the ass is kept chiefly on farms devoted to stock raising. The leather known as shagreen is made from the skin of the ass. See Mule