Mule

Mule (Latin mulus) is a term not unfrequently applied to the produce of any two creatures of different species, and synonymous with hybrid, but in its ordinary acceptation employed to designate the offspring or "cross" between the equine and asinine species. There are two kinds of mule - the Mule proper (Equus asinus, var. Mulus; French Mulet or Grand mulet; German Grosser Maulesel), which is the hybrid produce of a male ass with a mare, and the Hinny (Equus asinus, var. Hinnus; French Bardot or Petit mulet; German Kleiner Maulesel), the offspring of the stallion and female ass. The mule is the more valuable of the two, and to its production the attention of breeders is entirely directed.

In its short thick head, long ears, thin limbs, small narrow hoofs, short mane, absence of chestnuts (horny growths) inside the hocks, and tail destitute of hair at the root the mule is asinine; while in height and body, shape of neck and croup, uniformity of coat, and in teeth it is equine. It has the voice neither of the ass nor of the horse, but emits a feeble hoarse noise. The most common colour of the mule is a brown or bay-brown - bay, or bright bay, or piebald being rare; a chestnut tint is sometimes noticed. It possesses the sobriety, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the ass, and the vigour, strength and courage of the horse, As a beast of burden it is preferable to the horse, being less impatient uiider the pressure of heavy weights, while the skin being harder and less sensitive renders it more capable of resisting sun and rain.

The mule has been in use from early times; the inhabitants of Mysia and Paphlagonia are said to have been the first breeders. With the Greeks and Romans, the latter especially, the mule was valued, being employed to draw carriages and carry loads. In the early 20th century it has been largely used for military transport.

based on an article from a 1911 encyclopedia